Hotel Monte Alegre

Recent Reviews: 383

• User:Andrew L

  Trip type:

  Good hotel for the price.

  03 Jun 2019

  We stayed 12 nights moved our room to the upper level as noise from the air con located on the ground floor was annoying at nght. Good clean room good breakfast location could have been better but safe Lapa is the area for the clubs and good etaing. Not far to walk to the metro

• User:Laura T

  Trip type: Couples

  Great location for our stay during Carnival, but rooms too noisy to get much sleep! An old hotel in need of maintenance

  11 Mar 2019

  Staff were very friendly on check in and our request for a double room during Carnival was kindly honoured. We were able to check in an hour early which was very much appreciated.Our room was quite small but lots of floor space. Some shelving or drawers would have been appreciated, as only small wardrobe with a shelf underneath. There was also a desk and 1 chair, but we ended up living from our suitcases as no drawer space. Next to wardrobe, above mini fridge, there was one shelf which was useful. Wifi worked well in our room, but our group in the back of the building did not have wifi for most of the week of our stay. No kettle in room which is disappointing, but same elsewhere in Brazil.The room was nice and clean in general, but on arrival the floor was filthy and needed a good clean. This was improved on throughout our stay though, although still room for improvement, so we think may only have been so dirty as we were given early access to the room. Our view from the window was of the air conditioning units right outside our room!The bathroom was very small with absolutely nowhere to put anything, but shower was large (as big as rest of bathroom!) and water at a good pressure and temperature. Aircon worked well and kept room nice and cool. Beds were comfy, but not fitted sheets so the sheet and the mattress protector kept getting ruffled up and we had to keep flattening out again. Pillows were very comfy, right combination of hard/soft and plumpness. Towels like sand paper though! Cleaners always very helpful to provide extra towels and toilet roll on request.A few issues with our room though - the main light in bedroom kept flickering on and off sporadically. Also air con unit at foot of bed has bright blue light on all the time, which is rather annoyingly bright in the dark when you're trying to sleep! Also, right outside our room (503) was the maids cupboard, near to the lifts, and they would be chattering away most mornings from 7am.Our room was also VERY loud. At first we thought this was simply due to it being Carnival with loud beeping and base music right outside our window, actually rattling the panes, all night long! but we stayed on afterwards for a few days and the street is just so loud!! You can literally hear every noise from the street too, as I don't think the window shutters sealed properly as definitely no sound proofing. Even with the air con on all night and with ear plugs it was still hard to sleep.You can also clearly/loudly hear nearby rooms' conversations through the bathroom air vent - so be warned! Lower number rooms at the front of the building are super loud!The lifts are very old and urgently need maintenance - many times the lift did not properly meet the floor, with a large step to exit. The 2 lifts are tiny and hold a maximum of 3 persons.The hotel has a small outdoor swimming pool on the terrace and there is a small gym and sauna. There is not really any space for lounging by the pool, but our group enjoyed sitting out on the plastic chairs and having a few drinks and then dipping in the pool to cool off.Breakfast is served near reception until 10am. We had read that the breakfast buffet offers a good choice of hot and cold dishes however we were rather disappointed with the choices available. We discovered that this is pretty much a typical Brazilian buffet breakfast at 3* hotels. A few choices of bread though and marinated sausages, so I made myself a sort of sausage sandwich on a morning. My husband quite enjoyed the egg, but other than that some kind of warm quiches, a few cold meats and cheese slices... no salad though, very little fruit and not a lot else. Lots of cakes at breakfast, but just not to our taste nor the choice we are used to in other countries, Asia etc.Check-in time starts at 2pm and check-out time is noon. We requested a late check out and were told we could have the room until 6.30pm if we paid $70BRL, which we did so we could shower and change before our late night flight back home.The hotel is located in Lapa, Rio’s colourful bohemian centre, so was a great location for us as we stayed here for the week of Carnival and is very close to the Sambadrome (10 minutes walk) and many other blocos and street parties are very close nearby - Saint Theresa approx 40 minute walk away, but up a huge hill! The Lapa Arches and famous Escadaria Selarón (Selaron Steps) are also a 10 minute walk from the hotel. There is a large supermarket just over the road. Uber is available to travel further afield and is very reasonable.I would say this is a pretty decent budget 3* hotel (comparable to a good hostel), but don't expect any luxuries and rooms are rather worn and could do with a bit extra cleaning attention. Hotel is generally quite old and seems to require a lot of maintenance and a few updates, although reception area is lovely and modern. Although the location was excellent for during Carnival, I would not return as the rooms at the front of the hotel were simply too noisy to get a good nights sleep, even after the week of carnival madness had finished.

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• User:Carrie J

  Trip type: Family

  Great hotel at a great price!

  23 Apr 2018

  I stayed here for 4 nights with my husband and 3 young children. Having stayed in Rio several times before, near Copacabana, I really enjoyed staying somewhere that felt more like proper Rio surrounded by locals rather than loads of tourists. We got ubers most places so it provided a good base but the tram to Santa Teresa was a short walk away. Eating out in the evening very locally felt slightly limited with children. Though there's a great family restaurant one block diagonally opposite. The pool was a great place to hang out after a day seeing the sights, the beds were comfy, the room with clean, the balcony was spacious and the breakfast was fabulous. Polite, helpful staff, though with limited English. I would definitely stay here again and recommend it to anyone, families, couples or friends.

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• User:LaToyaV

  Trip type: Friends getaway

  Great value for money!

  12 Mar 2018

  We stayed here for the week of carnival! In my opinion it was a great location to be able to walk to most of the major bloco parties and be amongst the crazy atmosphere. The staff were lovely and very helpful - 24 hour service made you feel safe no matter what time you got in, rooms were small but clean, breakfast was simple but had variety most mornings. We didn’t need anything fancy as we spent most of our time out enjoying the events of carnival so it was perfect for us.

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• User:Richard D

  Trip type: Couples

  The price is right, the treatment is better

  21 Feb 2018

  Stayed five nights leading up to Carnaval. The staff are terrific, especially for the price. Air conditioner in room. Breakfast includes scrambled eggs, pastries, meat and cheese, and REAL Brazilian coffee.