Tuesday, April 19, 2011

When you vacation to Rio de Janeiro, is it best to sleep in hotels or motels?

By Claudio Tostes


Just about anyone who is unfamiliar with travel in Rio de Janeiro needs to learn about some important things when you are on your vacation. One vital lesson to take note of is the difference between hotels and motels when it comes to Brazil. From an American standpoint, you likely would think that the real difference is price and quality of these kind of rentals and you may keep this notion for some time as you stroll the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana. But you will soon realize that to Brazilians, there is a difference. A big difference.

What is this difference you ask? Well, to put it blunt and basic, hotels are for sleeping and motels are for love-making. There really isn't any other way to put it and this is a very simple fact in Rio de Janeiro as well as the rest of Brazil. So if you are taking a holiday here, it is definitely something that you should know. If you're sipping that martini in a quaint little bar of Copacabana or Ipanema and somebody mentions a motel, you'll understand specifically what they're discussing

One may be curious as to why this is. While in the United States, motels are generally rest stops for vacationers who are looking for affordable quarters for the night. Just a place to sleep. In Brazil, you need to look at things from a cultural perception. Most people live in close quarters. It's not typical for Brazilians to have their own apartments, rentals or flats. Usually people can't pay for these kind of accommodations alone, so it's very normal to live with their families.

Now this might change in time as Brazil becomes economically more important. As apartments and flats are popping up all over Rio. But then again, perhaps not since this idea is so imbedded in the culture. Privacy is certainly something rare. Usually people in Brazil who are travelling on business are going to gravitate toward hotels anyway. Though, as infrastructure becomes more enhanced, you'll have more people who have lower budgets. This lower middle class will likely be the kind that may take advantage of motels as a less costly alternative and result in a cultural shift.

Nonetheless, right now, during the time of this writing hotels mean sleep and motels mean love-making. Simple enough right? Shouldn't be any more errors as to the reason for this type of real estate. Hopefully this has solved some uncertainty to anyone who might be coming to Rio de Janeiro and help them avoid a potentially unpleasant situation of which accommodations to use. But then again, perhaps you should look at some apartments instead.




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