Portinari Design Hotel Rio de Janeiro

Hotel Portinari is conveniently located in between Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. But that's not the best part of it. The hotel features very slick rooms with beatiful 'design' pieces of furniture. You have to put the price for those rooms however, since there is 3 levels of room rates, and the lowest one (~90€ a night) does not give you access to the best ones. I did that, since I could not afford the big ones, and got a still beatiful room, with beach view (if you stick your nose on the window, that is) and a nice, all marble & tiles bathroom.

People at the reception desk are very friendly, and will do a lot to please you. They do speak english, not all of them but those who do speak very good english. Restaurant is ok, but the view from there is great (top floor - 1), whether it is night or day. Breakfast is awesome, well you know, it is Brasil so fresh fruits are everyday kind of food! Mangos are... And melons, marmaon...

In the end, Portinari is a very nice hotel you can choose if you can afford it. If can put even more in it, go for the more expensive rooms, they are worth it (I saw one, verrrrry nice). Beaches are just a couple of streets away, so that is also a good choice location-wise (prefer Ipanema to Copacabana).