Step out of the door and a quick right takes you onto spiffy Avenida Atlantica. Cross the lanes of traffic and you can run your toes through the sands of the most famous beach in the world. If you are staying at Debret you can be up, swimming in the Atlantic or joining in with a game of volleyball all before you settle down to breakfast.

I cannot recommend this place enough. It is in the heart of Copacabana near the western Ipanema/Aproador end and overlooks the famous Avenida Atlantica and the beach. From it's 11th floor restaurant you can see the entire length of the half-moon beach with the Sugarloaf in the distance and you have easy access to some of the best nightlife in Brazil. But best of all, Debret does not cost more then £30/$45 a night.

It is smack in the middle of the action within walking distance of the famous 'HELP' discotheque (owned by football genius Ronaldo) and the nightlife of Copacabana and Ipanema. Built on the corner of Avenida Atlantica and Rua Feirrera which leads to the main street of Avenida NS Copacabana and on the main bus route to Centro. Every taxi driver in Rio knows it and it costs about 50 reals to reach Copacabana from the airport. Uniformed doormen stand guard and summon taxis or carry luggage for a small tip. Reception is manned by proffessionals and the lobby itself is pleasant with picture windows, leather armchairs and paintings of Rio.

The standard rooms are reasonable. They are of a good size with picture window (the more expensive rooms have views of Copacabana beach), air-conditioning, spacious bathroom, power-shower, fridge and huge bed. The fridge will be full of soft drinks and beers, and you will be tempted by the complimentary chocolates. These are not free and if you indulge then it will be added to your bill at the end of your stay. There is also a room safe for another 10 reals, it is best to take full advantage of this and securely lock your passport, money and camera away each day.

But the highlight for me was the restaurant on the 11th floor. Take the elevator to the 10th and then walk up one flight of stairs. Breakfast comes free with the price of the room and they lay on quite a spread. The choice will be ham, cheese, spicy sausage, cake, hot chocolate and fresh guava juice. But the best part is the view through the gigantic picture windows (see photo) where the whole spread of Copacabana beach is laid out below you for 4km. The green mountains dip into the sea and the rounded mound of the Sugarloaf dominates the horizon.

As you sip your coffee, a view like this reminds you why you were inspired to come to Rio in the first place.

There were a lot of MTV type shows with blond carioca hosts and German last names, and dubbed American movies. Brazil has quite an interesting history of immigration from various parts of Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean, which explains the mix of people. It was fun turning on the closed captioning on the cable tv, following along the subtitles, and figuring out Portuguese slang words.

There's a great, free all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet on the rooftop restaurant of the Debret, and filling up on this could keep me going for most of the day. There was an all-you-can-eat buffet dinner up there in the evening, which was also good and only about five dollars. Brazilian beef tasted really excellent for some reason, maybe it's all free range. Overall, I thought the service was good at the Debret, and the prices were quite inexpensive for what you got.

The buses run along the commercial streets behind the Debret, where there are also supermarkets and restaurants. I would generally get a bottle of water at one of the supermarkets, and carry it around in my backpack. There are buffets in the food courts of the shopping malls which are also quite good.

We prebooked this hotel before leaving home and chose it for its position and nicely presented rooms. Having a confirmed booking we arrived very late and found they had cancelled our booking but luckily were still able to accommodate us but in a twin room and not a double as we had booked. We asked to be moved to a double the next morning and it was done.

Both of the rooms we stayed in were nothing like the brochure or the rooms on the website, they were older and obviously not recently refurbished as we were led to believe. They were small and did not offer any extra comforts such as a lounge or dining setting plus there was an extra charge of 4 and half reals per day to utilise the in-room safe.

Then to add another insult we were then charged for numerous items from the mini bar that we had not consumed and then being told that it's not that much and did it really matter?

On a positive note the breakfast served on the top floor was fantastic as were the corresponding views right around the bay and it is in a very central location on Copacabana beach.

Personally I think there are better options in the same price category than this.