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Sao Paulo · Hotel shortlist

The best hotels on the waterfront in Sao Paulo

Andres Molina

Andres Molina Latin America

Updated 1 September 2026 · 90 Sao Paulo hotels assessed

These are my five favourites in Sao Paulo, out of the 90 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.9 down to 4.6.

Hotel Laghetto Stilo São Paulo is the one I would book myself.

Hotel Laghetto Stilo São Paulo

Highest rated of the five

Hotel Laghetto Stilo São Paulo

★★★★★4.9 from 1,807 reviews

Hotel Laghetto Stilo São Paulo comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.9 from 1,807 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.

It is a 5 star property, found under city centre and around $266 a night on the dates we checked.

90 hotels in Sao Paulo qualified for this list and five made it. Renaissance Sao Paulo Hotel is the one I would book if the first is full.

Why it works for this trip

  • Spatreatment rooms on site, no booking a taxi for it
  • Air conditioningthe one that decides a summer trip
  • Restaurantdinner downstairs on the night you land
  • Bara drink without going back out
  • Gymopen to guests, not a partner pass down the road

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All five, ranked

  1. Hotel Laghetto Stilo São Paulo1

    Hotel Laghetto Stilo São Paulo

    ★★★★★4.9 from 1,807 reviews

    • Spa
    • Gym
    • Restaurant
    • Bar
    • Parking
    • Pet friendly

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  2. Renaissance Sao Paulo Hotel2

    Renaissance Sao Paulo Hotel

    ★★★★★4.7 from 11,842 reviews

    • Pool
    • Spa
    • Gym
    • Restaurant
    • Bar
    • Parking

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  3. InterContinental Sao Paulo3

    InterContinental Sao Paulo

    ★★★★★4.7 from 4,019 reviews

    • Pool
    • Spa
    • Gym
    • Restaurant
    • Bar
    • Parking

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  4. Rosewood São Paulo4

    Rosewood São Paulo

    ★★★★★4.7 from 2,747 reviews

    • Pool
    • Spa
    • Gym
    • Restaurant
    • Bar
    • Parking

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  5. Grand Mercure São Paulo Ibirapuera5

    Grand Mercure São Paulo Ibirapuera

    ★★★★★4.6 from 3,581 reviews

    • Pool
    • Spa
    • Gym
    • Restaurant
    • Bar
    • Parking

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How this list was put together

90 Sao Paulo hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating, then on class, and took the top five.

Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.

The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.

What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.

Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.

Andres Molina

Andres Molina Latin America

Field seasons take him to cloud forests, and he adds two weeks of his own on either end to see the country rather than just the research site. Nine countries in Latin America.

Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.