Smiles

The information about lounges at GIG is very confusing on the Internet, particularly for AA flyers. Supposedly, there was once an Admirals club here, and still may be again, but the supposed former club has been closed I believe for at least a year. In comes the GOL Smiles Lounge, serving seemingly every international airline under the sun, including American.
There is a small, but appointed self-​service complimentary bar, with beer, water and pops in the fridge. All sorts of pre-​packaged breads are available, and little hot bites will occasionally come out of the kitchen — they run out very fast though. The lounge is small, so don’t expect a ton of room to spread out.
The showers are what saved the day for me. I had spent the whole day at the beach and running around Rio, and was filthy by the time I got to the airport for a 10+ hour flight back to the states. I was under the impression showers were available, but wasn’t sure, and was ready to be a major smelly distraction for the poor soul next to me. Alas, not only were there plenty of shower rooms, but they were comfortable and spacious. So… 4 stars. Not like the totally awesome Centurion Club I’ll be heading to once I hit Dallas, and not really up to par with the Admirals Clubs I’m also used to, but for meeting and exceeding my expectations, and for being less dumpy than United’s clubs, GOL Smiles — you get four stars.