Up until recently Brazil counted with no official accommodation standards. Attempting to define a Brazilian hotel by its number of stars was pretty much meaningless. In an attempt to put an end to this messy situation, the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism launched recently the Sistema Brasileiro de Classificação de Meios de Hospedagem (Brazilian System of Classification of Types of Accommodation). It is an initiative that attempts to establish objective and straightforward criteria to help define the types of accommodation. Whether it will have any real impact on the tourist sector, it remains to be seen.

If you go to the official website, in Portuguese, you will find lengthy descriptions of each of the new categories. Here’s just a brief summary.

• Hotel. It can have 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 stars.
• Resort. Defined as a hotel with leisure infrastructure. There are 4 and 5 stars resorts.
• Hotel Fazenda. Defined as a hotel in a rural setting. It can have 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 stars.
• Cama e Café. A rough equivalent of the popular bed and breakfast. It can have 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 stars
• Hotel Histórico. A hotel in a historic or listed building. It can have 3, 4 or 5 stars.
• Pousada. Defined as a building horizontal in its layout with a maximum of 30 rooms. It can have 3, 4 or 5 stars.
• Flat/apart-hotel. It can have 3, 4 or 5 stars.

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Two features in the press have focused on a recent Rio phenomenon: the high occupancy rates of its hotels (you can read the notes in Portuguese at Cheios o ano todo, hotéis do Rio não sabem mais o que é baixa temporada and Com indústria e Copa, turismo de negócios supera o de lazer).

Rio’s increasing popularity is keeping hotels full even in dates where movement was traditionally low. The association representing Rio hotels estimates the occupancy rate for 2011 could border on 80%. The interesting fact is that this is happening at a time where leisure tourism is losing its importance. It is estimated business travellers will account in 2011 for 65% of the hotel rooms.

This is bad news for those wanting to holiday in Rio. High occupancy rates and the stronger role played by business travellers means expensive rates all year round. Rio hotels are right now among the most expensive in the world. At budget accommodation in Rio de Janeiro we tried to help you find affordable accommodation in the city. But always bear in mind that “cheap” in Rio is likely to be “expensive” by your travelling standards.

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Affordable accommodation in Brasilia is not easy to find. You can search for hotels in Brasilia through our Hotels Combined search engine, a unique free tool that searches multiple hotel reservation websites simultaneously to help you find the lowest rate instantly. It eliminates the need to search major websites one by one in order to compare prices and availability. An amazing time and money saver!

The results open on a new page.

How to find the best rates for hotels in Brasilia

Most hotels in Brasilia cater for the large political machine based in the capital of Brazil. Hotels are usually packed during the week and become suddenly empty during the weekend. Many hotels offer substantially reduced rates for weekend stays. If you choose to visit Brasilia during the weekend you might pay half the standard rates. On top of that, the weekend is an excellent time to visit the city as the maddening traffic of the week comes to a halt and the vast majority of the tourist sights are open to the public.

Below you will find a list of blog posts we have devoted to Brasilia.

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Finding affordable hotels in Rio is no mean feat, as many of you will have already found out first-hand. You can search for hotels in Rio de Janeiro through our Hotels Combined search engine, a unique free tool that searches multiple hotel reservation websites simultaneously to help you find the lowest rate instantly. It eliminates the need to search major websites one by one in order to compare prices and availability. An amazing time and money saver!

The results open on a new page.

1. Budget hotels in Rio

The French hotel chain Accor has three budget hotels located in the centry of the city and it is promising new hotels soon:

• the Formule 1 Rio de Janeiro Centro at Rua Silva Jardim, 32.
• the Ibis Rio de Janeiro Centro right next to the previous one, also at Rua Silva Jardim, 32.
• the Ibis Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumond, right next to the domestic airport and a few hundred yards from the centre of Rio.

An outstanding feature of the hotels mentioned above is that they don’t hold any surprises – a bonus in the context of hotels in Rio. They are simple, to the point of being spartan. You won’t find charm or glamour in them. But in return for that, their fares are more friendly than the ones charged by most hotels in town. Their rates do not include breakfast. If you have stayed previously at a Formule 1 or Ibis hotel you know what to expect.

2. Bed & breakfast in Rio

There are now three networks providing Bed & Breafast accommodation

• Cama e Café. At its website you can check details of the houses providing accommodation. All the houses are located in the Santa Teresa neighbourhood.
• Rio Homestay is the upper market version of Cama e Café. Most of its apartments are located along the corridor that links Copacabana to Leblon, passing through Arpoador and Ipanema.
• Bed & Breakfast Brasil. It has 60 houses in Rio, on the most popular neighbourhoods (Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, Santa Teresa) and on places slightly more unusual for a hotel (Cosme Velho, São Conrado or Urca).

3. Youth hostels

On Youth hostels in Brazil we listed all the Brazilian hostels affiliated to Hostelling International. As well as those there are dozen of independent hostels in Rio. We advice you extreme care when you choosing them, as they rank from the professional to the outright rip-off.

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In recognition of the growing importance of Facebook and Twitter, we will be adding to our accommodation listings in Accommodation in Brazil (as well as in Alojamiento en Brasil and Hospedagem no Brasil) the web addresses of Facebook pages and Twitter profiles of hotels and pousadas.

