Rio Hotels With HIGH SPEED internet

[HooBoy]

The access must be available in the guest rooms and allow me to connect a laptop -- not one of those "web-TV" access things.

 

I have found a few hotels on the net that offer it, but most are over my budget. I would like to stay under $100 USD per night if possible.

 

Telephone / Modem access is unacceptable.

 

Also, is the Sheraton Barra out in the boondocks?

 

Thanks!

[sf traveler]

Well I can't suggest a hotel with the requisite Internet connection, but, honey, the Sheraton Barra is well past the boondocks and quite a ways into the sticks. There are actually some decent restaurants in Barra but they're considered to far afield for the citified likes of me, Tri, Tomcal etc. SF Traveler

[ohgwm226]

Atlantico Copacabana, and Premier Hotel have high speed connection in their rooms. This service is included in the room charge (Both charge by far much less than $100 a night). There are no additional fees. To the contrary Atlantico Copacabana even lend you a long ethernet cable to use connecting your laptop to internet plug in..

[Guest Tomcal_]

The Atlantico Copacabana DOES NOT have high speed internet access! I have stayed there a lot and always have to use the single computer they have in the lobby area to get online and it's standard modem. The only hotel that had high speed available in the rooms that I have found and stayed at was the Marriott, Copacabana, and it charged $3.00 U.S. a MINUTE!! My phone/internet access bill was $600. U.S. at the end of the week(that was the last time I brought my laptop to do business in Rio!).

[Boston Guy]

I stayed at the Marriott in Copacabana and paid $9.95 for high-speed access per day... that was the total charge. I wonder what in the world you got charged for?

 

BG

[CarloRio]

Gentlemen,

 

Just a word of clarification regarding internet high speed access in Rio...

 

All hotels in Barra, which is the new hip neighboourhood have it. But some hotels in the city are starting to have it too: Marriott, Le Meridien and our good old Atlântico also has it. It's a fact. They didn't have it a while ago, but they do now.

 

Um abraço,

[Guest Tomcal_]

Carlo, I saw the jacks were being installed in the atlantico when we were there in April, but nothing had been hooked up yet. They indicated it would be awhile. Are they operational now?

[trilingual]

It's good to hear that some of our favorite hotels are now offering high-speed Internet access. Many of our M4M Brazil Nuts are staying at the Atlântico right now. Guys? Can you confirm that the high-speed Internet is up and running there?

 

Concerning Hoo's question about the Barra Sheraton:

 

Barra is Rio's newest and most distant middle/upper-class neighborhood, occupying a broad coastal plain beyond São Conrado (which is the next beach neighborhood after Leblon). Barra is huge, with a long, seemingly endless beach that must stretch for 10 - 15 miles. The area has grown exponentially in the past ten years or so, and is rapidly filling up with Miami-style high-rises apartments, gated communities and shopping malls. In fact, some of its detractors (and admirers) call it "Miami-in-Brazil." Barra actually does look and feel a lot like Miami, but its relationship to the rest of Rio is a lot more like that of the San Fernando Valley to the rest of Los Angeles -- a bit distant and increasingly self-contained. Like the Valley, there have been occasional movements in Barra to separate from Rio and become an independent municipality.

 

Until the past few years Barra was largely a residential neighborhood to which many Cariocas moved to get away from the density and perceived security problems in the older parts of town. More recently, Barra has attracted a number of business and office parks, and increasing numbers of people work in Barra in addition to living there. Because of this, a few international standard hotels have opened recently (including the Sheraton). Otherwise, it's a long, expensive cab ride between Barra and more centrally located hotels in Ipanema or Copacabana.

 

This being Brazil, favelas have developed in Barra and security has become a problem there, as it is everywhere else in the country. The majority of Barra residents still have to commute to work in the "cidade" (as the rest of Rio is referred to) and rush hour traffic is scary because there are only a couple of roads connecting Barra to the rest of Rio. It can take an hour or more to get into the city when traffic is bad, especially if there's been an accident. Metro service is promised, but it'll probably be at least ten years before it happens.

