A friend and I (females, mid 20s) are going to Rio de Janiero at the end of the month and I can use my "friends and family" discount to book at the JW Marriott Hotel in Copacabana for $84/night. Has anyone stayed here? How is the area? This is our first trip to Brazil so were looking for any help we can get! Thanks in advance!

I have been in that hotel many many times, it's new and real nice. The area is very nice in Copacabana and it is beachfront, they have their own set up on the beach for chairs and security, very nice.

Thank you so much! I will definitly be booking the room!

For hanging out on the beach you may well prefer Ipanema, as well as for shopping and eating. You can take taxis, they are all over, to Ipanema for the beach and rent chairs/umbrella there, inexpensively. To start you can head to Posto No. 9, plant yourself there and watch the world go by. Have fun, Rio is terrific.

The Copacaba Palace is a beautiful hotel. A classic in the past, totally remodeled now. Very nice place.

I am not sure if I am talking of the same hotel, the one I stayed was the COPACABANA PALACE

Sorry, my mistake, the Copacabana Palace and the Marriot Copacabana are two different hotels

Hi,
I have not stayed there but have seen it and it looks great. I was traveling with my girlfriend there in 2003 and needed to find a hotel. I swung by that Marriott but it was like $200/night or something. Ended up getting a nice room at the Hotel Copacabana for $45/night which included hot breakfast for two. It ended up being cheaper because I went through a local travel office than if I had walked in there myself. Anyhow, that $84 rate sounds great for such a nice Marriott. Enjoy- make sure to go to Sugar Loaf Mountain, check out Christ the Redeemer (you can do that with a taxi- it's cheap and you have a lot of freedom), and I recommend a soccer game at Stadium Maracana. Beware of local shacks selling drinks- my girlfriend got the date rape drug put in one of hers and passed out and we had to go to the hospital- not sure if both drinks were drugged and they affected us differently or if just hers was. I think the drink was from a shcak by Copacaban Beach. Non-legit businesses will do that so toursist pass out on beach, then they rob them when they're passed out. Just be careful- other than that, we had no problems.
Best, honeymoon in BA

The Marriott is in a great location and the place looks good. Copacabana is ok during the day but not really good at night because of all the " girls" that offer their services. Hang out in Ipanema instead.