Fishing Frenzy

Virtually anyone who is new to travel in Rio de Janeiro needs to learn about some important matters when you are on your vacation. One essential lesson to take note of is the difference between hotels and motels when it comes to Brazil. From an American point of view, you likely would think that the main difference is price and quality of these kind of rentals and you may keep this strategy for some time as you stroll the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana. But you will soon observe 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 intimacy. There really isn't any other way to put it and this is a uncomplicated fact in Rio de Janeiro as well as the rest of Brazil. So if you're taking a holiday here, it is definitely something that you should become aware of. 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 talking about

One may be questioning as to why this is. While in the United States, motels are typically rest stops for people 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 outlook. Most people live in close quarters. It's not common 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 influential. As apartments and flats are springing up all over Rio. But then again, perhaps not since this concept 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 will have more people who have lower budgets. This lower middle class will likely be the kind that may use motels as a less costly alternative and bring about a cultural shift.

Nevertheless, right now, at the time of this writing hotels mean sleep and motels mean intimacy. Simple enough right? Shouldn't be any more errors as to the purpose of this type of real estate. Hopefully this has settled 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.