Rio de Janeiro Reports

[QuackUp]

Porto Bay Hotel Copacabana. Pros. Location, clean, and according to the bell guy, guess friendly. Cons. Didn't see any.

Prodigy Hotel Santo Dumont. Pros. Location if you like exploring centro. Vlt can get you to the prives in about 2 minutes. About 5 minutes to the termas. Cons. There cleaning schedule. I usually go for a prive run so I leave around 10:00. After have lunch so I'm back at the hotel around 13:00. Find out the room hasn't been cleaned. I like to rest before I head out later to the termas but now I have to wait for the cleaning crew to come by. This hotel is not guess friendly. You can register one guess and that's pretty much it.

Hotel Novatel RJ Porto Atlantico, Pros. Newer modern hotel. Vlt stop right in front of hotel. Best shower I had in Rio. Cons. Location, it's on the other side of centro past Aqua Rio. There are no restaurants or markets close by. Swimming pool area was very small with no direct sunlight. With all that, this was my favorite hotel on this trip. I was on the 11th floor with a view of the bay which was so relaxing. My date also loved this hotel. Pretty isolated but I guess that means more privacy for you. I didn't ask if this hotel was guess friendly but when my date came over I met her in the lobby and headed straight to the elevators with no problem.

[QuackUp]

I know there were reports of not finding good places to eat, so here are some of the places I like to go to. I will not list the many by the kilo places I've been to or the executive lunch places that are dirt cheap.

Copacabana.

Apaia, really good seafood. I had the moqueca with fish and shrimp. Delicious and they do serve half portions.

Pavao Azul. Looks like a local hangout. I went just before opening and by the time I was leaving there was a line of people waiting for a table. I had the oxtail which came with rice, beans, potatoes and watercress. The oxtail is only served on certain days.

Centro.

Giuseppe. Great for pasta and steaks. Little pricy but worth it for me.

Malaga. Another hidden restaurant on the dark side. I wanted the roast pig but they didn't have it the day I went. I had the fish. Not sure what kind I just took the recommendation of the waiter.

Opus, the Brazilian version of the French dip sandwich. Cheap and filling.

Paladino. Another sandwich place. Sometimes I would buy a sandwich to go and leave it in the hotel fridge in the room. After a termas run, since most restaurants in centro are closed, Ill just have the sandwich for dinner. Again, cheap eats.

I do like eating the street food especially the meat skewers. Most of the places with the skewers charge are $7. 00.

Almost forgot, when my date from Solarium came over we ate at the Giuseppe in Leblon. Very modern and romantic place to eat. She loved it.

[QuackUp]

Annes msg. Good. About 8-10 girls in the lineup. The photos on their website looked better than the actual girls. To be fair they don't show the faces. The girl I choose gave the standard service and since it a little far, I didn't go back. I do like Tijuca though. Seems like a happening place.

Bel Prazer. Very good with lots of girls. Again the photos looked better than actual. The girl I took had baby damage but you couldn't tell by the photos. She gave a very good session.

EOB. Good. About 7 girls. The girl I took looked like a sexy chola chick. She was slim and very playful. I would rate her exceptional.

Rio Branco 156. I usually visit the prives here but as reported earlier, you need to sign in to get to the elevators. Seems strange to have turnstiles in front of the elevator bank. Since there were lines at both sides to sign in, I didn't go up.

Non full service.

Luna Therapia. Good. This place you have to call or whatapp them to schedule an appointment. They have a website with the photos and if the girl I had is any indication. The photos are up to date. I knew this place was not full service and I never had a nuru massage before so I went there. Not sure if it was real nuru gel but it did feel good. Her using her body all around me felt pretty good. She did allow kissing and DATY. She did offer a hand jack but I decided to save it for the night. Cost are $300.00 an hour. I had a good time there and I did feel relaxed after.

[QuackUp]

Termas in no particular order. My ratings and side comments. Standard = Deep kissing, bbj and covered full service. Great = standard + extra little things. Exceptional = standard + great + great connection.

