I'll be flying to Rio sometime in mid-August but don't know exactly when so I'd rather not book anything in advance. Is it a bad idea to just show up at the airport and use the tourist office there to help me find something in Copacabana or Ipanema?
Cheers.
Jon
jonmw
1
bubbak
Why not do some research in advance, get phone #s, buy a phone card in advance and call places from the airport? By all means, check the tourist office but they may not give you the best choices.
2
hitchhiker_fp
why not book when you get to know ther date, just in case to do not keep on thinking in the matter
from the airport you can take the REAL bus to the beaches, easy, cheap
i like more arpoador, ipanema and leblon than copacabana
happy travels : )
3
tiffanysh
i stayed in ipanema and found an area where i don't think you need to book in advance and has alot of options.
first i stayed at ipanema beach house. it has a great location, just a couple blocks from the beach and the lagoon. their dorm rooms are 55reals, but it's triple bunks with 6-9 people and the place is always busy. this can be a good thing or a bad thing. they only have 1 shower inside, but a bunch outside of the main house. they also have a nice back yard area with a small swimming pool, but when i was there it was too cold to use.
then i found another area in ipanema with 5 or 6 hostels right next to each other (it's on the same street as the ipanema beach house so you still have a great location). the one i stayed at was called karisma and was only 30reals/nite, excluding breakfast, with would have been 35reals. this place had cleaner bathrooms and the room i was in was only a 4 person room, but they have 6 person also.
if you stay at karisma hostel, you get a couple of extra perks that i enjoyed...
1. discount on hang gliding with justfly (you can also get this 10% discount by calling the company directly instead of having your hostel book it for you) as it's the same owner. so instead of 240r, it's 215r for hang gliding! i did the hang gliding with paulo, the owner of justfly and karisma, and was very impressed with his integrity and skills. this is a quote from his email "I offer you a very reliable service, honesty, safety and I will do my best to make a very good flight with you. I don´t push you to fly in a bad wind just to make money." and i found it to be true! i tried flying twice. the first day paulo decided at the last minute that we shouldn't fly as the wind had shifted and it wasn't safe any longer. the second day everything went beautifully!
2. there is a kilo/buffet restaurant called natural food restaurant (it's in the lp guide) right next to the hostel and you get a coupon for 30% off for every day you stay at the hostel. you pay by the weight and they have tons of veggies, soy products, and meat options. this saved me about 5 reals each time i ate there.
3. i found the staff to be super nice there. karisma was less busy than the ipanema beach house so the staff had more time to talk with you and give you tips.
hope that helps!
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