My wife and I are looking to visit Rio during Carnival (02/08-02/13). Any suggestions as to the best four or five star hotels which are close to the various parades and night activities which make up this event.

Hello!<BR>My name is Evelyn and I am a frequently Brazil-traveller!<BR>The best Hotels in Rio de Janeiro are<BR>of course the Copacabana-Palace Hotel<BR>(www.copacabanapalace.orient-express.com)<BR>and the Sheraton-Hotel (http://www.sheraton-rio.com) <BR>among others!<BR>You can find out most of hotels in Rio at this pages:<BR>www.hoteis.com.br<BR>or<BR>www.caravela. com.br<BR>There you can see all the hotels with a minimum and maximum price, so you have a little idea how are the prices there!<BR>If you really want to be there in Carnival, you should reserve a hotel extremelly fast, because Carnival is coming up in 2 months...so you do not have much more time, as in Carnival the hotels in Rio seems to be full!<BR>In Carnival most of the hotels there <BR>offers only packages of 5-7 days...<BR>and the prices of course will be higher than any other season!<BR>If you want to be close of the nightlife I think you should reserve in any hotel at Copacabana-beach or Ipanema..<BR>because there are a lot of restaurants, bars, clubs...and of course you can sit down at night at the beach!<BR>Well, the place where the parades from the samba-schools are (called"Sambodromo")is in downtown<BR>and you can reach it with Rio's subway from metro-station Copacabana called "Cardeal Arcoverde".<BR>If you want any other suggestions about Rio, good restaurants, transportation, security, the parades in Sambodromo, etc...feel free to E Mail me!<BR><BR>Greetings<BR>Evelyn <BR><BR><BR>

Frank,<BR><BR>You asked about the best hotels in Rio, close to the Sambodromo. There are not best hotels close to the Sambodromo, but if you can afford a 4/5 stars hotel in Rio, you can also afford hiring a transfer to and from the Sambodromo.<BR><BR>Don't do it by metro, as Evelyn suggested. This would be easy for someone familiar with the city, but the area around the Sambodromo will be too crowded during the Parade, and at least pick pocketing is likely to occur in the Sambodromo vicinity,and even in the metro, since pick pockets know that they won't be easily caught, and that there'll be lots of tourists there, with their precious dollars..<BR><BR>I suggest you Ceasar Park, in Ipanema Beach, or the Copacabana Palace, or even the Hotel Everest Rio ( not beach front, but close to Ipanema Beach) or even Marina all suites hotel, in Leblon, ot Sofitel Rio Palace, at one of the ends of Copacabana Beach and not far from Ipanema. All these hotels have pools, are close to the beach or beach front, and the best you can get in Rio as accommodation and service.<BR><BR>Good luck,<BR><BR>Surlok<BR>

Frank,<BR>I was looking for a hotel for a friend of mine and they are only accepting guests for the hole Carnival period (8/9 till 13). There is a good hotel, 4 stars, very well located, the Ipanema Beach Hotel, that is charging US$ 1,000.00 for the period +15% taxes+1.50 room tax/day.<BR>Surlock, for yr info, Marina Suites is charging US$ 750.00/night.<BR>Cesar Park wants US$ 600.00.<BR>Crazy, right?<BR>Frank, you have to hurry up with yr reservations.<BR>

Don't hesitate ,it's the Copacabana Palace.You won't regret it if budget is not the main issue.It is largely better than all other 5 stars hotels

And not so well located, besides, more expensive!

I can't tell you about hotels but my Carnaval experience in Feb. 2001 was incredible and you may want to consider the same. 5 couples (2 american and 3 Brazilian) cruised on Royal Caribbean Splendour of the Seas for 12 nights out of Santos (port for Sao Paulo). This trip is only advertised in Brazil and a couple of other places so Americans don't know about it. The price was very cheap for a balcony stateroom. We spent the two best night of Carnaval in Rio so hotels and meals were not a problem. The first night we rented a camarote (box along the Sambadrome) for the night (12 hours) and including food, waiter, drinks, security it was very expensive but well worth the cost per person because the experience was once in a lifetime. The second night we actually danced in the parade down the Sambadrome in costume with a samba school. I must admit that having Brazilian friends make all arrangements and speak Portuguese is a definite advantage but the cruise really eliminated the hotel/restaurant/security issues. It also stopped for the night in Buzios which was already starting its Carnaval celebration, Salvador, Porto Seguro and Ilhabela. If you can deal with the limited English that is spoken aboard ship by the other passengers(and anywhere else in Brazil) you'll have a blast!! The crew speaks mostly Eglish so that is a help and the ship has many excursions, including Carnaval arrangements in Rio just like you would get from a hotel. This was the first year of the cruise and it was an incredible trip! Good luck!!