Mahattan Good. About 12-14 girls. Average to slightly above average in looks. I did one girl who I met there last year. Her service was great. She let me bb to completion. One of the few times at the venue. Usually the bb happens if they come back to the hotel with me.

Monte Carlo. Weak. Only 3 girls on site. Average looking. To be fair, I did go on Saturday the Brazilian Valentine's day so I figured it would be weak.

4 x4. Really good. Anywhere from 25-40 girls there. Above average in looks. I took three girls from here. One was standard, the other two were great. Of the two one was a tall blond about 5'10" and slim. I told her she looked like a model and she told me she did work as a model but the pressures of modeling wasn't for her. The second was probably the cutest girls I have seen on this trip. She had black hair and about 5'2". What amazed me was not only did she worked at 4 x4, she was also on the Fatal model website. For those that don't know, it's basically an escort site. She worked everyday so I thought the session wouldn't be up to par but to my delight, she was a sweetheart.

65. Good. About 12-15 girls average to slightly above average. Had two sessions here. First was sub standard. There were red flags because in the boite instead of deep kissing she gave pecks. I told her I wouldn't take her up because of her lack of kissing. She promised it would be different in the room. Didn't happen but at least she did everything else okay. The second girl gave standard service.

Mv30. Closed. I went by there twice. Don't know if it's temporary or permanent.

502 Weak. Only three girls with average looks. I went on a Monday and they told me to come back on Thursday for more girls. I never made it back.

Solarium. Very good. About 14 girls slightly above average. This is the only place where I took a girl back to my hotel. I went on a Saturday and had such a good connection with this girl I asked if she wanted to have lunch on Sunday. We spent about 7 hours together that Sunday so yes, exceptional service.

Aeroporto. Closed. Doesn't look like it will open.

[TiaVoyage25]

For piece of mind, I did get travel insurance with covid coverage. I went with Seven Corners with a cost of $300.00 usd for twelve days. Fortunately I didn't have to use it.

What kind of plan did you get? Mine is like 80 USD for a month and it seems to be very comprehensive, though fortunately I have not had to use it as well. I even got the COVID coverage which, as a young man, seemed wholly unnecessary.

[QuackUp]

It's been a while since I've written a trip report. I felt that I couldn't add any value since I mainly do my own thing in Brazil. This will probably be more for the newbies but maybe some of the information will help some vets. While in Brazil I didn't read any ISG reports so if I repeat some information, please forgive me.

Pre trip. For those of us living in the USA We are so lucky. Since you need a negative pcr test 72 hours before departure, we have lots of choices. I seen prices low to very high but I took the test at the local CVS. When I called the assistant told me the test was free and normally the results come back within one or two days. Took the test and early morning on the second day I got my negative result back. Nothing beats free.

For piece of mind, I did get travel insurance with covid coverage. I went with Seven Corners with a cost of $300.00 usd for twelve days. Fortunately I didn't have to use it.

Flt. I flew on United. Between the booking and actual flight, the schedule changed about five times before United cancelled their flights to Rio. I believe they said the cancellation would be in effect until at least August. I rebooked with the following schedule on United. Lax-iah-gru-sdu which worked out fine with me since I like flying into sdu more than gig. For those of you that don't know the lay of the land and your booking got cancelled into gig, get the flight to sdu. This airport is just outside of centro and your ride to Copacabana, Ipanema, etc will be shorter and cheaper.

Sim card. Here's an option for those guys who like using a local sim card to keep their real number away from the girls. Also, It's cheaper than the $10.00 usd a day that At&t charges. While in Centro, go to Rio Branco 156. Yes that are / be 156. Near the back of the building there is a Vivo store. You don't need to sign in as you are not using the elevator. Here you can choose different plans. There are no tourist sim card that I know of so this comes pretty close. They have a seven day, 15 day, or monthly plans. You can go to the Vivo Brazil website for prices and plans. You do need to show your passport so please don't forget it. The person helping me took care of everything. Switching the sim card and activating the local card. The person helping me didn't speak English and my Portuguese still sucks but there are people there that do speak English. I bought the 15 day card and charged it up with are $100.00 and it worked like a charm. It even worked in most metro stations.

