Arrived at around 5.30am. Went to check in and told we would have to pay for another night, so we said in that case we'll leave our bags and come back after 2pm. At that point the bloke on the desk gave us a key and said you can have the room now, we assuming that they had relented and given us the room as a good bit of customer service, since it was empty. Worth noting that everywhere else we stayed in Brazil no additional charge had been made for an early check in.
The room (a delux) itself was nice, if a little dated and had a front view across to the Sugar Loaf. We has booked through Impanima.com and had specified a room in the main building not the anex, and this may explain the difference between the quality of room we had and what others have written about the hotel.
The genaral decor was dated, this hotels public areas have none of the charm of an early 20th century grand hotel, nor a modern contemporary style. Late 1980's would best describe its decor.
On the plus side the staff were attentive and courteos (with a couple on notetable exceptions, see below), and the breakfast and dinner (buffet) were also very good.
Upon check out they wanted to charge for an extra night as we had the room early. I rejected this having clearly stated the the chexk in clerk that if we were to be chargde then we would wait. The cashier then went off and spoke to somebody, cam e back and, no you pay, or you cannot leave (in an abrupt tone). After about 10 mins of argueing they evetually got hold of the manger on the phone, she was immediately abussive and said pay now or I call the police. Didn't even ask for my version. After another 5 mins arguing with her she relented and I put her back onto the cashier, who spoke to her for another few minutes. He the turns round and says I have to pay the full amount, but the manager had just agreed with us that she would wave the charge. The cashier responded that she had now changed her mind! To cut a long story short we eventually agreed to pay half as we were in danger of missing our flight.
- Gloria Hotel Rio De Janeiro
