I'm going to Rio de Janeiro for the first time this week. I'm arriving on Friday morning and leaving on Monday evening.
Any suggestions as to what to do and where to stay?
I was thinking about the InterContinental, Copacabana Palace or the Sheraton. The CP would be my 1st choice but it's the most expensive. Any idea on how to get lower prices there?

Thanks.

What do you like to do ? Give me more info and I'll post some suggestions.

If u are a SPG member with Sheraton then u can get it at a good rate....they have a 25 percent off rate this summer plus they upgrade if u hold status with them.

I'm also going to Rio and am a Sheraton gold member. Any idea what the rates are there?

I am going to Rio in August during the second week and got a rate of 115 which was the SPG 50 off rate and it was an Oceanfront Queen room. The rate with 25 percent off was 130 for the same room.

I was just in Rio in April and stayed at the Sheraton. I used a UA 50% off award and the price was about $125 (can�t remember exactly). I am a Starwood Platinum member so I was upgraded to a corner executive suite. The room had floor to ceiling windows on both walls with three balconies. You could lay in bed and see the curve of Ipanema beach. Nice marble bathroom too.

As for your choices: Intercontinental

This is a modern architecturally uninteresting hotel located far from anything. I have not been in the hotel, but based on location alone I would not recommend it.

Copacabana Palace:

Beautiful 1920�s Hotel expensively and lavishly restored. The hotel has a beautiful ground level pool (rare in Rio) and is across the street from the beach. The basic rooms are small and will have no view. The location is good as you a right in the heart of Copa. It is very expensive, but if money is no object then this is the place to stay (unless you want more of a resort, then the Sheraton is better).

Sheraton:

This is the only hotel in Rio directly on the beach. It is also more of a resort hotel than the other hotels with three pools, tennis courts and various outdoor restaurants. The location is on a small beach south of Ipanema so you must take a cab or bus (frequent and cheap) to get to anything. You can also walk along the narrow curvy road to Leblon/Ipanema in about 20 minutes or so. When I was there the main road was closed one direction for repair, so this is a pain if still true.

To do:

The cog railway to the top of Corcovado, and the cable car to Sugar Loaf are the most famous things to do. There is also a charming old tram that runs from downtown to Santa Teresa up in the hills. This is an area of old mansions with great views. Downtown Rio is also interesting with various historic walking areas, museums, government buildings etc. You can see one of the Samba shows at night (very touristy, but still fun). There is now an on/off tour bus loop that runs in Rio. I found taking the bus almost anywhere in Rio to be interesting and scenic. A walk along Copacabana and Ipanema beach can burn up a whole day.

It's a short trip. I'd like to relax (e.g. beach, scuba diving) and see the some of the great sights. I'm not a party-animal so that probably eliminates some of the possibilities.

I wanted updated Rio info, so I thought I'd revive this old thread rather than open a new one.

I'm going with two friends 1/21-28/04. We'd like to stay in Ipanema. I've never been before; my roommate has, and stayed in a 2-room apt/suite. With 3 of us over a week, we thought that would be a good plan. Anybody have experiences or ideas to share?

Also open to restaurant and sightseeing ideas. I'll definitely be hitting all the art museums and the "big Jesus;" otherwise open to suggestions. Transportation, safety, shopping hints all welcome.

Thanks!

I was just in Rio... Macara�a stadium can be toured, nice to see how the size of your foot compares to soccer legends like Pele. If it�s not very hot out (and it wasn�t when I was there two weeks ago) and are into hiking, the Tijuca national forest is right there in Rio. I also did a flavela tour and despite the inherent problems, the people were extremely friendly and i learned a lot about the other side of Rio.

Centro also has really nice archetecture, like classical churches and stuff (it was the first settlement) but go on a weekday when it�s busy.. you can hear a pin drop on the weekends.

Nitroi also has a newer art museum designed my Oscar Nimeyer which has an excellent view of Rio as well.

What kinda shopping exactly? Rio claims to have Latin America�s largest mall at Barrashopping, in Barra de tijuca. That whole area is just mall laden. For souviners, crafts and the sort, there�s a street market on the median in Copacobana, and while you can probably get a better price elsewhere, it�s right there.

