Windsor Barra Hotel

I stayed at the Windsor Barra for three days. The hotel is very large, almost overwhelming — it feels more like a shopping mall or a convention factory than a place designed for rest or inspiration. The clientele during my stay was around 99% Argentine families, many with children. This strongly defines the atmosphere. The pool is objectively beautiful and the ocean view is excellent, but the experience changes completely once it’s packed with kids. If you’re looking for calm, focus, or adult-oriented comfort, this is important to know. The dining room is huge, efficient, but impersonal — again, very much a factory feeling. Breakfast costs around 115 BRL (over USD 20), which feels extremely expensive, especially if you eat healthy, low-sugar, no bread. The options don’t justify the price unless you’re consuming the standard hotel buffet diet. The internet was one of the biggest issues. Although there are multiple networks and sometimes it works well, I experienced frequent instability: disconnections, repeated authentication, and interruptions. For business travelers or anyone working online, this is frustrating and far from a smooth or professional experience. Another recurring problem was room access. My door card stopped working multiple times. The explanation given was that the cards are “sensitive to phones,” which feels outdated and unrealistic in 2025. No one can realistically separate key cards from electronic devices anymore — this system clearly needs an upgrade. The design is old, including common areas and the gym. The gym itself is very modest and dated, not aligned with the hotel’s pricing at all. If you’re disciplined about training or wellness, this will be disappointing. My room was bigger than expected, which is a positive. However, the windows are small, letting in limited natural light. The room felt relatively dark, and for people working from a laptop or desk, there’s a clear lack of proper side lighting for comfortable, focused work. The location also feels isolated. Outside the hotel, it’s hard to find proper stores or healthy food options — mostly kiosks, beer, and junk food. For someone with a disciplined lifestyle, this adds friction. Overall, I found the hotel overpriced for what it offers. At this price point, you could easily stay in a premium Airbnb in Leblon, with better design, better light, better food access, and a more refined, adult-oriented environment.

Nice hotel, although probably not a true five star experience. The location is excellent, but the rooms feel fairly standard. They are functional, although the air conditioning did not work very well and there was no coffee maker. Room service was fine for morning coffee for about six dollars, although a kettle or coffee maker seems like a small and reasonable amenity to provide. The meeting rooms were very good and the food served during the meetings was also good. The rooftop pool offers wonderful views of the beach. Overall it was a very good experience, although it could have been a bit better.

Stayed here for a week in October. Great, safe location across from the beach. Check in was painfully slow and they couldn’t find my reservation initially, which is always a little disheartening! Breakfast buffet is excellent. Lobby bar is great. Food and drinks at the roof top bar were good. Pool is nice with great view but it was a little chilly! I stayed in a suite, which was spacious and well equipped but a little dated and run down. Bath was a bit worn out. Room service (had a steak) was delicious. Great wine list. So many staff (security) just standing around. Kind of fun to just stare them down. Gym is small but functional. Very affordable hotel, would recommend.

I stayed here for five days. The staff is good. The problem is the technology specifically the wifi is terrible. It’s hard to get work done. The wifi seems to intentionally kick you off every few minutes to force you to log in again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again. It is hard to be productive. Virtual meetings on zoom or teams poor quality. I think the hotel must do this on purpose because otherwise the technology team is incompetent.

This is a nice hotel with a great location. I'm staying here as a work trip and they booked this place for me. I got the superior suite on the 11th floor which is a decent size. The view I got is to the beach but the window has hard water stains on it so it's hard to see out. The all you can eat buffet in the lobby is great but the bar I would recommend getting drinks there. The 17th floor has the gym, outdoor pool and rooftop bar with a view of the beach.

Very clean place. Very safe, lots of staff and had no problems with anyone in the area. AC doesn’t go below 25 C so it was a little hot for us. Laundry service was $$$ so don’t recommend for that. Area is well maintained and about 40 mins to 1 hour depending on traffic to center of Rio.

Perfect location for a relaxing break, upgraded on arrival to sea view suite. Room very spacious and comfortable, with a great view.|Breakfast and lunch buffet quality and service very good.|Reception and house keeping very good.|The second time we have stayed here, and hope will be back.

First room was moldy. Dusty and unclean. We asked to move and they accommodated us and the second room was much better. Service is great but in general the rooms and hotel ingeneral is outdated. The breakfast is also not worth paying for.

