"Hotel Nacional is a huge, modern and impressive looking hotel, but our stay did not get off to the best start. Check in took over 40 minutes after a long flight, and there always seemed to be queues at reception. The guy checking us took 20 minutes and seemed very slow.
We'd booked two junior suites rooms and had asked to be on the same floor so our kids could be near us, but were put around 20 floors apart and were told the hotel was full, which was annoying. When you book two rooms how hard can it be to put you together?
Our junior suites, however, were fantastic and definitely worth paying extra for. They were huge, with a large sitting room, massive bedroom, floor to ceiling windows and a luxurious bathroom.
The hotel feels modern, clean and spacious. The pool was one of the best we saw in Brazil, with lots of seating and a lovely bar area. The beach outside is also beautiful and much quieter than Ipanema or Copacabana.
Food was fairly average. The buffet had lots of choice but much of it was only lukewarm, and breakfast was similar. Vegetarian hot options were limited.
We also found the staff throughout quite impersonal and not especially friendly.
The location is peaceful but you are reliant on Uber as there is very little nearby apart from a supermarket and a rather empty shopping mall.
Despite the service issues, we loved the room, pool and quieter setting and would definitely stay again."
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