19 Apr 11 When you take a trip to Rio de Janeiro, should you sleep in hotels or motels?
Just about anyone who is unfamiliar with travel in Rio de Janeiro should learn about some important things when you are on your vacation. One important lesson to take note of is the difference between hotels and motels as it pertains to Brazil. From an American opinion, you likely would think that the difference is price and quality of these kind of rentals and you may keep this concept for some time as you stroll the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana. But you will soon learn that to Brazilians, there is a difference. A big difference.
What on earth is this difference you ask? Well, to put it blunt and straightforward, hotels are for sleeping and motels are for having sex. 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 should you be taking a holiday here, it’s really something that you should know about. If you’re sipping that martini in a quaint little bar of Copacabana or Ipanema and somebody refers to a motel, you’ll know precisely what they’re referring to
One may be inquiring as to why this is. While in the United States, motels can be rest stops for drivers who are looking for inexpensive quarters for the night. Just a place to rest. In Brazil, you need to look at things from a cultural standpoint. Most people live in close quarters. It’s not usual for Brazilians to have their own apartments, rentals or flats. Usually people can’t easily afford these kind of accommodations alone, so it’s very typical to live with their families.
Now this could change after a while as Brazil becomes economically more influential. As apartments and flats are popping up all over Rio. But then again, most likely not since this principle is so imbedded in the culture. Privacy is certainly something hard to find. Usually people in Brazil who are travelling on business are going to move toward hotels anyway. Though, as infrastructure becomes more enhanced, you could have more people who have lower budgets. This lower middle class will likely be the kind that may utilize motels as a less expensive alternative and lead to a cultural shift.
However, right now, at the time of this writing hotels mean slumber and motels mean love-making. Simple enough right? Shouldn’t be any more errors as to the function of 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 humiliating situation of which accommodations to use. But then again, perhaps you should look at some apartments instead.
Rio Exclusive is a licensed rentals and real estate rio de janeiro agency in Brazil. They also have available hotel rentals in a rio luxury hotel in Copacabana and Ipanema.