Great location, price and best view ever! Also the restaurant offers a fabulous breakfast buffet with all sorts of food.

This is a good hotel across from the beach. Very clean and secure. They offer beach service: towels that you pick up on SS1 and then on the beach they have umbrellas and chairs (if available). Breakfast buffet is included and very good. Service is slow so if you are a coffee drinker and expect to drink a few cups you will have to patiently wait for a server or if you are lucky, they might leave the coffee in your table. The pool is located on the top floor and is never crowded. They also have clean pool towels. Just help yourself. Things that they could improve: - service is slow - valet is even worse. If you are in a hurry, call ahead to ask for your car and have patience to wait some more. One time it took 30 MINuTES to get our car - Internet : wifi is slow and you pay for it There are a few restaurants close by. The pasta one next door is fancy and more expensive. The steak house to the other side is good but seat were greasy. I prefer wallking a few more blocks and going to "Baladinha Mix" to eat some brazilian food and nice juices. We ate at the hotel a few times for lunch and dinner and it was too expensive for what they had. Just when is raining but their "Feijoada" on Saturday is delicious and you must try if you like black beans. ;-) Esse hotel é bem localizado na praia na Barra. Bem limpo e seguro mas nao é perfeito. Falaram 5 estrelas mas nao concordo. Alguns elevadores nao funcionam para alguns andares, o serviço no cafe da manha é muito lento e a internet nao é de graça como a maioria dos hoteis 5 estrelas!!! Voce paga R$30 por dia pela Internet Eles oferecem toalhas pra praia no sub solo, e cadeiras e guarda sol tb na praia quando estao disponiveis. Na cobertura onde fica a piscina, eles tambem tem toalhas a disposicao e lanchonete. Para jantar e almoçar fomos raramente ao restaurante do hotel pois é muito caro para o que oferece. De sabado eles tem uma feijoada deliciosa com batidinha de coco mas o resto da semana eu prefiro caminhar e ir em outros restaurantes maravilhosos de frente pra praia tb. Gostaria muito que o Maitre na hora do cafe da manha parasse de bater papo com os outros funcionarios e prestasse atençao aos hospedes com xicaras vazias. O Chef que faz os waffles e omeletes é uma simpatia e otimo na cozinha. O cafe da manha vale a pena especialmente por causa do omelete dele.

Is is very well located with very well services and amenities. It looks like a hotel from the 80's, kinda old.It is in front of the beach, with gym, pool and great restaurant. The food is brazilian, lots of fruits and local food. Staff is very nice and helpful. The only things like a lot of hotels in Brazil is that they charge per internet use everywhere. So, even if you come for business I don't think that's right. It is OK and useful.

I recently stayed at the Windsor Marapendi and I was very impressed by the Windsor hotel chain. I assumed that all of the Windsor hotels would be of such high quality. Boy was I wrong. The service with a smile is non existent at this Windsor. I don't know where to begin. My thermostat is broken and when I called for maintenance they said they could not fix it or put me in another room. Their is ants in my room. I ordered room service and within thirty minutes of leaving my food in the tray my room was inundated with ants. They lost my laundry. I had my do not disturb sign hung up and guess what. A housekeeper opened the door anyway. Luckily I was not in a compromising situation. What good is a do not disturb sign if the employees don't obey it. I asked to speak to the manager and I waited for 30 minutes. I finally had to go. I still haven't spoke to the manager yet. No follow up. No apology. My room service orders have been wrong every time I order. The housekeeper does a terrible job cleaning my room. I think they just make my bed and empty the trash cans. Nothing else. I tried to use a bell cart for 2 cases of water and other items that I bought and they told me I wasn't allowed to use it because it was not luggage. I was in disbelief. I've never heard such a thing. I was in the restaurant and asked for the check. It took the usual 5 minutes to get anything around here. I was running late for a meeting so I told the host that I would sign the check when I got back. He put his hand on me and demanded that I wait for the check. Who does that?? This hotel should be removed from the chain. Or they need to replace the managers. The only reason I gave this place one star is because of Gabriel, the Food and Beverage manager. He has been the only positive part of my stay at this hotel. Stay away if you can or stay down the road at the Windsor Marapendi.