Rio- need advice on hotel and transportation to hotel/pier

[Petoonya]

Anybody have suggestions for transportation to hotel and to the pier? Or even some hotel advice. We have been to Rio many years ago- seen the sites and don't want to stay any longer than the 'day early' arrival before our cruise departs. We arrive at the international airport.

 

We are thinking of staying at the Marina All Suites in Leblon or the Marina Copacabana nite before our cruise departs. But think we are travelling a LONG way just to stay by the beach when maybe we could stay closer to the pier or to the airport.

 

Possible to stay closer to the airport or the pier and still feel safe? Or should we just stay in Leblon or Copacabana area and chill?

 

What about transportation? Taxi drivers at the international airport are notorious for cheating tourists and make me nervous. Any ideas about what this should cost? Or any other ideas?

 

I'm all ears.

Thanks.

[gerena]

I know nothing about hotels in Rio, but we have contacted Pedro Novak of http://www.privatetours.com.br for a van transfer from the pier to the airport at the end of our cruise. He has contracted with a van driver for $50 for the 4 of us. We are flying to Iguazzu from there, on our own.

[juliejoe]

We are staying at the Rio Intercontinental Hotel - luxury weekend rate of about $150 including tax. We will be met at the airport by Luciano of rioviptour.com. He will also pick us up at the hotel the next morning, take us on a 4 hr. tour and then to the port.

 

Haven't used him yet - found a recommendation on one of the other travel boards. I have been pleased with his quick and complete responses to e-mail.

 

Julie

[Petoonya]

Thanks for your input Juliejoe and Gerena.

Helps a lot. :)

[DaisyGal]

I would recommend staying in the Leblon / Ipanema area. The beach is great, and there are great restaurants and shops all in walking distance. Plus, as it is a less-touristy area, many feel that it is a safer area. We stayed at the Praia Ipanema (which was just alright), but I've heard good things about other hotels on the beach in the same area. You're in Rio - stay on the beach!

 

We also didn't have a problem with cabs - they always used the meter and we found everyone we met to be nice and honest. A couple of times we hired a cab for several hours at a time to take us to various places and wait for us (at a set price settled on before leaving of course). I remember one driver was happy to play tour guide and he would point out various things as we would pass them.

 

One other thing to remember is that the US dollar is very strong against the Real (assuming you're in the US), you'll find things really inexpensive (like bottled water US$0.30-0.40, a nice dinner for two, US$50, etc.)

 

Have fun, Rio is great!

[ponstad]

We stayed in the Marina Palace - right across from the beach in Leblon - and were generally pleased. The only problem we had was with the air conditioning. There was so much condensation, the air conditioner leaked copiously - we thought someone had left the bath running in the room above us!

They also had a wonderful breakfast - with fruits we had never seen in the states.

We were very happy with the service provided by Luiz Amaral"s company - and they also provided great recommendations for meals in Rio. His email is rio@travelrio.com.

We had mixed experience using local taxis.

[Petoonya]

Ponstad- thanks to you for the hotel recommend. Marina Palace is one of the hotels I was looking at too. Guess nothing is perfect! I will also email Luis Amaral. Thanks.

 

Daisy Gal- I went back and looked at some of your previous posts (trying to look at when you were in Rio) Looks like we have a lot in common. If I am guessing right you are from the Seattle area. I live on the Oregon coast and will be flying out of Seattle for this upcoming cruise. (Also did the Med on Millennium two years ago- then did it again on Oceania last summer.) This cruise we'll be flying out of Seattle- wonder how you liked Varig? Did you fly to LA first? And last question- do you remember what the taxi fare was airport (international) to Ipanema?

 

Thanks once again. :)

[lwnbwlr]

We also stayed at the Marina Palace and used Amaral's tours. We were totaly satisfied with everything during our 6 day Rio stay. Leblon's one of the most upscale and safe areas in Rio. We walked our legs off in the Leblon area, day and evening, and never saw anything untoward.

 

Our room at the Marina Palace was great and we did not have the A/C problems previously talked about. The roof top pool and bar left a bit to be desired, however.

 

Jim

[DaisyGal]

Petoonya,

 

Yep, I'm in the Seattle area. We were in Rio for New Years 2004 (on Copacabana to be exact :)). We flew on United, Seattle to DC, DC to Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo to Rio. Then, on Varig, Rio to Sao Paulo to Iguacu, then back to Sao Paulo. We flew United home with a stop in Chicago. Flying on Varig was fine, no problems whatsoever. The service was similar to any regular domestic US carrier. The only difference is this (and a US plane wouldn't do this): when we got to Iguacu and were flying over the falls, the pilot dipped and tilted the plane incredibly far so we could all get a great view (you should see my pictures!). It was a little scary being in a plane at that angle (you would have had a tough time standing up!).

 

We had a car/driver pick us up at each airport and take us to our hotels (I think we booked them through BrazilNuts.com or Brol.com, I can't remember which). The ride was maybe 15-20 minutes to our hotel in Ipanema. The taxi fare won't be too expensive, just be sure that they're running the meter or agree on a set fee. The taxi fares were never that much, anywhere we went (around town, Barra, etc.). Our US dollar is so strong down there.

 

I would strongly advise you to learn some basic Portuguese before you leave. We bought a phrase book before we left and we were under the impression that most would speak a little English - this is not the case. There are unfortunately so many poor people there, that they do not even speak their language the best that they could, let alone English.

 

We found all the Brazilians we encountered to be very nice and honest. We had such a great time there. Like any large city, just use common sense.

 

Feel free to ask me any other questions - have fun!

 

BTW, we had a great time on the Mille last summer - we're going back again in May on another line. :)

[Petoonya]

Thanks again for all the good info Daisygal.

 

I speak Spanish but very rusty- so will have to work a bit.

 

What line are you doing the Med this time? We are doing it again too this summer third year in a row- pretty much same itinerary too. We're doing Oceania again, how about you?

 

Thanks for your help!