Metro card. For those of you intimidated by the self serve ticket machine, don't worry, there's a button for English to make it very easy to purchase. The card is good for the metro, vlt, boat, and buses.

[WyattEarp]

To VB's report regarding last night's festivities. For my tastes, I actually thought 65 had better quality last night overall but MiamiBoy disagreed with me. Both 4 x4 and 65 were pretty decent overall, though the quality started to decline after 9:30 pm or so. This just goes to show that beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

Sessioned with a pretty branca at 4 x4. Well, mostly branca. Perhaps 75% with the rest being native of some type but I have no idea. Amazing GFE, though I didn't ask for it. BBBJ, (covered) anal, and COF. Truly enthusiastic and she put on a great performance. You really get a good bang for your buck at 4 x4 as the damage was under R500. This included several drinks over the course of 3-4 hours and 30 minutes with the girl in the standard cabin. As I have previously stated, the bang for the buck is not what I seek. I look for quality and convenience. 4 x4 seems to be the perfect combination thereof, despite my initial observations.

Great report and great news to hear that 4 x 4 and 65 are getting back in form.

From my experience of many nights at 4 x 4, it is hot between 5 and 10 pm with the peak time in the middle. This synchronizes with the schedules of the local businessmen. It's easy to tell the wife or girlfriend that you are going out for drinks with co-workers. Boys will be boys and Brasileiros will be Brasileiros! LOL.

[TiaVoyage25]

To VB's report regarding last night's festivities. For my tastes, I actually thought 65 had better quality last night overall but MiamiBoy disagreed with me. Both 4 x4 and 65 were pretty decent overall, though the quality started to decline after 9:30 pm or so. This just goes to show that beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

Sessioned with a pretty branca at 4 x4. Well, mostly branca. Perhaps 75% with the rest being native of some type but I have no idea. Amazing GFE, though I didn't ask for it. BBBJ, (covered) anal, and COF. Truly enthusiastic and she put on a great performance. You really get a good bang for your buck at 4 x4 as the damage was under R500. This included several drinks over the course of 3-4 hours and 30 minutes with the girl in the standard cabin. As I have previously stated, the bang for the buck is not what I seek. I look for quality and convenience. 4 x4 seems to be the perfect combination thereof, despite my initial observations.

About to go check out a prive, then perhaps head to a termas tonight (which I will go to remains unknown).

Heading to SP next week.

[WyattEarp]

If you're hell bent on courting a non-pro, Sampa is better than Rio, and Brasilia is better than Sampa, and, I think, the ultimate place to find an English-speaking non-pro IMHO. Whenever I've met denizens of the Capital in my travels, all of them spoke English. There is no science in these observations, LOL, but it's been my experience.

It's a lot of work and no one should expect instant gratification. It also depends on whether you can handle yourself with women back home. However, the Brazilian women in second tier cities are generally friendlier to foreign men. Think Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Brasilia etc.

If you have reasons to be in Brazil that takes you down there often and / or have Brazilian friends and colleagues, this helps considerably.

I don't know if Rio non-pros are still concerned with the stigma of socializing with foreign men. It was notably true during the height of Rio's mongering glory in the 2000's.

Quoting Xpartan: "There is no science in these observations, LOL, but it's been my experience. " Truer words have never been spoken.

[The Critic]

As someone who has lived among Brazilians for extended periods of time and over a long period of time, this statement is false. You can stop reading everything after.

It get's old reading nonsense from people who have no idea what they are talking about.

Really! Just like that you speak and we take it as fact. BS simply BS. What makes it so wrong? Three sentences to claim a post is totally without merit. Wow. No explanation of a countervailing point of view. I simply posted my real experiences in Rio based on another posters comments.

