A few last minute questions...

[catnip]

Hi Guys,

 

Before leaving for Rio tomorrow, there are just a few last minute questions I have.

 

1) What is a decent tip to give to hotel housekeeping in Rio? Each day, or at the end of my stay?

2) Is the water potable? I guess that goes for ice, too. I hadn't read anything about it, but a friend warned me against it

3) Does one tip in a bar? My Portugese tutor said not necessary, but I guess I'd like an American's perspective on that, too.

 

Thanks in advance for all your help. I'm looking forward to reporting on my experiences!

 

Thanks,

[Guest Tomcal_]

I tipped the doorman at the Atlanctico and the Marriott the last day there, and gave them $10. the towel boy at the suanas I give $5.00 reias(approx. $2.00 U.S.) when they bring me my towel and sandals and then I dont' have too worry about my locker and they hang my shirt up on a separate rack. Once in my hurry to get upstairs..lol...I forgot to lock my locker and he did it for me after checking to make sure i had my key. Since then, I consider the towel boy at the suanas to be the most important one to tip. I also tip the bar tenders $5. and I never have a problem with anyone charging to my tab, they always ask me first if a boy comes up and says to charge to my number.

[trilingual]

Some hotels include a 10% service charge, others don't. It should be posted at the front desk (in Portuguese); if you don't read Portuguese, just ask. However, even if the hotel includes a service charge, I'm not sure how much of it gets to the staff. If I'm staying more than a couple of nights, I leave the equivalent of at least a couple of reais per night at the end of my stay.

[trilingual]

Sorry, you asked a couple of other questions!

 

Water is potable, but nobody drinks water straight from the tap, although you can brush your teeth with it. Everyone drinks bottled water ("agua mineral," available absolutely everywhere "sem gas" or still, and "com gas," or sparkling). At home, most people have a filter system in the kitchen through which they run tap water intended for drinking. It removes much of the chlorine and other bad tastes, and kills many bacteria. Better restaurants and hotels usually have industrial-strength filter systems, and ice is ordinarily made with filtered water.

 

You don't tip at bars. Service is included in the price. You'll notice that the waiters work in a pool system; anyone will take your order, bring your drink, bring your check, etc., so they share in the pooled service charge.

 

Also, you don't tip cabdrivers, unless they've performed some unusual service for you, like helping you with a lot of heavy luggage, or provided a guided tour. You ARE expected to round the fare up to the nearest whole real, though. Note that after dark, on Sundays and holidays, cabs already charge a higher rate (flag #2 on the meter), so they're already getting something extra if they work during those periods.

 

At restaurants that include the 10% service charge, it's customary to leave any small change from your check, up to around a real or two. (Note that there are now 1 real coins, and those aren't small change in the Brazilian economy. You could leave one or two of those, but not more.) If service was exceptional, you can leave up to an additional 5%. If no service charge is included in your check, then leave a 10% tip, 15% if the service was exceptional.

[catnip]

Thanks, guys!!!

[Luv2play]

I have been to Brazil once, a year ago and the local currency was the real. It has been the real for several years now, previously it was the reais. I noticed that people tend to shorthand the real as the R$. The US dollar is sometimes shorthanded the $US. What I find hard to follow is when people start discussing prices in reals as R$5.00 and then switch to eg. $5 or $10. Are you switching back to US dollars or quoting in Brazilian currency? At prevailing exchange rates, it makes quite a difference.

[trilingual]

You're right, it can be confusing. People should use R$ or US$ to avoid confusion. However, I think Tomcal was referring to R$, and not US$, when he was talking about tipping the towel boys and bartenders at the saunas.

 

By the way, the currency before the real (reais is the plural of real in Portuguese) was the cruzado. Or was it the cruzeiro? Or was it the novo cruzeiro? There were so many currencies, in such a short period of time, I can't remember all the names and the order in which they were used!

