Thursday, May 5, 2011

In Rio de Janeiro, hotels are for sleep and motels are for making love

By Claudio Tostes


Any one who is a newcomer to travel in Rio de Janeiro needs to learn about some important matters when you are on your vacation. One important lesson to take note of is the distinction between hotels and motels as it pertains to Brazil. From an American view, you likely would think that the main difference is price and quality of these kind of rentals and you may keep this option 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 is this difference you ask? Well, to put it blunt and very simple, hotels are for sleep and motels are for 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 when you are taking a holiday here, it is definitely something that you should know about. If you're sipping that martini in a quaint little bar of Copacabana or Ipanema and anyone refers to a motel, you'll know exactly what they're talking about

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

Now this may change with time as Brazil becomes economically more influential. As apartments and flats are springing up all over Rio. But then again, perhaps not since this idea is so imbedded in the culture. Privacy is certainly something scarce. Usually people in Brazil who are travelling on business are going to gravitate toward hotels anyway. Though, as infrastructure becomes more enhanced, you may have more people who have lower budgets. This lower middle class will likely be the kind that may use motels as a less expensive alternative and cause a cultural shift.

Even so, right now, at 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 settled some confusion to anyone who might be coming to Rio de Janeiro and help them avoid a potentially awkward situation of which accommodations to use. But then again, perhaps you should look at some apartments instead.




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