After a planned trip flight rescheduling to the Maldives was doomed to hell, as well as some doubts about international testing and segregation, I decided to return to Brazil on a recent vacation.
This time, however, I felt it would be better to take a break from the beaches and bars of Rio de Janeiro and move to Sao Paulo, the country’s economic capital instead.
Despite being such a vibrant metropolis, not too many hotels can be booked at the points, although the few that do exist usually have great locations. As we will see, Renaissance Sao Paulo Exceeded my expectations.
Renaissance Sao Paulo – Booking
I booked my stay here just before the very sad move for the dynamic price of the Marriott Forest Fear. As a Division 4 property, the Renaissance was a very reasonable one before S সাo Paulo 20,000–30,000 Marriott Forest Fear Points.
When one considers that a night is built here, it goes on US $ 225–300 And charged on that currency (instead of the local Brazilian real), I thought it was a great use of a little over 55,000 forest dot points. I clicked on my Marriott Forest Fear app and booked in a matter of seconds without any hassle.
During my date, rooms are going to cost US $ 244 per night, so I scored a redemption value of 1.1 cents per point – not as a knockout of my preferred rate, but still above our current price of 0.9 cents per point.
Book the Marriott Hotel with the Prince of Travel
Renaissance Sao Paulo – Location
Sao Paulo reminds me of Toronto, my birthplace. In fact, if the signs were not in Portuguese and randomly scratched tropical plants and animals, you would be hard pressed to distinguish End (Locals call it) from Big Smoke.
Gray concrete and cluttered cosmic life spanned everywhere, and since I chose to be in the heart of the business quarters, there were plenty of shopping centers, skyscrapers, and smartly dressed professionals in tropical business casual attire.
As always in Brazil, there may be security concerns, but I visited the area without any real problems. And for those of you who adore Ronaldo, he has a complete exhibition dedicated to him Football Museum Directly north of the hotel.
Renaissance Sao Paulo – Check in
The front of the hotel is not as beautiful as the interior, but there is plenty of space in front for you to get off for a taxi or Uber. I would definitely recommend the latter, as it is quite cheap and highly reliable.
On the other hand, the lobby is really nice. For the first time in South America, I felt like I was walking into a modern luxury property, accented with gold and black marble.
The lobby has multiple seating areas where you can go back and relax, as well as an all-day bite and a sushi bar.
There is also an area dedicated to sitting and talking and as a Renaissance-branded hotel, an entertainment ambassador who acts as a doorman and can recommend local activities or save you dinner.
After taking all this, I made my way to the front desk. The staff, and indeed most of the guests, were quite helpful and spoke excellent English, and had no problem thanking me for my Titanium Elite status.
I was offered a large room downstairs or a room with two double beds upstairs. I chose the latter with an apology for my broken Portuguese, which I am now studying with some intensity in Duolingo.
Before heading upstairs, I took in the sights on the first floor, realizing how much open space there was for guests and how perfectly it was laid out.
Then, I made my way to the beautiful circular lift system and climbed to see the room.
Renaissance Sao Paulo – High Floor Two Double Rooms
Room 2506 is on the top floor of the hotel. But before I got to my room, I knew I was in Sওo Paulo when I saw that the hotel had a helipad.
Brazilian traffic is not equally known in the world, and Sao Paulo traffic is the top predator of that particular species. Therefore, wealthy patrons who can stay here should be able to come and go in their spare time.
As a North American, it’s a little exotic for me, but it’s interesting to see such features in high-end property.
Then it was my turn to enter the room.
My accommodations were a bit small, though not as cramped as some European hotels.
The walls also had a decent thickness, so I didn’t have to listen to my neighbors’ insults or impose my own on them.
Despite the modernity of the lobby, I can say that the houses must be a little older because of the design of their connecting doors.
The beds here are firmly in the budget range. Maybe the Latin American sizes are different, because they must have seemed twice as big, even twin or even bigger than the full-size mattress I owned, but not as big as the Queen.
There was also a small desk area to hold laptops if needed.
A snack tray and minibar have been unveiled on the other side of the desk and television area.
Although many hotels, including luxury properties, have discontinued these in the era of Uber Eats (or use InstaFood as in Brazil), the added benefit, albeit with ridiculous markup, has been complimented by my intoxicated 5am alternative arrogance.
Also, the Nespresso machine worked wonders for me when I was recovering from a miserable condition in the morning.
The bathroom was probably the most beautiful part of the whole room, complete with all the marble accents, including a shower and a large tub.
Toilet setup includes a bidet. I have never seen this item in a low-income Brazilian property before, so its inclusion was a surprising bonus.
Renaissance Sao Paulo – Breakfast
Breakfast was served in the hotel’s Club Lounge, located on the 23rd floor, on weekdays from 7am to 10:30 am and on weekends from 7am to 11am.
I felt that this was the “standard fare” for most Latin American hotels, but I felt that the individual dishes could be the same as those served elsewhere, but the quality was much higher.
The croissants, for example, tasted a bit fresh, while the ham did not have a strangely ill glaze as I have seen in other hotels. Such items Cheese bread (Brazilian cheesecake) It seemed more fulfilling than anything I had ever seen in a city restaurant.
Served buffet-style, I still feel that pastries were the highlight of the offer, although self-serving espresso was a much-needed pick-me-up in my house after the previous three nespressos. If it can only cure headaches.
Renaissance Sao Paulo – Club Lounge
Hotel Club Lounge Anyone pays for lounge access as part of their room rate or Marriott Forest Fear Platinum Elite members and above.
A nice component of this hotel is that access to the lounge was all day long, and there were no locks or other barriers in the drink cabinets, if you want beer or guarana, my favorite soft drink, anytime you want.
The lounge has a fun time every day from 5pm to 8pm, with lots of canaps and hearty rentals. You can easily have a full dinner here without any problems.
I found quite good quality, a solid cut Ramp steak On top of anything in Canada with the name “Maple Leaf” on it.
Renaissance Sao Paulo – Dining
The hotel prides itself on 24-hour room service, if this is your type of meal. There is also a lounge bar, which serves meals daily from 6am to 11pm and has a sushi bar.
Sushi is a huge deal due to the large number of Japanese expatriates living in Sao Paulo, so I doubt they are quite good, but I haven’t tried.
I name their in-house restaurant anyway Terrace Garden. It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever eaten.
It should be noted that this contains odd hours, which I was sometimes warned to move randomly according to the booking for a public holiday or special event. Be sure to check before you go.
I had a local seafood stew. Alas, it looked much prettier than the taste, but it was still delicious, lacking a little heat and spice for my taste.
Again, I kicked myself for lack of Portuguese because when the manager was fluent in English, I didn’t have a waiter and I didn’t want to create a scene.
Renaissance Sao Paulo – Other benefits
The hotel boasts a complete spa level on the third floor, which is incredible to see and smell.
There’s also a gym there, but my blurry pictures don’t judge. There is a personal trainer among the staff who is older than me and looks like he knows Jiu-Jitsu, so I took his friendly advice not to take any more pictures while in session with the client.
Instead, I made my way to the roof pool area. It was lonely, probably due to cloudy weather, which was cold by local standards.
Conclusion
I was pleasantly surprised to find Renaissance in S সাo Paulo. For a while, I resigned myself to the idea that the idea of a luxurious hotel had been killed by COVID and that only the super-rich could again act as valued guests.
Instead, I found a well-designed and renovated hotel with a nice location.
Hard products were highly competitive even if it was a bit old. The hotel staff was extremely helpful and accommodated all my requests during the day and night.
The next time I enter, I must return to Renaissance Sওo Paulo EndWhich is expected to happen later this year.
