Have been long time Regent supporters but this time they have dropped the ball. The hotel they have selected in Rio de Janeiro is less than the usual standard that Regent provided in the past. The Royal Tulip was recently and Intercontinential. It is an old hotel in need of an update. While I take trip advisor reviews with a large grain of salt, this place is consistantly getting lousy reviews. Don't want to hear it's not clean. Have talked to Regent but their is nothing they can do since this the only hotel they are using. Must have gotten a great deal since it books on line for less than $200 a night. I think they are being pennywise and pound foolish. Know I can book on our own and would usually do this but want the convience and safety of letting Regent take care of everything. Rio is not one of our favorite cities as far as feeling safe is concerned. Last time we were there we had armed tourist police with our bus everywhere we went. Just venting. Won't let it spoil the trip but am concerned that a bean counter is looking at the bottom line again and the client be damned. Lots of rooms available in the top hotels so this is not a reason.

Sorry to hear this Pam - like you I take TA with grain of salt BUT many lousy reviews disheartening....I, too, did NOT like Rio others may differ -

Pam, I understand your pain. I had a number of issues with destinations on Navigator in October. Folks need to know that there are issues with destinations/ground arrangements.

One issue was that at least two of the "paid" excursions that were $99 in advance were only $89 on ship. Even if you are not planning to cancel and rebook to take advantage of shipboard credit, you should check to see if price is cheaper.

There was a museum visit to Peabody Museum that showed a retail price of $299 that was sold for $99. It provided transportation to museum and then a ticket with a value of $15. I thought they would catch their error but never did.

The destinations desk on Navigator had no interest in hearing any feedback. They had a form letter wherein they used a different font for port and tour name so you could see that they didn't even try to make personalised.

I, too, like porterage and the convenience of using Regent ground arrangements but may need to rethink that.

Have bitten the bullet. Have now booked Santa Teresa a Chateau and Relais hotel. Not cheap but got a good deal with breakfast and free internet. Terrace with a hammock and what looks like a great spa and pool area. Super menu in rest. Will deal with transfers later. In the end will not be much more than our $600 credit and we will be on our time schedule not Regent.

GOOD for you Pam now you can relax!!!!!!

What cruise are you on? I'm on the Feb 25 Mariner Rio-to-FLL cruise and Regent is putting us up in the Sheraton Rio, not the Royal Tulip, which was an Intercon. until a few months ago.

We stayed at the Sheraton Rio for several nights and did enjoy it. Its actually in Leblon and its just past Ipanema beach so you would need a taxi to go down to Copacabana beach and that area. The views from the hotel are amazing, the hotel is on the cheaper side compared to some of the other hotels in the area..

Really!! They than misspoke the truth when Andrea at Regent said that was the only Hotel they were using. Lucky you. Never great to stay at a hotel in a changeover. We are happy with our decision just not happy with Regent. At least the Sheraton is a known quanity. That is the cruise we are on. It will be a good cruise so I will not let this blip spoil it. Maybe we will meet on board. Cabin 836. Just drop us a note if you want to meet for drinks or dinner.

Pam, even on the Regent website, it lists Sheraton Rio as their hotel for all 2011 and 2012 cruises and it's been that way for months. My Regent voucher also says the same although the Intercont was listed on the original voucher when I booked the cruise in March. The Sheraton, though, is definitely not a "luxury" hotel, by any means so you are smart not to be staying there. Did Andrea at Regent recently tell you Regent is using the Royal Tulip? Now I'm starting to get worried.

I'm in Cabin 972 on this cruise. I see we are almost neighbors when we're not traveling..... we live in Raleigh.

Just got a notice from them two days ago that our hotel was the Royal Tulip. Glad also we made the change. It seems most hotels in Rio are pretty sorry. Would love to see you on the ship. My Husband spent 4 years long ago in Raleigh.

Just a little clarity on how the hotels work. On the $300 pp credit or the one night pre hotel night there are no options to select your hotel.

Usually one hotel (Standard suites) one hotel (premium suites)or if only ONE hotel the premium guests get an upgrade.

Once a hotel fills with the block Regent takes they often change hotels for additional guests, both for the standard and premium guests. The reservationist who answer the phones can ONLY see the current hotel being offered. So the would not know (unless they just remembered and that would be unlikely with all the bookings and hotels all over the world) if any other hotel had ever been offered.

Often if you are concerned about the hotel you are staying in it is better to do your own hotel. Usually hotels can offer a transfers service (for a fee of course) from the airport to the hotel and call a taxi or organize a transfer for the hotel to ship transfer.

Understand Ngaire but usually Regent hotels are pretty good. Andrea did take this up the line to higher ups so I'm assuming (and we do know that does), that this person might have access to other information. She did tell me we would have a standard room. Have a little more sympathy for Regent since the pickings in Rio seem pretty slim especially if you need alot of rooms. Don't know how they are going to deal with Soccer and Oympics but maybe there are some major renovations in the works. Happy with our decision. We will take the money and run. See you in Jan.