Pousada Rio Das Aguas - Iguazu Falls

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We were here February 23-26, 2024 ($72/night with breakfast). A wonderful choice! Small family-run hotel in a great location close to the airport, the central core of the city with lots of restaurant choices and the Argentina border. We had a great big bed, good AC, a wonderful breakfast and very friendly hospitality. Our last stop in Brazil was the cherry on top of a terrific first-time, three week visit to this wonderful country.

We enjoyed Iguazu Falls — one day on the Brazil side and one day on the Argentina side. Great national parks on both sides and a super memorable hot afternoon boat ride UNDER one of the waterfalls.

See the pics and video below or both the hotel and our activities.

Here’s our activities…

Vila Galé Paulista - São Paulo

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We spent the weekend in Sao Paulo February 15 - 19, 2024 ($124/night including breakfast). Even though it was after Mardi Gras, the carnival celebration was not over in Sao Paulo. We stayed in a perfect location and it was way overdue for a delightful 4-star hotel experience. Everything about this place we loved! And we paid only $128 per night for an executive apartment (superior style room) including a wonderful breakfast buffet.Rua Augusta where

Vila Gale Paulista is located just a block off the major thoroughfare of Ave. Paulista and two blocks away from Rue Augusta with lots of restaurants and nightlife. Great walkable neighborhood. We took Uber everywhere outside this immediate walking neighborhood. The Metro runs along Paulista.

Some of our destinations included Museum of Art of São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, Catedral da Sé de São Paulo, Pavilhão Japonês, Parque Ibirapuera, São Paulo Museum of Modern Art, and Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo.

The first group of pics below are from the hotel; the second group is pics of some of the sights around town on our weekend visit. For a city of 22 million we had got a great sense of it and had a great time!

Selina Floripa Hotel - Lagoa da Conceicao, Florianópolis, Brasil

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We were here to celebrate carnival February 7-15, 2024 ($149/night including a breakfast allowance). We chose Floripa because the scale of celebration felt reasonable and it’s known to be a very gay-friendly location. It was also an easy direct flight from Montevideo, Uruguay where we were beforehand. The size of Floripa is 1.3 million people; Rio, another option we considered, is 14 million. (We decided our big city experience in Brazil would be Sao Paulo — we skipped visiting Rio.) So Selina Floripa initially appealed to us. It’s across the street from popular Mole beach. It’s close to a clothing-optional beach too. We had a standard room, although the have dormitory-style rooms too.

Initially, it was so hot and the sun so strong that the only time we liked being on the beach was at sunrise. Coming from the much milder climate of Uruguay, it was a little bit of a shock.

We paid US$116 per night including a marginal breakfast allowance. The people working in the restaurant and in housekeeping were friendly. Otherwise, the hotel just felt tired to us. We stayed three nights too long. If we went back we would not chose Selina or this beach neighborhood but instead would look at the nearby Lagoa area instead because it had more restaurant and shops options.

The first carousel of pics below is from the hotel; pics from our activities are in the second carousel, including the main Floripa carnival celebration.