Taking A Break in Petropolis...

[Guest jjme]

I'm putting the finishing touches on my first visit to Brazil; boy, am I excited. I'll be doing some touring of smaller historical towns the week of 20 July. Then I plan a week in Rio and will end with several nights in Sao Paulo. From my reading I've tentatively decided to take a few days "Time Out" in the smaller, slower-moving, quaint and cooler town of Petropolis in between Rio and S. P. I'd travel by bus roundtrip to Petropolis and then on return to Rio would change buses for Sao Paulo. Any comments on Petropolis? Comfort, practical advice on buses? Do the sauna guys in S. P. take on overnights as is the practice in Rio? Thanks for any heads-ups. Anyone else traveling these weeks?

[Guest Jake]

Pedropolous is a charming and fantastic town - amazingly Bavarian village in nature. It is the site, of course, of the Emperor's summer palace - because it's in the mountains and 15 or 20 degrees cooler than Rio. And the summer palace is wonderful and highly educational. Remember that July is the heart of winter in Brazil so the temperature could be much cooler than you're considering right now - maybe low 50s or even 40s.

 

Having said that, I would highly recommend the Grayline tour from Rio to Pedropolous which is a day trip that services many of the hotels. Should you decide to spend one or more nights there, yes, many of the sauna boys love to travel.

[trilingual]

I hate to sound like I'm making a pitch, but I suggest you contact Carlo for your travel arrangements to Petropolis. Based on Jake's recommendation, I wanted to use Gray Line for the tour to Petropolis with my Berlin houseguests last month. Carlo was able to book the tour for us at a rate considerably lower than what was being quoted at the hotel concierge desks.

 

Petropolis looked quite spiffed up and has a charming downtown as well as lovely residential areas. I think there are some gay inns and B&Bs in the area, and again I'd recommend you contact Carlo for suggestions and reservations. It would be a very pleasant place to veg for a few days, with beautiful countryside and mountain scenery all around. As Jake points out, temperatures (especially at night) will be considerably lower than in Rio and you may actually want to bring a sweater (probably cotton) or sweatshirt and a light jacket.

 

If you decide to take the regular bus to Petropolis, there's service both from the main bus station (the Rodoviaria) and the closer-in downtown Menezes Cortes station (on av. Pres. Antônio Carlos). The latter has purportedly cruisy T-rooms, by the way. Buses are modern and comfortable. It's a short trip, about 90 minutes (or less) if there aren't any traffic problems. If you plan to go directly to São Paulo from Petropolis, check at the bus station there when you arrive. It's likely that there's direct service, so you wouldn't have to double back or change buses in Rio.

[sf traveler]

As always, I agree with Tri in all particulars, but I'd just like to add an answer to your question about the sauna boys in SP doing overnights. In my experience, in SP they don't seem to think about it themselves the way they do in Rio, but, if you meet someone you like there, don't hesitate to ask, IF you have a reasonable expectation that they won't be stopped by hotel security. In my experience most sauna boys dress in a manner that immediately clues hotel security people into the idea that they really don't belong there--in other words, don't just assume that you can waltz them upstairs. Also more educated Brazilians have told me that the sauna boys' speech can mark them as lower class and so suspect. Having said all that, many of them live hours away by bus or train or stay in shared rooms in pensione. An overnight in a decent hotel with a generous patron who treats them respectfully can be a welcome relief. I've seen several beautiful faces light up at the idea. SF Traveler

[Guest jjme]

Obrigado gents for the above three posts. Each gives me some important info. Not being a fan of hot weather, the coolness sounds great. So does the history of the place... As a teacher, I'm also really into the history/culture. Speaking of this, I've just bought "The Brazilians" by Joseph A. Page. It's pretty detailed but very readable and organized in an easy-to-approach chapter format. Still seeking other who will be "Brazilian" the last ten days of July to first ten days of August.

Tchau, jjme.

[gulliver]

just arrived from sao paulo this morning. spent fri and sat night their with my buddy floridarobb after a week in rio. I do not know why but I have to be the only m4m poster who is almost totally bored with Lagoa. The first trip there was over Easter weekend so I assumed it was just the holiday. However, this past weekend the place was packed with boys yet I did not find the group anywhere near the high standards of the rio saunas. I find the place boring. I (on both this and the last trip) hooked up with someone very hot at the very end but made up my mind to avoid sao paulo in the future and stick to rio for boy experiences.

However for those who want to go, i would recommend the Crowne Plaza hotel just off Ave. Paulista. There was no problem with robb or I bringing boys back. Its close to the metro, has great roof top pool. and the staff is most accomodating. internet center on 2nd floor. since it is mostly a business hotel, you can probably get a better fri sat nite rate. Many airline crews there!!

[gulliver]

forgot to mention, as the sauna winds down about 12:30 AM or so, the boys (dressed and some in towels) were obviously looking for all night hookups. It was no problem and 100 R will probably do the trick if you throw in a meal. Saw many rentboys on the street in the gay neighborhood across from the Hotel San Francisco and in the park behind Bank of Boston off of Ave Paulista. Floridarobb may have more details.

[Guest Jake]

I wanted to confirm Gulliver's observations of the Crowne Plaza in SP. It's first class and accomodating all the way. Rack rate is about $250 or $265 (yes, dollars) but I was able to get a business rate of $100 and stay there regularly when in SP. Very convenient to the metro, too, which is an easy and top notch system.

