Vila Santa Teresa

First class boutique hotel. It is up a hill overlooking Rio. A lot of thought given to the Desigen. It is a converted colonial Portuguese mansion. It is in a middle of a wonderful set of tropical gardens . The sight of Rio from above is stunning. Rooms are very large nicely decorated. Strong WiFi and in room smart TV with all sorts of streaming services. Warm and professional seevice. Excellent cooked breakfast. Excellent but rather pricey dinner (200$ us for 2). It is a very large dinner so easy to settle for 1 dinner shared by 2. So all in all wonderful experience! However : The hotel is far from Rio city life. Uber drivers refuse to go there as it is up a hill with a narrow road. Taxi drivers get lost! So if you are intersted in the night life of Rio (we were not) and would like to use the hotel during the day think twice. If you are looking for an oasis to relax at the end of a busy Rio day then this is the place!! Ask the hotel for a typed explanation how to get there and give it to the taxi driver

This was very disappointing and I would not recommend to book this Hotel for private visits. I arrived yesterday and plan to stay for 4 nights. I checked out this morning due to these reasons in addition to the last review. I was the only guest at the Hotel, so someone has read the latest reviews... I also read them after I booked, but believed that a low review score due to simple things to fix, like cleaning the pool would have been taken care of... But not, the Pool is the main attraction of the Hotel. At least from me, travelling from snow in Norway to enjoy hot weather and the Pool. It was dirty. They clean it every day, but that is just removing the top layer. The pool is to dirty to use. So staying in this very remote place, nothing to do in walking distance (without walking) - at least it should be possible to enjoy the pool. Internet was super slow and mobile connection almost non existing. I could not have my digital meetings at the place which is not so demanding on the bandwith. Also, travelling in/out was a nightmare due to the security. Very hard to plan when to leave since Uber was not interested to drive to this place and you need to registrer with security when Uber shall enter the gate. I booked for 4 nights, and when I called the management last night, they insured that I could check out without charges for the 3 next nights. That changed when I checked out and I lost about 1200 USD on that. To be somewhat positive, the service from the staff was very heartily and very good. They tried their best, but this Hotel needs to get their concept back on track again. Management is not in the same category. I think this Hotel is still good for events, but not for private bookings. Since the Hotel will have the last word on this review, they will probably claim: "it is inevitable that we have flowers, leaves, fruits all over the property, including in the pool. However, all outdoor areas are constantly monitored. If the pool had been compromised for use, we would have interdicted it immediately and communicated it to all guests" - That is not true. I have moved to a Hotel further down the street which has a super clean pool with more trees around it, than what Vila Santa Teresa has ( MGallery Hotel) About the internet, we have a broad band dedicated only to customers, and it was normal all day long. We do not have any complain from guests or signaling from our system about the functionality of the internet. - It is not hard to measure the internet bandwith, so this is another lie. If you still decide to try the Hotel. Just book one night or ensure that you can leave after one night and get reimbursed.

God was really hard at work and that’s confirmed when you come to the Vila Santa Teresa and you walk through the lobby of the hotel to the terrace to see this amazing view of Rio de Janeiro !!! It’s a definite confirmation that he rested and then woke up the next day to create something so amazingly beautiful and awesome!!!! Words cannot express it . The hotel is so lovely on the most beautiful and panoramic piece of property. The hotel interiors are pristine and it’s grounds , kudos to the crew of gardner’s . The flora and fauna on this property is just lush and well tendered . The staff are efficient and attentive to your every whim . A shout out has to go to some members of staff , Bruno , Juan , Daniel and Leticia and Adriana the lady who cleaned our rooms . I am leaving today to continue my tour of Brazil and am sad to be leaving the Vila Santa Teresa but also very grateful that I was able to experience this beautiful beautiful hotel . So to anyone reading come HERE !!!

This was our first visit following Covid. The location within a large private estate is still the same and the security slows access a little so it is best to have the hotel arrange taxis or transportation with known drivers. The view from the hotel is surely one of the worlds best. Rooms are very comfortable. Most of the staff have some English which was not previously the case. I believe more parasols etc. have been ordered for the pool area. This hotel has as described a dramatic location and is a great place for relaxation and pampering. We will be back again.

One of the best hotels in Rio. We recently stayed here for two nights and the it was amazing. The views overlooking sugarloaf are spectular. The service and food is top tier. I highly recommend this for couples. The only downside it is very difficult and almost impossible to get an uber.

Once the Uber driver called for help we finally arrived. We had a nice welcoming but everything was very awkward afterwards. They try and it’s not totally the services fault. It’s private and beautiful grounds that you can’t leave. It’s so private it’s uncomfortable… we were the only ones there. After 1 hour and a very fast lunch with airplanes flying so low it’s scary. You are in the direct take off path of the airport. We decided to leave. Our room was nice enough but the location and condition of the hotel and of the dirty pool it made us think we have been conned. We booked over ********** under a no refund policy 400€ And knew we wouldn’t get our money back so that’s how ready we were to go. I have not wrote a review for years. But the strangeness of this hotel and some of its positive reviews perplexed me. We had stayed at the Fasano and Copacabana Palace Both nice. And after leaving Vila Sante Teresa we went to the Janeiro near Leblon. We really liked this petite design hotel with the best service we had in Rio. Just had to share so you can avoid our mistake….

We were two females travelling solo in Brazil and we stayed at Villa Santa Teresa for two nights in April 2022. We had the best stay. The Villa is beautiful. Beautiful furnishings, rooms, gardens and pool area. The views over Rio are incredible. The staff are a credit to the Villa. Nothing was too much trouble. Juan in particularly was absolutely fantastic. He even took us down to his favourite sunset spot one night in the Villa’s vegetable gardens. It was perfect! The breakfast was sublime. Lots of fruit, meats and cheeses offered. Our only minor gripe would be that to have some of the more fancy breakfast options there is a nominal extra charge. This seems quite unusual given the price of the accommodation. The Villa is relatively remote in a secure compound in the hillside of Santa Teresa. It can be difficult to find but follow the route shown on the website and the taxis will be able to find it easily. The Villa are great at ordering taxis for you in and out of Santa Teresa and beyond and there is a dedicated guest whatsapp during your stay which we found particularly useful. We also had dinner one night. It was one of our best meals in Rio. Definitely worth eating at the restaurant on site one evening. It by far exceeded our expectations and other guests we spoke to had eaten there many times too and loved it.

Very poor reservation service. I booked my room and secured it with my credit card and receive an email overnight simply stating my reservation was cancelled without any explanation. I have been trying to reach the hotel by phone and keep being told that "reservations arrives around 10 AM" and by email and get no answer. Meanwhile we bought our plane tickets and will scramble to find another hotel. Beware or try somewhere else.