I really enjoyed my stay at the Golden Tulip Continental. The staff was very nice and spoke several languages. My room was not very big but it was cosy and comfortable. It was extremely clean. The small mini-bar was nice to keep cold drinks. The breakfast buffet was excellent: both very varied and of good quality.
There is a small swimming pool on the top floor of the building. From the roof you get a great view of the beach and Christ The Redeemer and some of the surrounding mountains.
It's location is very good. It's only about a hundred meters from Leme beach. My room has a great views on the favellas (an important part of the Rio landscape). I could even see Christ The Redeemer from the corner of my window: what a treat!
The price is very reasonable (USD 120 a night). I consider this hotel of good value and would really recommend other travelers to use it.

I have stayed at the Continental (now Golden Tulip) 5 times in the last 3 years. I used to stay at the Le Meridien, but after it shut down for renovations I switched here and never went back. It is on the Leme end of Copacabana, so it is a bit of a walk up to Ipanema (maybe 30 minutes of beautiful beachfront walking). It is one street off the beach, so not really a beach view, other than from the rooftop pool and the fitness center, which is surprisingly good. Lobby is up to date. Staff has always been very good to me. Price is always incredibly reasonable. As with all my other international stays, I am there primarily for business. It is easy to get to central business district. 10 minutes to get to Santos Dumont (domestic) airport, so a good base for domestic travel. As with anything in the beach areas, it takes about 40 minutes to get to the International airport. If you are adventurous you can walk to Sugarloaf (I have) in about 45 minutes. And maybe a 10 minute taxi ride to get to the tram to Corcovado. It is a trek out to the soccer (futbol) stadium, but well well worth the experience. The hotel is in a completely safe area, but use your head when you go out.

Don't let the taxis rip you off. If they do, call them on it and they will usually laugh it off and correct the charge (gotta love Rio).

Stayed here with a group of friends during Carnival 2008 (as I see another reviewer also did!). I agree with all the positive things - great location, adequate sized rooms, friendly and helpful staff, good breakfast. The pool and cafe/bar on the roof were great, with spectacular views. Although the pool wasn't huge, I have seen much smaller, and would have no complaints about this.

I would disagree with the cleanliness - our bathroom and room were cleaned well each day in spite of them having to negotiate around carnival costumes and a roll away bed.

For the price, location and facilities I would say this hotel is a good deal.

I stayed at the Luxor Continental for 8 nights during carnival 2008. First, the positives: The location is great. It is near the beach without being so close that guests have to deal with the traffic on the street directly adjacent to the beach. The neighborhood is decidedly residential, with the post office a few doors down, lots of supermarkets, laundromats, dry cleaners and drugstores across the street and up the block. Internet cafes are nearby. All this is interspersed with Cariocas conducting the everyday business of getting on with life. The hotel staff is very friendly, and super helpful. We arrived late at night, and a staff member walked us to a nearby restaurant. The breakfast buffet, while consisting of continental fare, was a nice plus. The size of our room and bathroom was fine. The bar on the roof was quite lovely, and offered great views of the beach and beyond.

The negatives: The biggest one had to do with cleanliness. Even though the room attendant came every day and (presumably) changed the sheets, nothing was ever really cleaned. The toilet had the same ring in it at the end of our stay that it did when we arrived. It seemed that all the attendant did was change towels and mop up water spots. The hallways smelled like urine, and it was always a mad dash from the elevator to the room so we could stop holding our breaths. Our room faced the street and it was impossible to leave windows open if we wanted quiet. Sounds from the street carried very well, even to the 10th floor. The rooftop pool was very small, and unless people knew each other very well, no more than 4 could be comfortably in it at a time, and they couldn't all be swimming.