Rio Hotel Recommendations

[buttnovice]

Hi all - Planning my trip to Rio and confused by the choices of hotels. What I would like is beach front - Copacabana or Ipanema, or a block or two from the beach. The room should be comfortable, well furnished along the lines of our domestic Hilton or Marriot properties. A good breakfast and good convenience to local supermercadoes and resturants; I like a good preco por kilo or buffet/churasscaria. I just don't like being locked into a menu.

 

Entertaining in room is not a big factor. One last advantage would be a hotel that offers GIG transfers; I'm flying on Continental so a late complimentary checkout (depart GIG at 7 pm) is an advantage.

 

I have previous experience with the Othon Properties, mostly Othon Palace. What is your collective opinion of the California Othon, the Merlin Copacabana and the Windsor properties, Excelsior and Plaza look interesting.

 

My searches of usual sites: Continental, Expedia, Hotels.com and such seem to produce much the same results. Sorry if I'm asking you to be my travel agent, but would sure appreciate your friendly feedback and recommendations.

 

BN

[trilingual]

Well, you could always consider the J.W. Marriott on the beachfront in Rio! Location is also convenient!

 

Among the Brazilian hotels you mentioned, I'd suggest the Excelsior, which has been renovated most recently and is also conveniently located next to the Copacabana Palace and across from the Copacabana gay beach, as well as across the street from Maxim's and the nearby Top Beer a bit farther down that block which has become a popular breakfast spot for some M4Mers.

 

As for the rest, Copacabana is like Manhattan. You're never more than a couple of blocks from a supermarket, a por kilo restaurant, a drugstore, etc. So you don't need to worry about them in choosing a hotel.

 

As for hotel-airport transfers, I don't know of any hotel that offers them except for the Copacabana Palace, which will pick you up in their old Rolls Royce (for a fee). However, getting to town from the airport is easy. As soon as you come out of Customs you'll be faced by a row of taxi coop booths. Just go to one and buy a pre-paid voucher (one way or round trip) to your hotel. You can pay with your credit card so you don't need to worry if you don't have any Brazilian cash. The coop radio taxis are more expensive than a standard yellow cab with a meter, but they're safer and more reliable. Once you've checked into your hotel, you can find an ATM in Copacabana to get Brazilian reais.

[Guest Valleyman]

A few weeks ago another poster asked about the California Othon Classic Hotel. I will re-post here what I wrote on that other thread:

 

I have stayed at the California Othon Classic Hotel. It is on the Avenida Atlântica in Copacabana adjacent to the Marriott. It is fairly close to the Copacabana saunas, Corujinha and the subway station. The place is somewhat run-down; as one person has said on another website: “It looks like it was modern in 1965”. However the hotel is fairly comfortable – the rooms are rather large – and the staff is friendly and helpful. The breakfast buffet is good. It is one of the most affordable places to stay at the beach. When I was there in November 2004 ocean-view rooms were available for about $85 per night. (I just checked the reservations website I used then -- those rooms have now gone up to $97. The California is not as good a deal as it used to be.)

 

I suspect that the Hotel California would not approve of bringing boys to the rooms – there was a sign on the check-in desk that said: “Say No to Sex Tourism”. (I didn’t bring any guests to the hotel myself, so I can’t be sure what the staff’s attitude would actually be if someone tried to bring a boy to the room.)

[trilingual]

There is currently another major drive in Brazil against sex tourism with minors (those under 18). Lots of press, advertising, and signs (almost all in Portuguese only) warning against sex with those under age. Brazil would also like to eliminate or reduce the other kind of sex tourism (between adults) but given the nature of the country and culture I think that's doomed to failure. However, hotels may use it as an excuse to restrict "visitor" access to guest's rooms, especially in hotels like the California on Av. Atlântica, which is a major hub of the sex trade at night, particularly near the Help disco and the Praça do Lido. Mostly the hotels are tired of having their rooms trashed by drunken straight tourists who come here on sex holidays or having to deal with guests who've been drugged or robbed (or worse) by the street hookers they smuggle back to their rooms.

 

If you check someone in as another occupant of the room (like any very special friend who wll be overnighting with you) you shouldn't have any problems. Otherwise, the timeless advice applies: take your pick-ups to a non-escort sauna or to a rent-by-the-hour "motel," of which there are many!