In mid 19th century, long before air-conditioning, rainy Petrópolis was once where the Brazilian imperial family hid from hideous Rio de Janeiro summers, and where its descendants can be found, living off of unjustifiable taxes the city's inhabitants have to pay to this day to their founding fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, dogs and parrots.

The heating unit is quite noisy and the control unit is hidden away in a drawer for some reason.

It only should have more air circulation.

but having come from Rio's well-starched Copacabana Palace, I was surprised.

Unlike the JW Marriott in Copacabana, the buffet does not have a fruit bar.

Excellent location, excellent food, in a sophisticated place with very beautiful decoration, featuring watercolors pictures of animals of the Brazilian flora.

we didn't expect such a beautiful architecture .

This magnificent neoclassic manor was built in 1875, by a wealth coffee merchant, and after totally restored and renovated, the former "Solar D. Afonso" (named after a deceased Imperial prince) was converted into a beautiful and charming hotel: "Solar do Império"!

My second point for improvement would be the lighting in the restaurant in the evening, which is much too bright and does nothing to create the right atmosphere.

You can see that they care about the details, chocolate in the bed to receive you,  piano playing in the nigh, everthing to create a good environment, more interesting when going with your girlfriend/ boyfriend.

Dining room was pleasant with beautiful painted wallpaper

The evening meal was somewhat forgettable and the restaurant lacked atmosphere, perhaps just because the lighting was very bright.

For a couple of days we felt like nobles in this authentic old colonial styled residence.

In the bright side, the hotel staff is very kind, helpful and professional, breakfast is simple

A marvelous set up and architecture on the imperial city of Petropolis, very close to Rio de Janeiro! Outstanding service, rooms on the second floor are good,

The dining room is charming in its decor.

This hotel matches it's surroundings perfectly.

Very nice garden, great, stylish restaurant, with delicious food. Staff very polite and helpful
I spent week there and in fact, I don’t like that hotel… Bars in windows, security everywhere (however very nice guys!)

The main structure is really amazing, charmingly restored and original.

Each room is spacious, wonderfully decorated with a king sized bed.

we apreciate fitness room and swimming pool !

We had good massages and used the small pool after sightseeing.

Very 'colonial' feel about the place and so typical of the dozens of building nearby and all around Petropolis
Small outdoor swimming pool and lovely grounds.

Stayed at Solar for five nights recently and enjoyed every aspect of my stay: the location is wonderful, within walking distance of all Petropolis' downtown tourist sites; the facility is wonderful, I especially enjoyed the 24-hour pool and sauna facillities; and the service is wonderful,

Plus: warm swimming pool, caipirinha in the entrance, dinner quality, room, breakfast menu, service in the whole.

The hotel also has a pool, sauna, and spa services.

They have a fitness center, an indoor and an outdoor pool, an option of old-world or new-world rooms (if you have a choice, stay in the old world ones).

Picadinho a Dom Pedro, canja do imperador, torta do imperador( cheesecake with berries), Nice place to have a special meal!

It was advertised as Chicken breast on a rosti with sage sauce and Brie cheese.

Both hotel and restaurant teams were lovely and helpful.

The lunch we had was better food than any we had in Rio.

Highly recommend the restaurant at which we enjoyed a fantastic dinner.

At its restaurant, "Imperatriz Leopoldina", we loved Belgian Chef Bertand Materne's exquisite and delicious menu, as well as the delicately painted walls, with nature and animal scenes, by French artist Dominique Jardy.

The staff were great and the restaurant in the hotel was very good.

I have once again had the oportunity to visit the Leopoldina restaurant and have noticed to my satisfaction that the standard of the service in special has still the same excellent level as during my last visit.

The food is excellent and nicely presented.

Breakfast was great and food at restaurant was excellent too!

If you are looking for somewhere nice to eat bordeaux restaurant knocks this one flat.

but would be enhanced by lower lighting and candles on the tables.

It is next door to a busy street with city buses going through all night long and, to make matters worse, it has a taxi stop right under our window where the drivers start speaking loud at 6am.

No taxis needed unlike some of the cheaper accommodation  options.

After waiting almost an hour and making 3 phone calls to request them we gave up and headed to the reception ourselves.

We were asked - through our guide, in Portuguese - to wait ten minutes as the room wasn't ready yet.

Due to its privileged location, from "Solar do Império" we could easily walk all over the historical city center and its many attractions.

- and a few minutes' walk from the Palacio Imperial which is the must-see attraction.

Location is excellent, you can park your car when you arrive and forget it, all attractions can be reached within 20 minutes walking.

Other walks will take you to the Bohemia beer museum and cafe with the Crystal Palace nearby, and to the interesting and quirky hill-side home of Santos Dumont, Brazil's pioneer flyer contemporary with the Wright brothers.

This is the place to stay in Petropolis:
you can walk to all the tourist places and see on your way the old mansions.

It's one of the few places left in Rio where you can walk around carefree at night.

Located in the historical center, you can walk to Imperial Museum, Casa de Santos Dumont, flower watch and Crystal Palace.

but our room was enormous with working wifi and Sky TV, good water pressure and a limited but good quality breakfast in the price.

However, when you look closely, you see the issues - for example, the indoor pool area is disgusting; not sure when that water was last cleaned.

Jan, 1, 2022