I am going to Rio for the first time and I am trying to decide on a hotel. Can anyone suggest area and hotels?

Thanks.

I have only been to Rio once, but i took the advice of the members here and elsewhere and booked at the Atlantico Copacabana hotel. It is in the copacabana section of town, a short 3 block walk to the famed copacabana beach, and directly across the street from a subway station. While it may not be a Ritz Carlton, it is a comfortable place to stay, and one of its best features is that it allows you to bring overnite "guests" to your room without an extra fee, which most of the hotels there charge. Another plus is that there is a sauna about two blocks from the hotel as well (opposite direction from the beach).

I am planning on returning to Rio in November or December, and plan on booking the Atlantico again. One note, the basic room is rather small. If you get the Jr. suite, it is a larger room, plus includes a jacuzzi and sauna, for just a little more in price than the basic room. I was surprised that hotels in Rio (at least in the Copacabana area or the Ipanema area) are not what I would call cheap.. But remember that pretty much everything else in Rio is very cheap compared to the US.

A valuable resource for a first timer is www.gaytravelbrazil.com .. That website and Gary, aka dreysonal is a great place to get more info about the city and to get help in booking a room, etc..

You need to provide some more info on what you are looking for! Are you a beach person and is it important to have a view of the beach? Than there are literally a 100 choices. Ipanema and Copacabana beaches are connected and shaped like the number 3 . Ipanema is more upscale than Copabana but not that much different. Ipanema has the gay beach located where the street "rua Farme de Amoedo, intersects the beach blvd. Two hotels to stay away from and which many first time Americans are drawn to on their first trip(including me) are the Sheraton and the Intercontinental, both are south of Ipanema and way away and isolated from the beaches/restaurants etc. High end hotels such as the Marina Suites and Marina Towers are very nice. I would recommend the Sol Ipanema, it's a small, moderately priced, 10 or 12 story hotel across from the gay beach and right off of the street mentioned above and if you walk Farme in two blocks from the beach there are quite a few gay friendly restaurants in a nice area!

the Marriott and Pestama in Copacabana are also expensive but nice! Also the Royal Rio which is behind the Copacabana Palace is nice. The Copacabana Palace , IMHO, is the most ornate, expensive and overrated of all the hotels, although if you get the chance do the Sunday brunch by the pool there, incredible and expensive but worth it! There are at least a dozen hotels along the beach with the name Othon, such as Othon Palace, Othon california, etc, they vary and are older but have decent locations

If you want to bring a sleeping companion back to your room at night than Lurker is right the Atlantico is really the only choice! The other hotels will allow a guest to stay overnight but will make him register at the desk and some will charge you a additional $50R anight to have him stay.

As a first time visitor to Rio and if your not traveling with some fellow gay travelers, I would highly recommend NOT bringing overnight guests to the hotel! (this is a case of do as I say not as I do! lol) I can cite 5 cases of first timers making mistakes and getting ripped off. the boys can spot a Newbie a mile away. Get a feel for how everything works b/4 you do a overnight, or at least read all the information available on the different message boards.

I am going to Rio for the first time and I am trying to decide on a hotel. Can anyone suggest area and hotels?

Thanks.

I would recommend the Ipanema Plaza. Short walk to beach. Can get beach view. Near many restaurants and shops.

Nice roof-top pool. Had good time there.

There are many discount hotel websites but two that I have found and used are: http://www.bookinhotels.com/ and www.agoda.com both reliable and the best prices when I have compared to them to other sites. One visit last year I had to extend my stay two days and when I went to the hotel reception desk, they told me to book on the websites as they couldn't match the rate, so I went 5' away used the lobby computer and 5 minutes later at the room for $20./nite cheaper!

I stayed at the Royal Rio and just loved it-great pool and I loved the neighborhood.

Close to the metro(a block away)close to the beach and many good restaurants around.

Also the breakfast buffet was wonderful.

Not the cheapest-but very fair pricewise.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g3...de_Janeiro.html

The Ipanema Plaza is about the equivalent of a Motel 6. Crummy beds, thin sheets and towels and an indifferent staff. We went out and bought our own towels.