[WyattEarp]

Totally don't understand your response. Do you understand what "vicarious" means? To live vicariously is to experience through the imagination or through the actions of others. So how could you have been endangering yourself by "doing vicarious shit"? But in the end, we agree. Leave the "dark side" to those who dare to go there!

I knew a Vicar in Rio that took male visitors to the "dark side" termas for research purposes. I thought that was what you were talking about. Wink.

[WyattEarp]

Always keep this card on your phone and be ready to suggest meeting there, for pro or non pro.

Its like the AMEX for bunda.

Trust me.

Don't make codename VAGABUNDO send pictures.

Be sure to bring your bamboo rod!

[WyattEarp]

I do recommend the average newbie visit the Christ statue, Lapas (famous steps), Saint Theresa, and the Botanical Gardens. Just take a formal tour. It is worth it even if you are only here for a week or so. There is a lot to see.

I've found formal tours of Rio to be very overpriced. They take advantage of the fact tourists staying at the beach either do not know local prices or highly value being guided around. The hotels are steering people to these tours.

Since many mongers will be jutting around around Rio anyway, you can make an "off-book" arrangement with an Uber driver. Make a list of sites and show it to him / her. It doesn't take too much Portuguese to work this out. Find an Uber driver that you like and say something like "cuanto por seis horas?" (or whatever hours you prefer) and show them a feasible list of locations. They'll figure out the sequence based on location and traffic.

Logistically, I don't remember the layout of Cristo Redentor or Sugarloaf, but they should be able to wait in the parking lot. There is a trust factor though. You might have to pay some drivers as you go. I paid my guy 40 USA Dollars and he didn't seem too worried about being paid at the end. We also had each other's phone numbers in case I couldn't find him at the drop zone. I did take him to lunch, but I like hanging with locals. I usually find a cool Uber driver my first day or two. It's actually not unusual for an Uber driver in Brazil to hand you a card. Same guy drove me to GIG airport.

If you really want an English-speaking guide, you might be able to find a local guy with a car who is reasonable on Tripadvisor. Obviously, this is all cheaper if you are with a bud or two.

[WyattEarp]

Not too sure about being unsuccessful but it's complicated. A lot of Brazilians (non-Pros) do speak English nevertheless the problem with my dissertation is you can't tell by looking at someone. However, in my experience if you're in an environment of Middle to Upper-Class, University Students, Large Corporate (generally international or US / UK based), Mid to High End Retail, Hospitality, Service Professionals, and etc. , they do speak English and other foreign languages. The problem is do they want to speak to you?? Problem solved if you know Portuguese fluently but you're not totally out of luck if they have a desire to speak to you in English. Sure, its hit or miss but it can happen (and you may feel your wasting your time) just depends on the environment you're in. Believe me the Brazilians know who the Gringos are.

My observation is if you are 45 & under with some game, you can fit in most clubs geared to 20 somethings. You can get by if you are older if you look younger and are in good shape. Otherwise, you will look like the creepy, old foreign guy at the club. That is if they let you in. LOL.

Many English speaking non-pros in less wealthy countries are intrigued by gringos. That is one of the reasons they studied English and did well. It opens up opportunities for them. I would speak English with my buddies (yes, wingmen are still valuable) and you can see the English-speaking girls' antennas go up. If they will speak to you in English for awhile, that is obviously a good sign. Now some venues are known as pick-up clubs others less so. As always, the rest is how you play it.

[The Cane]

Very true but I have done enough vicarious shit in my 20's and 30's to last a lifetime. I am till suprised how I am alive, how I have yet to be robbed and beaten or how I was able out of some jams. Today, I have the money and the wisdom to keep a low profile and just enjoy my time at a nicer joint that meet my standard.

Totally don't understand your response. Do you understand what "vicarious" means? To live vicariously is to experience through the imagination or through the actions of others. So how could you have been endangering yourself by "doing vicarious shit"? But in the end, we agree. Leave the "dark side" to those who dare to go there!