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| MOJI-GUACU, BRAZIL Name: Baradah Hotel Address: rua Jose de Campos 15 Price: $71.50 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1996 Review: Good three star hotel (the best that this city of 107,000 has to offer) located a short distance from the bus terminal by taxi ($5) and right in the immediate downtown area. Rooms are clean, comfortable, somewhat spacious and come witrh color tv (somewhat poor reception and the color doesn’t work very well), air conditioning and a well-stocked frigo bar. Some rooms (mine included) have the added advantage of having a view of a river (muddy). Rooms are very high in price for what you actually get but still recommended. Price includes breakfast. Drawback: The toilet in the bathroom didn’t flush properly. Advisary: $5 is high enough for the short jaunt from the bus terminal to the hotel. However, there are some unscrupulous cab drivers who will try to charge more than that but don’t pay. It was obvious that she (yes, there are even female cab drivers in Brazil) had the meter turned on before picking me up. Don’t pay more than $5. Even that amount is too much. MOJI-MIRIM, BRAZIL Name: Moji-Mirim Palace Hotel Address: rua Jose Bonifacio 147 Price: $41 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1996 Review: Adequate hotel (the best in the city) located a good distance from the bus terminal by taxi ($6 - fair price!) and right in the immediate downtown area. Rooms are clean, spacious and come with color tv and a fan. Not recommended because of the Advisary below. Price includes breakfast. Advisary #1:This hotel really can’t be recommended for the following reason: When checking out of the hotel, the female receptionist “claimed” that I owed $10 more for charges that I know I didn’t incur. After paying for the room (which I owed), the female receptionist proceeded to try to lock the doors to the hotel (trying to lock me in) and then proceeded to try to reach in my pocket and take some money. Needless to say, I did manage to escape in one piece and without giving her any extra money. Advisary #2: Traffic in this city of 65,000 is a mess! There are virtually no traffic lights (actually, only one) in the downtown area. Crossing the street is a real adventure (and nightmare). Be extremely careful when walking across the street and especially during rush hour. Travel Tip: There’s a tourist train (on wheels, that is) leaving from the main park in the downtown area every Saturday evening at roughly 9 p.m. The ride costs $2, lasts approximately 25 minutes and takes you around the city of Moji-Mirim. While the ride is primarily for kids, adults seem to enjoy it, too. You’ll see such favorites as one of Santa’s Elves and Mickey Mouse on board riding with you. Very much recommended when visiting the city. MONTE VERDE, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Restaurant Pilao Mineiro - Uai Address: Price: $30 Rating: Honorable Mention Reviewed: 1996 Review: Monte Verde may very well be one of Brazil’s best kept secrets. Monte Verde is a lovely and picturesque town with a population of only 3,000 and hidden away in some of the most beautiful hills Brazil has to offer. What makes this town truly special, however, is that it’s reminiscent of a Bavarian village high in the Alps. The scenery surrounding the town is breathtaking. Many craft shops to delight the seasoned tourist. Perhaps it’s a little high in price but the quality is certainly there. Also, you’ll find several fine restaurants for the true gourmet at heart. Monte Verde is a little difficult to get to. Those without their own means of transportation will have to rely on bus service. It’s a very slow and rough ride but definitely well worth it. Let’s talk about hotels for a moment. It’s difficult to imagine making a “bad” choice with a hotel here. Some of the highest quality hotels that I’ve seen are located right in this town. I’m sure that there are no less than 30 hotels and most are small and quaint such as this one. Excellent hotel located a couple of blocks from the bus stop and several blocks from the center of town (very steep gravel road to go down so be careful!) where the craft shops are. This is one of the most charming and unusual hotels that I’ve had the pleasure of staying at in a long time. Rooms are cozy, comfortable, fairly spacious and come with color tv, frigo bar (empty) and a small fireplace. Most rooms (mine included) have a balcony overlooking the beautiful countryside. Very enthusiastically recommended! Price includes breakfast. MONTENEGRO, BRAZIL Name: Ibia Hotel Address: Ramiro Barcelos 2272 Price: $27 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1998 Review: Good hotel located a few blocks from the bus terminal and right on the main shopping street of the downtown area. Rooms are clean, somewhat on the small side and come with color tv. This type of room is the least expensive and is called turista. There are various types of rooms with additional amenities such as more spacious, frigo bar and air conditioning that go up to a whopping $65. Sporadic and limited English spoken by the desk clerk. This is the best hotel that this city of 49,000 has to offer and very much recommended. Price includes breakfast. Advisary: There’s another hotel on the same street as this one called Hotel Montegro. Judging from the outside of it, you probably wouldn’t want to stay here as it looks pretty dumpy. MONTES CLAROS, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Giovanni Address: av. Genesio Tolentino 472 Price: $10.50 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1995 Review: Several inexpensive hotels located within the vicinity of the bus terminal and this is one of them. Adequate hotel conveniently located a block from the bus terminal and three kms. from the downtown area. Rooms are basic, fairly spacious and come with a ceiling fan. If you’re on a tight budget, there are rooms available without the private bathroom for $3 less per night. Friendly and helpful staff. Recommended! Price includes breakfast. MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY Name: Hotel Lancaster Address: Price: $38 Rating: Honorable Mention Reviewed: 1991 Review: Very nice hotel located within the downtown area and facing the Plaza. Clean rooms. Friendly