Palacio Tangara. Sao Paulo.

It was my first time in Sao Paulo and my friend Claudio had given me a bunch of advice about where to go and what to do.

I had originally booked the Marriott Renaissance there, but decided to book elsewhere given their pretty poor approach to data security.  And then two days later the Mega Marriott data breach happened.

After a bit of research, I settled on the Palacio Tangara which wasn’t in as a good a location, but was a new property in the midst of some secluded gardens close to the business district.  It’s part of the Oetker collection of hotels, that also owns the Lanesborough in London and Le Bristol in Paris.  The same group also does frozen pizza.  Who knew? 🤷‍♂️

I’d booked using a Virtuoso agent, which meant that my rate included a confirmed upgrade to a Junior Suite, breakfast, and also $180 worth of credit in the spa.

By the time we arrived at the hotel, it was 10.00, so well before the 15.00 check-in time.  The lady at the reception called up to housekeeping to ask if it was ready, and explained that it should be done in an hour, so asked us to enjoy the hotel.

• 

• 

• 

So we sat and chilled by the rather lovely outdoor pool for an hour.  There’s also a second 25m indoor pool, sauna and steam room as well.

Around 11-ish we headed back up to reception and were handed the key to room 124.

• 

• 

• 

On entering the room, there was a small mirror and bench on the left for shoes.  A little further on there was a second hallway with an open cupboard for storing clothes and placing baggage on.

The bathroom itself was huge.  It had a massive bath, and a fabulous rain shower, with separate shower hose.  The products were the same as Lufthansa stock in the First Class lounges, and were by the Italian company, Etro.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The room itself was lovely.  There was both a mini dining table with couple of chairs, plus also a writing desk.  Being a junior suite there was a sofa at the end of the bed, and a small arm chair next to it.  On both sides of the bed there were regular 220V power sockets and dual USB ports for charging devices.

And then there was the bed.  It was so comfortable.  I basically fell into a coma sleeping in it, it was so good.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

In addition, there was also a mini bar and Nespresso machine in the room.

• 

• 

Breakfast was fabulous.  Probably the best hotel breakfast I’ve had.

The pastries.  Wow.  If you’re doing no/low carbs – don’t.  They were just amazing.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Something else?  Sure, why not.  Hot food items including some amazing bacon.  Some wonderful Brazilian cheesy puff things, a wide selection of fruit and cold cuts too.  Freshly squeezed juices were available as well.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

More?  Sure.  Eggs were available cooked to order, including omelettes and Eggs Royale.

The restaurant itself, Tangara, has a Michelin star, but we didn’t end up eating there aside from breakfast.

They did have a rather fabulous bar with an excellent bar tender.  They got the small details such as even having the hotel logo in the ice cube of the Negroni.

• 

• 

Thoughts

The Palacio Tangara was an excellent hotel.  However there were one or two hiccoughs that I wouldn’t have expected of a hotel of this calibre.

Firstly, when we checked in, the front desk explained they’d come and find us when the room was ready.  They didn’t and we had to go up there to find them.  I also would have expected them to offer us to use the showers in the gym area had we wanted to freshen up.

We asked the concierge for a dinner recommendation on the final night.  He sent us to a completely soulless restaurant in a shopping mall which while the food was good, was completely over-priced, and we almost closed the place out.  Good for a business dinner, perhaps, but it offered zero insight into Sao Paulo.  I would have done better on Trip Advisor.

But those were really tiny quibbles in what is an outstanding property.  I’d have no hesitation in coming back to what is probably one of the best hotels I’ve stayed at.