[CarloRio]

Hotels in São Paulo

 

Hotels in São Paulo are far cheaper and better than ones in Rio, thus I really that unless your company is paying for you, there is no need to pay US$ 100.00 to stay at a fine hotel. We've just got a deal with a Comfort Inn hotel which is located in the same street as Termas Lagoa that goes for only R$ 95.00 (only until mid July) and we got another deal with a hotel close to Paulista (it's a 3 star hotel, not a Crowne Plaza) that goes only for R$ 55.00.

 

Thus if you know the right people and places there's no point of paying US$ 100.00 to stay in São Paulo.

 

Um abraço,

 

:-)

[floridarob]

RE: Hotels in São Paulo

 

I use to be in the hotel business and still have a few connections, so when we stay at the crowne plaza we pay $39usd per night which I think is pretty reasonable. They are very slow on weekends as it is a Business hotel.

 

The guy I met up with at lagoa would have to stop at the front desk and they would call me to see if it was ok for him to come up (brown skinned guy vs gullivers light skinned guy....gullivers just came up like he was a guest). On one night the night audit clerk asked my guy from which agency he was from and he responded he wasn't from any agency but if he was interested he'd give him his phone number, which was pretty funny because when the clerk asked if my guy could come up he was stuttering, I found out why after.

[+ Axiom2001]

RE: Hotels in São Paulo

 

Carlo-- would one have an easy and unhassled time in bringing guests back to his room at the places which you mentioned?

I'd presume the Crowne Plaza is four to five star and has ambience and other amenities that one would like to experience occasionally...while traveling....

[+ Axiom2001]

RE: Hotels in São Paulo

 

floridarob- I can identify with one statement which you made in your thread. When I stayed at the Atlantico Copa in Feb. thru March of this year-- a young, tall light complexioned Carioca came into the hotel and right up to my room without even checking in at the desk and having the personnel ring my room.

It was all right with me, but I'm glad you mentioned what happened in SP. Oh, the subtleties and/or convertness!!!

[CarloRio]

Hotels in São Paulo: visitor's policies

 

Unlike Rio, most hotels in São Paulo don't have a strict visitor's policy. The only thing they do is to charge the extra breakfast. But it's fairly understandable, because as São Paulo isn't a hot tourist destination, they don't have that many tourists bringing in visitors to their rooms as the hotels in Rio. And in Rio because many hotels have had problems with michês and female prostitutes (scandals, petty robbery, and even crime), the carioca hotels adopted such strict rules.

As for racial discrimination in Brasil, it's very different from the one that can be witnessed in the US, because here if a dark skinned citizen, nicely dressed and speaking beautiful Portuguese, won't ever be stopped anywhere... but we do have a mixture of racial and social prejudice as most Afro-Brazilians are very poor. But the thing that gets these guys stopped at the lobby is definitely the way they dress.

The hotels that we work with in São Paulo are very tolerant of visitors as most hotels in São Paulo are.

 

Um abraço,

[trilingual]

RE: Hotels in São Paulo

 

Being primarily a business capital, SP has hotels in every category and price range. If you want luxe, boutique, or economy, there's a hotel for you.

 

What's most important, in my opinion, is to choose your hotel (in whatever category) by the location you'd like to be in. SP is a size queen's fantasy come true: it's absolutely HUGE, and rather like L.A. things can be very spread out. You want to be reasonably close to the things you're interested in doing, or have easy metro access. For this reason, your best bets are either the hotels downtown or near Av. Paulista. Both areas have metro access, they're relatively centrally located and have direct express bus service to the international airport, are near gay venues and also are near restaurants and shopping. There are nice hotels in other areas (like the burgeoning new West-side business district on Av. Faria Lima and southwards) but they're far from the attractions that are likely to interest you, and there's no metro service there.

 

Chacun a son gôut, of course, but I still prefer staying downtown on Av. Vieira de Carvalho, which runs between Praça da República and the Largo do Arouche. In ascending order of luxe, you can choose from the Itamarati, Republica Park or the Bourbon, all located on Vieira. Across the Pça da República is the downtown Hilton. There's a metro station in the Praça from where you can catch the subway to many destinations, including Lagoa and Av. Paulista. There are convenient restaurants on Vieira, including the handy Spazio food court across the street from the Itamarati, and Galeto's, virtually next door. A classic French stand-by, La Casserole, is nearby in the Largo do Arouche and there are other options as well. At night, Vieira turns into one of SP's great gay ways, as it's lined with gay bars and cafes and the crowds spill into the street. Although the scene is less upscale than in the Jardins (closer to Av. Paulista) it's also less pretentious, and the bars range from quite middle-class to definitely working class. Nearby is ABC, the former Homo Sapiens, where there is a great disco on weekends catering to a mixed-age crowd. Much less attitudinal than the more chi-chi bars in the Jardins (although they're worth checking out, too). What's nice about Vieira is that you can walk to everything as the street is only three blocks long! When it's time to catch your flight back to Europe or the U.S., the Airport Express bus terminus is right around the corner along the Pça da República. Also, downtown hotel rates tend to be less expensive than those around Av. Paulista or in the newest business areas.

 

Wherever you stay, you're likely to be pleased as long as you focus on these two areas. The Comfort Inn near Lagoa is undoubtedly nice (I haven't been there yet) but it's a bit of a ways to the Metro and the neighborhood is fairly quiet and residential at night, so it may not be your optimum choice. However, if you're only going to spend the night there before or after your flight and want someplace convenient for a first or final fling at Lagoa, it's probably ideal. For similar purposes involving proximity to Lagoa and your connecting flights, there is also a new hotel across from in-town Congonhas Airport (an Ibis, I think) and the Grand Mercure near Ibirapuera Park. All of these hotels are relatively close to both Lagoa and Congonhas Airport.