The Cheaper Termas: 502, MV30, and T31
Based on the below feedback on my trip report from The Cane and FuckAfMedDig, it appears that 502 may not have been the best place to start my aborted tour of the cheaper Centro termas: 502, MV30, and T31. I had originally considered visiting all three of those cheaper termas but shifted gears after my brief and unsatisfying visit to 502; instead of MV30 and T31, I ended up going to the most expensive termas in RJ (Solarium and Centaurus). I had decided to start a tour of the cheaper termas with 502 because my pre-trip research suggested to me that it might be one of the best cheaper termas; Bubba's guide described it as a Tier 1 termas at Tier 2 prices. Perhaps 502 has gone downhill since Bubba wrote his guide years ago, but I did not find any more recent information in my pre-trip research to contradict his characterization. I figured that, if I did not like 502, I would like T31 and MV30 even less, so I revised my strategy and went to the pricier termas instead.
The smaller amount of information that I found on the cheaper termas did not inspire my confidence either. It sounded to me like some of the cheaper termas involved some sort of trade-off on either talent or facilities and atmosphere. For example, it sounded like T31 had good talent but questionable facilities and atmosphere, whereas MV30 had better facilities and atmosphere but lukewarm talent. I figured that if there is less reporting on the cheaper termas, perhaps there were good reasons to avoid them.
If anyone has any more detailed input on the cheaper termas, it would be worth adding it to this thread in order to balance out the more extensive coverage of the top-tier termas. For example, if anyone else thinks that 502 is a dud, as The Cane and FuckAfMedDig suggested, then it would be worth noting that for the record, so that other first-time visitors can avoid it and not waste their time there, as I did.