Rio de Janeiro for all pockets

By Valter Junior

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil -- Traveling to take part in a great event isn’t cheap. Prices go high and budgets get squeezed.

Although the real, the Brazilian currency, lost value compared to other currencies such as the dollar, euro and pound, it will be expensive to visit Rio de Janeiro during the Games.

The city is experiencing an Olympic sized increase on its prices. With 500,000 people expected to arrive in the marvelous city, prices are inflated.

A hotel in the best neighborhoods can have rates over $700 for each night, three times the low-season prices.

The first weekend of the Olympics and dates near August 14, when Usain Bolt is expected to race in the 100-meter final, is the period most in demand for accommodations.

People don’t seem to be complaining about hotel room prices or, at least, are prepared to pay the high prices. The vacancy rate for hotels is now just 10 percent. Fans have even rented motel rooms so they can watch the biggest sports stars.

Those who bargain might be able to get reduced rates, but will have to sleep far away from the city’s main sites. It is possible to find hostels in pacified favelas, or shanty towns, for less than $50.

In the last decade, the number of rooms available in Rio de Janeiro increased from 30,000 to 58,000. As many as 500,000 tourists are expected to come to Rio during the Games, so thousands of people will need to find a bed and that’s one way that Cariocas (residents of Rio) can earn extra money.

There as many as 35 mil thousand people announcing a room or house to rent for those who want to celebrate the Olympic spirit in Rio. Most of them, 56 percent, are foreigners.

According to Airbnb, a specialized site for renting vacation homes, the host of the Games is the fourth-biggest city in the world as advertised on their site, only behind New York, London and Paris.

Rio natives are leaving their homes to rent them out during the Olympics. Prices are going sky high in some areas.

A two-room apartment at Barra da Tijuca, near the Olympic city, has rates of around $7,000 for the whole Olympic period, a daily rate of $388. In the low season, the same would be around $130. The most-requested areas are Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon and Barra da Tijuca.

This kind of business can better suit the budgets of those who bargain and search a lot. It is possible to find rates for around $40 and rent a room in a family house at Lapa or Santa Teresa, in the city’s center.

Those with more money to spend can try luxury apartments. The cost for places with a swimming pool, sea view and other facilities can reach $7,000.

During the Olympics it will be expensive to eat, at least by Brazilians standards.

In the venues, a slice of pizza will cost $5, pasta will cost $ 6.50, a hot dog $4, a bottle of water $2.5, a bottle of soda $3, and a beer $4. There will be massive supervision to prevent street sellers from gathering around the Olympic venues.

It won’t be cheap to come to Rio during the Olympics, but there are services for all budgets, and seeing the Games in such a marvelous city might be priceless.

Valter Junior is a journalist for Metro Brazil. He can be reached at vajunior@gmail.com.