 

Unless you have business there or are visiting friends who live in Barra, it's not an area that a gay traveler should consider staying in. It's very far from the rest of the city, there are no "sights" other than the beach and the shopping malls, and you need a car to do anything (unlike in other parts of Rio where you can walk or take short bus/cab/metro rides to everything). However, I think it's worthwhile to plan to spend a day out in Barra to see another side of Brazilian existence, and Carlo (among others) can arrange a car and driver who can show you around. The beach is beautiful, in a Miami-ish kind of way (except there is a backdrop of distant mountains, which Miami definitely doesn't have!). There is a popular gay nude beach in the Ecological Reserve, with fun and games in the bushes (the Fire-Island-Meat-Rack-in-Brazil?). Shopping is a quintessential Barra experience, because that's where Rio's mega-malls are located, including BarraShopping, the most mega of them all -- it's supposed to be the largest in Latin America, with its own monorail system and links to adjoing shopping centers. For book and CD lovers, there's a new branch of FNAC (the French mega-bookstore) in BarraShopping where you can easily while away a hot muggy day in air-conditioned comfort! Another interesting stop is the new Barra branch of the Rio Design Center, where you can think about how to furnish your fantasy Rio apartment. There are a number of very smart restaurants on the top floor of the Rio Design, and many others in BarraShopping and some of the other shopping centers.

 

Barra is now large and mature enough that more gay people live there and there is growing gay nightlife in the area, but for a tourist it's very far out and a serious schlepp. So far there are no gay saunas (let alone with boys) in Barra, but it's probably only a matter of time before one opens out there. Basically, Barra is a Brazilian reproduction of American suburbia. It can be nice to live there, mainly for families with kids. As a gay person, I think it would be a bit bleak unless you grew up there or live there with a partner because, unlike almost everywhere else in Brazil, it's not very conducive to the kind of spontaneous encounters that are so common in the more densely populated parts of town. Barra's so spread out and sprawling that you don't just "run into" friends on the street or at the corner bar or newstand. However, hundreds of thousands of people obviously love living there, and even in difficult economic times the amount of new construction in Barra is impressive, indeed! And because there is more available land, housing prices tend to be lower than in the older parts of town. So check it out to experience a different aspect of Rio and Brazil!

[CarloRio]

Yes, Tom, Atlântico's high speed internet is working. And they charge R$ 2,20 for every 4 minutes of its usage.

 

As for Tri's account about Barra (which is the region where I actually live...).... there isn't much to be said... because Tri has said it all... It's worth visiting for a day for two, but for the regular tourist who wants a "city experience", I wouldn't recommend it...

 

Um abraço,}(

[ohgwm226]

Let me assure you from personal experience. Atlantico Copacabana has high spped internet connection now IN THE ROOMs. I was there im May, and used it. I had stayed 3 times in Premier Copacabana in 2002, and used their fast speed internet connection in my room, though it did not work all the time..

[trilingual]

Do you remember what the charges were for this service at the Atlântico and the Premier?

[ohgwm226]

No charges for fast speed internet connection in the room in either hotel. As I stated in earlier message. The Atlantico Copacacbana even gave me a long ethernet cable to use to connect my laptop to use for free. I returned the cable at the end of my stay. Premier hotel did not provide the cable, but also charged nothing beyond the regular room rate. Both hotels gave me the configuration for the network to connect.

[trilingual]

Cool! HooBoy, are you paying attention?

 

Both the Atlântico and the Premier are attractive hotels within two or three blocks (in some cases less) walking distance of the saunas as well as the Metro, the beach, the Siqueira Grill "por kilo" restaurant, and Corujinha. Try for the Atlântico, because you can get a very good rate through Carlo, and they have very nice, spacious rooms. Do your best to get a room on the back side of the hotel, though, as they're off the street and quieter. If you're feeling flush, go for one of the suites; it's only a few bucks more and the bathrooms are ballroom-size, with your own private sauna and jacuzzi!

[HooBoy]

Thank you for the information!