staff. Recommended! MORRETES, BRAZIL Name: Porto Real Palace Hotel Address: Price: $12 Rating: Best Value Reviewed: 1992 Review: In this sleepy colonial town of 15,000, there are a few inexpensive hotels and this is one of them. Good two star hotel located within walking distance from the bus terminal and in the center of town. Rooms are comfortable (although somewhat plain), fairly clean and come with a frigo bar and air conditioning. The lobby is impressive to see as it’s very ornately decorated. Recommended! Price includes disappointing breakfast. Drawback: Trying to lock the door to your room is next to impossible since the lock doesn’t function properly. MORRINHOS, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Machado Address: Price: $12 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1993 Review: Good hotel conveniently located across from the park where the bus terminal is and a few blocks from the downtown area. Rooms are basic, clean and come with air conditioning (cheaper without). Friendly staff. Recommended! Price includes breakfast. MORRO BRANCO, BRAZIL Name: Pousada Labirinto Address: rua Luiz Gama 120 Price: $12 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1994 Review: There are numerous inexpensive hotels in this small resort town and this is one of them. Adequate hotel conveniently located across from the bus stop and a couple of blocks from the beach. Rooms are basic but fairly clean. Friendly staff. Recommended for being a good budget choice as well as the convenient location. Price includes breakfast. MOSQUEY, VENEZUELA Name: Posada Turistica Estancia de Mosquey Address: Price: $13.50 Rating: Honorable Mention Reviewed: 1997 Review: Located a mere 10 kms. from Bocono by por puesto (shared van - $0.11 - cheap!) is the very nice town of Mosquey. Not much to the town itself except this very beautiful and quaint posada. This posada is probably one of the nicest that I’ve had the pleasure of staying at. Very charming posada in a peaceful setting with a tremendous view of the mountains as a backdrop and located up the road from the center of town (one bakery and maybe two other stores). Rooms are clean, spacious, comfortable, tastefully decorated and come with color tv (no reception whatsoever!). There’s no air conditioning but, again, you don’t really need it because of the cool mountain air. Almost every room has its own balcony. There’s a hammock in the common area to lay and enjoy the cool, crisp Venezuelan mountain breeze on those lazy afternoons. The proprietor is a friendly older gentleman who speaks English and enjoys talking about his travels to Asia and the Middle East some twenty years ago. Good family-style meals (a little pricey) and I might recommend skipping the Iguana (made me ill for several days afterwards!). The chicken is good, though. I read about this gem of a posada in the South American Handbook and, apparently, so had a lot of other people. He had a guest book in which other guests had written about their experience in staying there. The entries were written in Spanish, French, German and English. From the host right down to the lovely ladies who served me my meals, the hospitality had been enormous. Highly recommended! MUCUCHIES, VENEZUELA Name: Hotel Castillo San Ignacio Address: Price: $35.50 Rating: Best Reviewed: 1997 Review: The town of Mucuchies is a very short jaunt from the town of Apartaderos (15 minutes away if even that!) by por puesto (shared van - only $0.33) and they will drop you off at this truly magnificent hotel. Very nice, indeed! Truly a world class hotel! Or is it? A hotel, I mean. This is certainly the most unusual and impressive hotel that I’ve had the pleasure and good fortune of staying at. Recently built (1988), it was built to be reminiscent of a castle and is so authentic looking that it looks as if it were transported directly from Medieval Europe and is the only “castle” in all of South America. The castle is large and is easy to get lost wandering in it as there are many rooms with such things as statues of knights in shining armor. Each of the guest rooms are spotless, spacious, comfortable, tastefully decorated (in keeping with the Medieval European atmosphere) and come with color tv. Air conditioning really isn’t necessary since the town is located high up in the Andes mountains and there’s always a cool breeze blowing. The very atmospheric restaurant is worth trying. Good food and service at reasonable prices. My Cordon Bleu (including rice, mashed potatoes and garlic toast), papaya juice, dessert and 10% tip came to an astonishingly low $8.37. If you should happen to wander into the bar for a drink, be prepared for a hefty bar tab. Margaritas are a whopping $7.33 and Bloody Marys are $6.11. Both include the 10% Venezuelan liquor tax. All in all, I would definitely recommend coming to the small town of Mucuchies (although in and of itself, it’s not a tourist destination) just for the experience of staying in this very unusual and authentic looking hotel-castle. Service is excellent. Highly recommended! MUCURI, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Sul Americano Address: Price: $6 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1994 Review: Adequate hotel located near the bus terminal and the center of town. Rooms are very basic, appears to be clean and come with a ceiling fan. Friendly. Barely acceptable but okay for an overnight stay. Price includes breakfast. MULCHEN, CHILE Name: Residencial (unmarked) Address: Price: $5 Rating: Worst Reviewed 1990 Review: Dirty and dingy residencial located within walking distance from the bus terminal. Not recommended in the least. MURIAE, BRAZIL Name: Preminum Plaza Hotel Address: Price: $25 Rating: Honorable Mention Reviewed: 1994 Review: Excellent hotel located less than a block from the bus terminal and a good distance from the downtown area. Rooms are spotless, spacious and come with color tv with remote control, air conditioning and a well-stocked frigo bar. The hallways are especially cheerful and modern looking and are done in a two-tone blue with large numbers on the door. The bathroom is especially spacious. Without a doubt, the best hotel that this city of 85,000 has to offer. Highly recommended! Price includes breakfast. |
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