Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro Review: Beachfront Bliss, but Far From Attractions

The Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro has a beautiful beachfront location, making it perfect for those seeking a relaxing getaway in this seaside Brazilian city.

However, there’s a tradeoff: It’s far from Zona Sul, where the main attractions are concentrated, such as Copacabana Beach, Sugarloaf Mountain and the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking the city. That distance could be a dealbreaker for tourists who want to be in the middle of the action.

I spent two nights at the Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro in March 2025. Here’s what it was like.

The Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro has 436 rooms, including 43 suites, and is in the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood, west of Zona Sul. The resort property sits across the street from Barra da Tijuca Beach, meaning you can get from your room to the sand in minutes. On the other side is the Marapendi lagoon, a nature preserve filled with wildlife and mangroves.

It’s more secluded and less crowded than hotels near Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, but it comes at the cost of inconvenience. If you’re looking to visit major tourist attractions in Zona Sul, budget a travel time of at least 30 minutes each way, although weekday traffic can push that up closer to an hour. However, Ubers are cheap and plentiful in Rio de Janeiro, making it relatively easy to get around.

I was in Rio for four nights, so I opted to spend my first two nights at the Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro before moving on to an Airbnb in Zona Sul. If you have a longer Rio vacation, this property might also be a relaxing way to end your trip.

If you’re looking to do some retail therapy, head to nearby Barra Shopping, a retail complex with its own Statue of Liberty replica. Yes, I did a double take the first time I saw it on the way to the hotel!

The Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro has a modern and brutalist vibe, with an imposing concrete, glass and steel exterior.

However, it’s juxtaposed against lush plants around the property, including numerous palm trees scattered around the entrance and pool area.

There’s plenty of seating in the hotel’s public spaces, including a cavernous room with a skylight and floor-to-ceiling greenery wall.

I loved the whimsical geometric pattern found in the lobby’s mosaic floors. The design was inspired by Roberto Burle Marx, a prominent Brazilian landscape architect known for his wavy mosaic design found on the Copacabana promenade.

That playful pattern is repeated throughout the property, including on the guest floors, which I thought was a nice touch.

Overall, I felt the decor really exemplified the fun, easygoing and carefree spirit of Cariocas, referring to the residents of Rio.

Because the hotel is so large, there are multiple elevator banks throughout the property, and you’ll need to find the right elevator to reach certain places, such as the kids club and pet area.

The Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro offers a few dining options, whether you want to eat in your room, at a restaurant or by the pool.

The hotel’s breakfast is served in Tano, which is open from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. each day except for Saturday, when it closes at 11 a.m. My booking didn’t come with breakfast, so I opted to pay an extra 105 Brazilian reais (about $18) a day for breakfast during check-in.

The morning spread included fresh fruits and juices, an omelette station, a baked goods section, cured meats and cheeses, and other breakfast staples like bacon and eggs. Don’t miss the pao de queijo (Brazilian cheese bread) — a must-try when you’re in Brazil.

Lunch and dinner are served in Canto Gastro & Lounge, which also does the poolside food and drinks service. The restaurant offers indoor dining, as well as an outdoor patio facing the pool area. If you sit inside, you’ll find a giant art panel with geometric designs inspired by Burle Marx.

I didn’t have a chance to dine here, but the menu looked good with Brazilian fare and many small dishes to share.

Instead, I opted for dinner at Shiso, the Japanese restaurant that offers a six-course omakase set for 400 Brazilian reais (~$70). There’s also an a la carte menu, if that’s more your speed.

The omakase set included a lot of food, and I was definitely stuffed by the end. The highlights for me were the friendly service and the generous use of bluefin tuna throughout the meal.

Those looking for 24/7 options can check out Quiosque, which sells pastries, fruits, snacks, alcoholic beverages, soft drinks and sundries.

I booked a standard room with a king bed and saw on the day of check-in that I had been upgraded to a room with an ocean view. That’s more or less what I expected as a Discoverist member, the lowest tier of Hyatt elite status that I get as a perk of holding the World of Hyatt Credit Card.

The last hotel I stayed at was a business hotel in Tokyo where my suitcase took up most of the floor space in the tiny room, so my room here felt extremely spacious.

When you first enter, there’s a small foyer with closets on the left and an entrance to the bathroom on the right.

There’s also a balcony; although I didn’t use it much, it was a convenient place to hang wet clothes to dry after a day at the beach.

The room decor was simple but tasteful, and there were ample electrical outlets for charging devices. If you forget to bring your travel adapter, there are two USB ports under the TV.

The room also comes with a stocked mini fridge, a Nespresso machine, a safe, an iron and a water boiler. Other amenities like slippers, dental kits, mouthwash and combs can be ordered through the Hyatt app.

There are also robes in the room, as well as plenty of storage space.

The bathroom layout is interesting, with two floor-to-ceiling sliding doors that face either the room’s entrance or the bed. The outside of the doors are equipped with full-length mirrors, a smart design choice that makes the room feel larger.

Inside, the bathroom has a sink, a bathtub, a toilet room and a shower room.

Bath amenities are by Granado, Brazil’s oldest pharmacy and once the official pharmacy of the Brazilian royal family. The brand even has a small retail branch located next to the hotel’s spa and fitness center.

Although the layout worked, I found it to be a little strange. For example, the toilet room seemed way too large for what it was, while the bathtub was a little small.

The Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro is a Category 3 property. That means award pricing for a standard room ranges between 9,000 and 15,000 Hyatt points.

