I stayed here for a conference. After reading the reviews on Trip Advisor I was very concerned about this hotel but it was the conference hotel so I went anyway. The hotel has 2 different buildings, the main hotel (the old part) and the annex. I think there is a huge difference between these two. I stayed in the old hotel and found my stay exceptional. The room I had was a standard room and was quite roomy with a view of the pool and gardens. The room had a minibar and safe and there were no problems with security in the room. The twin beds were not the best but that was my only detraction. The staff was most helpful and kind, the restaurants were great. The main breakfast was wonderful with a variety of fresh fruits, meats, cheeses, eggs, breads and yogurts. The fancy restaurant on the 1st floor was a very nice treat and decorated with lots of antiques. If you walk out to the tropical pool there is an amazing garden that goes up several levels and is fun to explore, there is a walking track and fitness room hidden up there as well. The some parts of the hotel shows it's wear like the carpets need changing but the general feeling was that this hotel was that of wonderful old charm. I don't recomment staying in the annex but staying in the older/main part of the hotel. The neighborhood isn't the best for night time wandering but cabs are pretty inexpensive in Rio.

I stayed in hotel Gloria 5 days in Janyary 2007. Outside it looks like a palace but actually it was little bit a disappointment. Rooms are quite old and decayded. In European standarts hotel is about 2 stars, but it has a great history :) I love the city however.

We booked this hotel at the end of our round the world trip to finish in 5-star style.

Our room was a huge disappointment.... Paint off the walls, tv entertainment system not working (and hadn't been for 1 year). Nicest restaurant was continuously booked for conferences and the "tropical" swimming pool was not even in the sun during the whole day.
Lots of loud Brazilian guests with getto blasters at the pool. Staff did nothing...
People with bare upper bodies at breakfast....

All very disappointing and on top of it after 8 months of travelling over the world and staying in the most dodgy places we got our videocamera stolen on our last night with our precious memories of the last month on tape.
It got stolen whilst being in the camera case which was in the suitcase which was in the cupboard. We never expected this in a 5-star hotel.
We spent the whole evening in the police office instead off at a Samba show and it put us completely off Brasil which we thought was quite disappointing anyway with exception of Parati.

The hotel manager promised to arrange a refund, but we're still waiting for it and I guess we can keep waiting for it.
If you're looking for a 5star hotel, there is only on at copacabana beach which deserves it 5 stars. Service there is taken to a different level.

I wouldn't stay in this place again even if it was for free. Don't let the ads on the internet fool you. You won't get a room like that unless you pay hundreds of dollars for it.

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.