Windsor Guanabara Hotel
A rooftop pool and sauna near Rio's cultural centre
About this hotel
Windsor Guanabara Hotel sits close to Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil and the historic Igreja Nossa Senhora da Candelária, a genuine taxi or rideshare ride from Piscinão de Ramos rather than a nearby option. The hotel's own rooftop pool and sauna give the stay its own recovery rhythm on days that stay closer to the city, and breakfast handles the morning before a bay pool outing. A 9.0 rating from nearly ten thousand reviews gives real weight to the score, one of the largest and most consistent review bases among the hotels covered here. Pet-friendly status extends the stay to families travelling with a dog. Its scale, backed by nearly ten thousand reviews, means service stays consistent even during Rio's busiest travel weeks, a real advantage over smaller boutique alternatives on quieter but less predictable weeks.
- Rooftop pool
- Sauna
- Near cultural sites
- Large review base
Our take
This suits a family wanting a large, consistently well-rated hotel near Rio's cultural landmarks, with genuine recovery amenities for the evenings after a demanding pool day. It's less suited to anyone hoping for a boutique or intimate stay over a bigger business hotel. Book it for the consistency that a large, well-reviewed hotel delivers, especially across a longer multi-night Rio stay with a full itinerary.
- ✓Book the sauna for an evening slot after your Piscinão de Ramos day, since demand builds through the week.
- ✓Confirm breakfast timing in advance if planning an early departure for the bay pool.
- ✓Ask about pet-friendly room locations if travelling with a dog, since not every floor may accommodate one.
Why we love it
- Rooftop pool and sauna
- Strong 9.0 rating from ~10,000 reviews
- Near Rio's cultural landmarks
- Pet-friendly status
Why guests love itThe sauna became our evening ritual after long days out, including the one we spent at Piscinão de Ramos, which took a solid taxi ride each way. The rooftop pool was busier than we expected given the hotel's size, but never uncomfortably so, and the location near Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil made for easy walking on our non-pool days. Breakfast was consistent every morning, which mattered more than we thought it would with two hungry kids on a packed itinerary.