If you own a hotel or pousada and have a Facebook page or Twitter profile, let us know so we can add it to the listings (contact). For the time being we can only add the information if we have a listing for the city or town where your establishment is located.

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1. Jungle Lodges in the Amazon are for rich foreign tourists.

The name itself used by many hotels, “Jungle Lodge”, in English, says it all. Most jungle hotels cater for the foreign English-speaking crowd and quote their services in dollars or euros. Reaching Manaus and staying at a jungle lodge is not within the reach of most Brazilians. And those Brazilians that could afford it are frankly not too interested on nature experiences, they’d rather spend their holidays at a luxurious pousada at the beach or shopping in Miami.

Unfortunately, Jungle Lodges do not have the backpacking crowd in mind.

2. Location, location, location.

It pains me to say so, but there are some beautiful jungle lodges, highly recommended in many guides, that are just a few miles from that eyesore that it is Manaus. Anyone staying at those hoteles will see the city lights at the end of the day, will hear the boats up and down the river and even the planes approaching Manaus international airport. If they wander too far from the hotel they might hit a paved road.

Few hotels give precise details of their location. For that reason I decided to spend some time researching the location of most hotels and making it available on a Google Maps mash-up. I haven’t been able to locate precisely some hotels (either because there aren’t high-res images available or simply because the information I could gather didn’t help me find the hotel). For those hotels I’m just giving its approximate location.

View jungle lodges on a bigger map.

I recommend you open the map on a full page.

The hotels for which I’m giving their accurate location are: Acajatuba Jungle Lodge, Amazon Ecopark Jungle Lodge, Amazon Rainforest Adventure Station, Ariaú Amazon Towers, Amazon Mainan Lodge, Pakaas Palafitas Lodge, Pousada Uacari and Tiwa Amazonas Ecoresort.

If you are going to spend a small fortune to turn your Amazon dream a reality it might help knowing where you are heading too. Needless to say, the further away from civilization, the likelier you are to encounter wildlife and experience a true jungle holiday.

3. Packages

As you can imagine, nobody turns up at a remote jungle lodge asking whether there are any rooms available. Most hotels offer packages to their guests, including accommodation, meals (you won’t find any bars or restaurants near jungle lodges!) and jungle trips. When you purchase your package, make sure you understand what it is and it is not included. Likewise, most hotels include the transfer in/out to and from the hotel on their packages, but do make sure this is included.

4. Not all jungle lodges are the same.

For the reasons explained at number 1, a few jungle lodges have developed a business model that will not thrill those seeking a jungle experience as authentic as possible. We are talking about hotels with plasma TVs and DVD players on all rooms, gyms, spas, business centre, internet café, souvenir and jewelery shops and the likes. Outstanding among them are the Ariau Towers hotel and the Jungle Othon Palace.

A jungle lodge for which I’ve only heard praise – coming from people with environmental concerns I trust – is the Pousada Uacari at the Mamirauá ecological reserva. Although it is not, by any means, a luxury resort, its remote location makes it a costly choice. It would definitely be my choice if money wasn’t a problem and you were after a genuine Amazon experience.

If you have stayed at a jungle hotel and want to send me your opinions, you can use this blog’s contact address.

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There are three youth hostels in São Paulo affiliated to Hostelling International:

• Praça da Árvore hostel. On a residential area on the southern region of the city. It is very close to the subway granting easy access to the most important tourist sights [location on Google Maps]
• São Paulo Hostel Downtown. In the centre of the city, which in the case of São Paulo it is a run down and troublesome area. We strongly advice against seeking accommodation on this part of the city [location on Google Maps]
• Sampa Hostel. On the bohemian quarter of Vila Madalena, with an abundance of bars and restaurants. A bit far from the subway (20 minutes on foot) [location on Google Maps]

There are also three independent youth hostels:

• Casa Club Hostel Bar. In the heart of the Vila Madalena, right where the action is. A bit far from the subway (25 minutes on foot) [location on Google Maps]
• Lime Time Hostel. In the Bela Vista neighbourhood, an excellent location close to the Avenida Paulista and the subway [location on Google Maps]
• Vila Madalena Hostel, in spite of its name, it is on the Pinheiros neighbourhood, not far away from the Vila Madelana. It is not close to the subway but there is easy and frequent public transportation nearby [location on Google Maps]

I haven’t stayed at the any of the hostels mentioned on this post. For that reason, I can only comment on their location and not on the services they provide.

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Our Accommodation in Brazil has a new listing, this time with hotels and pousadas in Foz do Iguaçu. Foz do Iguaçu is your base for exploring the awesome Iguazu Falls.

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Our Accommodation in Brazil has a new listing, this time with hotels and pousadas in the island of Boipeba, Bahia. Boipeba is one of our favourite destinations in Brazil and at this blog’s post destination: Boipeba you will find all the travel information related to the island.

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We’ve made another update in Accommodation in Brazil, with five new blog posts with full listings of accommodation in Canoa Quebrada, Fortaleza, Guarda do Embaú, Ilhabela and Paraty.