For my two-night stay at the hotel, I transferred Chase Ultimate Rewards® points at a 1:1 ratio to top off my Hyatt account. I then used Hyatt’s Pay My Way feature to book one night using 9,000 points and the second night — priced at 15,000 points — with a free night certificate earned from a recent World of Hyatt Credit Card welcome bonus.

Welcome bonuses change often, but the current bonus on the card is: Earn up to 60,000 Bonus Points. Earn 30,000 Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Plus, up to 30,000 more Bonus Points by earning 2 Bonus Points total per $1 spent in the first 6 months from account opening on purchases that normally earn 1 Bonus Point, on up to $15,000 spent.

Cash rates for a standard room with a king bed fluctuated between $265 to $315 a night while I was deciding whether to book my stay. If I valued my free night certificate at 15,000 points, that means I redeemed my Hyatt points for about 2.2 to 2.6 cents per point. While not my best redemption, I’d still consider it respectable, considering NerdWallet values Hyatt points at 2.2 cents per point.

Because I booked an award redemption, I was also off the hook for the daily resort fee of 85 Brazilian reais (roughly $15). Hyatt is one of the few hotel programs that waive resort fees on points bookings, which makes their points even more valuable.

For those looking for something larger than a standard room, you can book oceanfront suites starting at 18,000 points a night — which I thought was an incredible deal, albeit a bit excessive for my solo trip.

There are two pools at the Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro. The main one is larger with cabanas for rent, pool chairs and umbrellas. It’s open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

There’s also a smaller pool with an adults-only sundeck. While I saw people lounging around here, it was definitely less busy than the main pool.

If you’d rather head straight for the beach, you can use a special access door by the pool area that’s also open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. You’ll also find an outdoor shower by the door that you can use to rinse off sand after coming back from the beach.

Beach service with sunbeds, parasols and towels is available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Although I hate resort fees, I was impressed by the resort activities offered by the Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro.

During my stay, I participated in a ferry ride on the Marapendi lagoon. The tour was led by a biologist, and it was surprisingly educational for a free hotel activity. She pointed out various birds and animals as we explored the lagoon for an hour. It was a great time, and we even spotted an alligator in the water.

You can participate in other activities throughout the week, including a sushi class, a cachaca tasting (cachaca is a Brazilian distilled spirit) and a class where you learn to make a caipirinha, the popular Brazilian cocktail. Kids can participate in a “Chocolate Factory” themed activity led by the hotel’s pastry chef.

There are also a variety of fitness classes you can join, from morning runs to yoga and stretching classes.

There is a Grand Club Lounge at the Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro, but it’s not accessible to everyone.

To access the lounge, you need to purchase a room or suite with club access, apply a Guest of Honor or Club Access Award to your reservation, or be a Globalist member, the highest Hyatt elite status level.

The lounge offers a breakfast buffet and afternoon cocktail hour. There’s also free coffee, tea and beverages available throughout the day. Located on the hotel’s top floor, the Grand Club Lounge has panoramic views of the beach and lagoon.

I would have had to pay an extra 5,000 points per night for club access, which I value at more than $100 for two nights, so I opted to pay the cheaper breakfast upcharge instead.

Those traveling with children will appreciate the kids club at this property, featuring a baby area, a ball pit, a slide, a trampoline, and video and arcade games. There’s also air hockey and a ping pong table.

Here, you’ll also find an outdoor area for pets to run around. The hotel is pet-friendly, allowing guests to bring up to two small dogs per room for 120 Brazilian reais (about $21) per night.

The Atiaia spa and fitness center is located on the hotel’s lower level. I didn’t get a chance to use the spa facilities, but treatments include body massages and facials.

The fitness center is open 24/7. I found the gym to be well-equipped, with free weights, exercise machines, treadmills, ellipticals and stationary bikes.

There was also a movement studio with plyometric jump boxes, kettlebells and yoga mats.

If you’d prefer to get a workout outdoors, guests can rent a bicycle for free each day for an hour. There are bike paths along the beach, making this a fun and scenic ride.

I had great interactions with the hotel staff, including one agent in particular who I saw every time I went to the front desk. Since I arrived at night and hadn’t planned any activities, she helped me look up train ticket availability to visit Christ the Redeemer the next morning and even offered to print out my tickets after I purchased them.

She also confirmed a 2 p.m. late checkout the night before — a perk of being a Discoverist elite member — despite a large conference group arriving that day.

There’s a separate elite check-in line for World of Hyatt members, although I didn’t use it because the lobby was empty when I arrived. The check-out process is also easy. Just drop your hotel key card and towel card in a box at the front desk on your way out.

However, not everything was great. I wasn’t offered a welcome drink at check-in, and after I returned home, I saw my eligible spend for points earning was lower than I expected. Thankfully, a helpful Hyatt customer service representative fixed that during a quick five-minute phone call.

The fastest and easiest way to get to the Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro is by Uber, whether you’re coming from one of Rio’s major airports or from Zona Sul.

My Uber from the Santos Dumont Airport was roughly $18, while my trips to and from Zona Sul were typically around $9. If you’re looking to save, consider trying out Uber Moto, a motorcycle taxi service that can offer great deals.

It’s also possible to take public transportation to Zona Sul via buses or the metro. However, the hotel isn’t that close to the metro stop, so taking the metro didn’t seem worth the hassle.

The Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro is a resort property that sits across the street from the beach, offering guests easy access to the water. The service was friendly, the room was comfortable and the amenities were top-notch.

However, the biggest downside to staying at this hotel is its distance from Rio’s most popular attractions. If you’re looking for a beach staycation, it’s a viable option, but if you’re looking to explore, you might want to look in the Zona Sul neighborhood, or at least be prepared for lengthy but inexpensive Uber rides.