Food... definately try a churracao I think it�s called, it�s a definate brazilian thing where it�s an all you can eat meat type restaurant where they cut it onto your plate, and it�s excellent.

I thought Rio was pretty safe, especally the southern areas. The police have a very definate presense there and you�ll see them in the medians and intersection with their lights on as proof of presense. Copacobana and Ipanema beaches are well lit at night as well. I was out at 4am sitting near one of those beachside snack stands which were open all night with my friend and had no problems at all.

I don�t know about anyone else but I thought Rio was one of the nicest cities on the face of the Earth.

[This message has been edited by civicmon (edited Jan 03, 2004).]

Sheraton is too far away from the action and the Palace is a long and dangerous walk to the restaruants.

The best bet is to get one nights accomodation and head down to the Rio Orthon Place and just past that you'll see a lot of outside tables. go to the first one just past the hotel and you'll find that it's mostly USA expats that spend most of their winters in Rio.

They will give you the names of Hotels in the area and even take you to them. You can save over 50% on hotels.

As far as the action goes these people are the stars, most of them speak Porteguese and are more than willing in most cases to help out. It gives them something to do and who knows you maybe able to help them with something to.
REgards,
Robert

My husband and I were in Rio in 2000 so this info is a little dated- but we loved it. We stayed at the Atlantis Copacabana. Decent room - and any room ending in 07 has a great view of the beach. They had a pool on the roof, which came in handy since the room had no water one of the days we were there. Good buffet breakfast and we paid $300 for 3 nights including the breakfasts and a late checkout. We were pretty laid-back about the lack of water- infrastructure there has problems and we knew we weren't paying top dollar for a room.

We left our jewelry at home except for cheap watches and never had a problem with crime. I walked alone on the beach and made side trips to the local Internet cafe during the day- the area was full of families and no one bothered me.

Food is fantastic. Wash it down with Chilean and Argentinian wines and caiparinha (local poison, made with distilled sugar cane- goes down like lemonade).

If you like jewelry or know anyone who does, go to H. Stern. They have free tours and will pick you up at your hotel. I bought a bracelet there and it appraised at 2.5 times what I paid for it when I got back home- and there's no duty on items with stones of Brazilian origin brought into the US. The irony, of course, is that you shouldn't wear it in Rio because it might get stolen. I hid it in a dirty sock n my suitcase till I got home.



[This message has been edited by Athena53 (edited Jan 03, 2004).]

Thanks! These are great suggestions. Please keep 'em coming!

I would avoid HStern. The "free tour" is really just a captive sales pitch, and its hard to leave it. The jewelry seems high quality, but there are no bargains. I found much better prices back home.

I would try to find an English driver and get a tour for half a day. This can be very economical. Ours showed us an overlook 2/3rd of the way to Corcovado with an even better view of Sugar Loaf and the bay.

LemonThrower-

My situation with H. Stern may have been a little different- I had seen a specific design of bracelet (a "rainbow" of semi-precious stones graduated in color) 20 years earlier in their ads in the NY times and I wanted THAT bracelet. Since jewelry is one of my vices, I also have an idea of what something should cost when I look at it. I paid $1,000 for the bracelet; a jeweler in the US with whom I've done business many times appraised it at $2,700. So, I'm happy.

I do advise that you avoid the caiparinha they offer you while you're deliberating, though!

Good point about getting a guide for Corcovado. We took a group tour arranged by the hotel and were VERY grateful we didn't try to drive up there ourselves. Very steep road, limited parking. Take the cog railway or leave the driving to the experts.

The Sheraton has special weekend rates in Brazilian currency if you call them directly on +55-21-2274-1122. At the moment the rate is R$390 (US$135) per night for Friday through Sunday, including breakfast and 'feijoada' (Brazilian dish based on black beans and dried meats; they do have other things as well) on Saturday afternoon lunch. The rate in USD is slightly higher: $169, but you can ask for the rate in reais.