Originally Posted by
carsnoceans
Second on the robes. If you don't get one in the room, ask them. This is a pretty amazing property not only in terms of the location but also their service.
I used an atm to get some BRL. Word of warning - Brazilian atm's are a huge pain so rely on your cc heavily. Most of them will not take international atm cards. Ofcourse the ones in airports and hotels work better with international cards but the fee is very high. IIRC, the bank atm on lower level of Renaissance charged me $7 fee on single transaction.
Some ATMs in Rio, including at GIG, skim credit card numbers, so be careful. Personally I feel more comfortable changing USD cash to reals at airport banks and using a credit card that will protect me as much as possible. There's currently a huge spread on buy versus sell rates, so try not to change more money than you'll use in Brazil.
Be careful too in Brazil about security around whatever ATM or currency exchange you use. Avoid any place that has people hanging around, especially a bunch of young kids. Watch also for people following you after a money or foreign exchange transaction. It could be a mugging setup.