[CT Dick]

> the real (reais is the plural of real in Portuguese)

 

Just to confuse our Anglo ears, these are pronounced 'hay-al' and 'hay-ice.' :7

 

Dick

[Mavica]

On my recent visit . . . I gave the maid cleaning my room at the Atlantico R$50 for a 9 day stay; my room was always clean, more than enough towels, she didn't bother me . . . and, more importantly . . . nothing was taken. I like to believe that if people are rewarded for good work, they'll continue. We did give leave R$5 at breakfast each day . . . mostly because my traveling companion was a pain in the ass and always made them run all over the place for little things he should have gotten himself; one pays a price for being lazy, and having others wait on you hand and foot. I didn't give the doorman at the hotel anything . . . because he didn't do anything for me. I did leave a gorgeous bartender at Blue Angel a tip . . . understanding that it would be pooled . . . but I wanted to impress him anyway! My biggest tips went to the young man who ran the chair rental/drink tent at Ipanema's gay beach (the "MR" marks on the umbrellas); gave him a whopping R$15 each time . . . for exemplary service above and beyond. The tips to the locker room attendant (R$5)at the saunas was one of those good suggestions people post here . . . those guys keep a watchful eye on your stuff, and provide a good service. I tipped the bar boys R$5 also, and it was appreciated. Oh, when I went to that low-life yellow awning place with my friend . . . we tipped the waiter several R$, and my friend said it always helped him get a "good" table when things were crowded.

[IamI2002]

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[IamI2002]

You might want to know this:

 

Crime Soars at Rio Carnival, Troops Asked to Stay

Wed Mar 5, 5:01 PM ET Add World - Reuters to My Yahoo!

 

 

By Denise Luna

 

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Rio de Janeiro's carnival ended on Ash Wednesday, but troops deployed last week may remain in the city because of a surge in violence during the five-day Bacchanalian bash.

 

Murders in the state of Rio de Janeiro jumped 17 percent to 90 between Saturday and Tuesday, compared with the same period last year. Violent assaults were up 11 percent at 747, while robberies in public transport rose 15 percent to 76.

 

 

The federal government in Brasilia is considering a request by Rio state governor Rosinha Matheus that 3,000 troops, deployed for the first time during the annual carnival, stay to combat drugs-linked crime. They were due to go Wednesday.

 

 

Brazil's army is rarely called in to help fight crime. The last time the army was deployed in Rio was during the October 2002 elections.

 

 

"The troops didn't reduce violence because they were only here a short while," Rio de Janeiro State Security Secretary Josias Quintal told a news briefing.

 

 

But he added, "They made people feel safer."

 

 

The troops reinforced 35,000 police safeguarding the city during Rio's carnival celebrations after drug gangs opened fire on police posts with machineguns, ordered shops be shut, and firebombed scores of public buses. Eleven people died in the terror.

 

 

Quintal said that troops were needed to help police with drug searches and raids in the lawless hillside favelas, or slums, which are strongholds of drug lords.

 

 

Despite violence, the highlight of Rio's carnival -- a competition between 14 samba schools parading during two nights down the purpose built 700-yard Sambadrome stadium backed by thunderous drums -- passed peacefully.

 

 

Organizers estimated the carnival attracted 400,000 visitors, 40,000 of them from abroad.

 

 

Outside the stadium, six people were shot and one killed by police on Sunday, the first night of parades, after thieves swept through the area and assaulted passers-by.

 

 

Monday night, a teacher was shot and killed when he failed to stop his car at an army road block.

 

 

On Wednesday, the Beija-Flor (Humming Bird) school was voted carnival champion by a panel of 40 judges who evaluated each of the 14 schools by 10 criteria, including music, costumes, floats and enthusiasm.

 

 

Beija-Flor used the parade to denounce poverty and violence in Brazil with floats depicting a car-jacking, hungry prisoners in squalid jails, and a huge likeness of Brazil's new president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has pledged to fight hunger and social inequality.