The Normandie Design Hotel is mentioned in the Wallpaper City Guide of Sao Paulo – I'm not sure weather this is justifiable, the term design hotel is a very elastic one. But it is for sure nicely done, simple, decent clean a bit worn out but reasonable priced for Sao Paulo. The Neighborhhod though wasnt like you would do nightwalks there, but where would you in SP?
The stuff was extremely helpful and nice: After I took a taxi from the hotel to the airport, I realised I left my camera on the taxi's backseat, I checked in to my flight already, so I called the hotel's reception and they managed to find the taxidriver and sent him back to the terminal. He gave me my camera, he charged only half the fare – simply PERFECT, thanks also to the hotel's stuff here.

We tried to book here based on a review in the Lonely Planet guide and actually thought we had after calling to reserve a room (no email address is available) but when we rang the next day to double check, there was apparently no record of our booking. To make matters worse, we kept being hung up on while being transferred or put on hold while an English-speaking staff member was supposedly being found. Extremely frustrating as staff were unapologetic and unhelpful.

I read the reviews posted on Trip Advisor, but I thought I'd still go because many times I had not agreed with the other reviews posted.
Well, this time I should have considered what I read.
The hotel's location is NOT safe, the room was OK but bathroom really bad! The inside of the hotel is sooo totally outdated and that of the room worse. We were welcomed by a "school" of flies in the lobby of the hotel.
The staff was absolutely not helpful and please, if you do not speak portuguese, then you might want to go someplace else.
I simply do not recommend it at all, not even for a night.

Frommer's Brazil guidebook lists this property as "very expensive" in the Centro neighborhood and "sleek, stylish, cool". The hotel's website talks about a style inspired by the renovation of Paramount Hotel of New York by Philippe Starck. Well, the hotel owner may have had this vision, but the execution was horribly done. The hallways and room were dated, and badly/cheaply finished/furnished. Door to bathroom would not close, and shower curtain was the cheap clear shower lining that one buys in discount stores. They also used white tiles for the bathroom walls and floor that had burn marks (similar to cigarette burns) that made them dirty/gritty. Same with the toilet bowl -- just thought that it was not cleaned properly only to realize that it was the "look" they were going for. The room rate they quoted us 2 days before we arrived in Sao Paulo (R$115 ~ US$55 for a double) should have clued us in that the description from Frommer's was suspect. On the positive side, they allowed us to check into our room at 8:30am when we arrived on a Friday morning. The staff were friendly and courteous, but barely spoke English -- so it was a struggle getting understood. Items in the bar were priced competitively with what you would pay at neighborhood stores. Also, had free internet access at the lobby. Airconditioning worked well. Location was good, a few blocks away from 2 subway stations. But the neighborhood was eerily empty after sundown. We were 2 guys so it was not a big issue when we would leave the hotel around midnite to party. But think it would be an issue for women. I would try another property if ever I return to SP.