Staying at the Sheraton Grand Leblon

February 5, 2021

In this guide to staying at the Sheraton Grand Leblon, you will find all the information you need about this luxury hotel in the fabulous city of Rio de Janeiro.

Visiting Rio de Janeiro has been on my bucket list for many years so I’m not sure why it took me so long to plan a trip here. Located on the east coast of Brazil on the Atlantic Ocean, its seemingly endless white sand beaches, together with its world famous sites, lived up to and exceeded all my expectations.

In February 2020, just before COVID-19 shut down the world, I spent 4 glorious nights at the Sheraton Grand Leblon. Choosing the right hotel for your trip to Rio will help make your stay amazing as well.

Keep reading to learn about...

Staying at the Sheraton Grand Leblon

This is not a sponsored post. I paid for my hotel room, meals and activities while staying at the hotel. All opinions are my own, and are just that…opinions. Most photos are my own and photo credits have been given where not.

Getting to Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro has 2 main airports, Antonio Carlos Jobim International/Galeão (GIG) and Santos Dumont (SDU). If you are arriving on an international flight you will likely arrive at Galeão. Santos Dumont receives mostly domestic flights with some South American continental flights.

We flew in from Buenos Aires, Argentina with Azul Airlines, a Brazilian airline that serves domestic, South American continental, as well as international destinations. The service on Azul was fabulous and thus I can highly recommend them if you have the choice.

Getting From the Airport to the Sheraton Grand Leblon

From Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont Airport – Located next to downtown about 10km from the Sheraton Grand Leblon, Santos Dumont is the closest airport to the the hotel. Taxi to the hotel is around $12USD/$65BRL, and is certainly the most simple way to get there.

From Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport – Also known as Galeão International, this is Rio’s main airport, located 20km north of downtown Rio. To get to the Sheraton Grand Leblon, executive and ordinary taxis can be booked easily on arrival at the arrivals hall of both terminals for around $18-20USD/$100-110BRL.

The concierge at the hotel can also arrange airport pick ups as well as transportation back to either airport. Although I don’t remember exactly what the cost was, I believe it was around $30-40USD to get to Galeão.

Staying at the Sheraton Grand Leblon –

The Hotel

The Sheraton Grand Leblon is a luxury hotel located on a secluded bay in the neighborhood of Leblon. With 538 guestrooms and suites, it’s one of the largest hotels in Rio.

To prepare for the 2016 Olympics, the lobby, all guestrooms, restaurants, spa and pool area underwent a renovation. Five years later, the guest rooms could use a small update but the rest of the hotel is still beautiful.

It’s location at the far end of Leblon make it an ideal option for those wanting a quieter stay compared to the busier neighborhoods of Ipanema or Copacabana, while still being close enough to all the action. The hotel offers complimentary shuttle service to Leblon, Ipanema and Copacabana making it easy to get there.

With direct access to the beach from the pool area, this is the perfect choice if beach time is a top priority for your stay in Rio de Janeiro.

The Sheraton Grand is the ONLY hotel in Rio with direct beach access making it even more desirable.

Another thing that we loved about the hotel was its tropical setting. Together with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and lush forested mountains on the other, the views are spectacular whichever way you are looking.

Staying at the Sheraton Grand Leblon –

The Rooms

As I mentioned above, the last renovation took place just before the 2016 Olympics and while the rooms are nice, the carpet could use replacing.

They have a wide variety of rooms types and suites including the Club floor which gives exclusive use of the Club Lounge. In the Club Lounge you can enjoy full breakfast, afternoon tea, and evening cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.

Each of the guestrooms and suites have an ocean view and a balcony. The perfect place for a glass of wine as you watch the sun go down and the city of Rio come alive.

Rio was our last stop on our 4 week trip so we decided to splurge on an oceanfront Club Floor room. It was definitely worth it! The sunrise in the mornings was incredible and the complimentary breakfast in the Club Lounge was amazing.

If you are a Marriott Bonvoy member you can also enjoy free wifi. It’s free to sign up so I would recommend it if you are not already a member.

Daytime view from our room

Nighttime view from our room

Beautiful sunrise

Staying at the Sheraton Grand Leblon –

The Food

To be honest with you, we didn’t eat many meals at the hotel. Breakfast, along with evening hors d’oeuvres and cocktails, on the Club Floor were included with our room so we took full advantage of that. Other than that and a small poolside snack we mostly ate while we were out and about in Rio.

The Sheraton Grand Leblon has 6 dining options available to satisfy your appetite, from poolside casual to fine dining. Even though we didn’t try all of them, we heard good things from other guests. Especially about Bene and Pizza Place.

Lobby Bar – The elegant Lobby Bar is the perfect place to relax with a Caipirinha or a glass of wine and enjoy the ocean views.

Casarao – Casarao is a family friendly, beachfront BBQ and steakhouse. It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Casa da Cachaca – Beside Casarao, you can enjoy Brazilian cuisine on the poolside terrace. It’s a great spot for lunch or dinner, and a Caipirinha.

But let’s be honest now, anywhere is a great spot to enjoy a Caipirinha!

Pizza Place – Outdoor dining with amazing wood fired pizza and ice cold beer.

Bene – Excellent restaurant for breakfast and Italian dinner cuisine. And the views of the Atlantic Ocean are pretty good as well!

L’Etoile – The French inspired, Michelin rated restaurant provides a fine dining experience. It’s located on the top floor of the hotel with amazing views of the coast and only open for dinner. L’etoile is is also where guests staying on the Club Floor can enjoy full hot breakfast, including prosecco! A mimosa is the perfect way to start the day! Why not? It’s 5pm somewhere!

Staying at the Sheraton Grand Leblon –

Pool & Beach Area

The renovated spacious pool area is a tropical paradise with palm trees standing tall overhead. It’s a great area for families, with a kids infinity pool, a large pool lined with sunchairs and umbrellas for the adults, and a hot tub.

Facing the ocean, it has direct access to a stunning secluded beach. The beach area has loungers and umbrellas, and the most soft powder-like sand. Ahhhh, heaven!

Food and drink service is available poolside and on the beach from Casarao and Casa da Cachaca.

Staying at the Sheraton Grand Leblon –

The Spa

They had me at ‘spa’! Shine Spa is the perfect place to relax and unwind after a long day of site seeing or a lazy day on the beach. It offers a variety of services including massage, manicure/pedicure, facials, beauty salon and makeup services as well as steam rooms and saunas. The décor is beautiful and bright with views of the ocean from nearly every room. Pick a terrace and sip on a tea while listening to the calming sounds of the sea.

We had an amazing couples massage on our 2nd night in a beautiful room overlooking the ocean. It was heavenly! I enjoyed the massage so much that I had a 2nd massage on our last night, paired with a pedicure. Although the pedicure was a great price, it certainly was not the best I’ve had.

Staying at the Sheraton Grand Leblon

Other Services & Facilities

As a luxury, full service hotel, the following other services and facilities are also available at the Sheraton Grand Leblon:

Concierge
Room service
Fitness Centre
Tennis courts overlooking the ocean
Bike rentals
Wedding and event space
Kid’s Club
ATM onsite
Laundry/drycleaning
Self and valet parking

Staying at the Sheraton Grand Leblon –

Overall

To conclude, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Sheraton Grand Leblon. The quiet location of the hotel together with its direct beach access were among the main reasons why we chose it. It was just what we were looking for. The customer service was excellent and the hotel has everything you could possibly need. Its close proximity to Ipanema and Copacabana are a short shuttle or cab ride away. I would definitely stay here again the next time I visit.

Have you stayed at the Sheraton Grand Leblon? Let me know what you loved or hated about it in the comment section below.

Ciao for now!