| PIRACICABA, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Colina Park Address: Price: $18.50 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1993 Review: Adequate hotel located a good distance from the bus terminal by taxi ($11) and away from the downtown area. It’s pretty much away from everything including stores and restaurants. Rooms are simple, clean and come with color tv, fan (still stuffy, though) and a writing desk. It’s too high in price for what you get and the location is inconvenient so I’m not recommending this hotel. Price includes breakfast. PIRAJU, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Piraju Address: Price: $5 Rating: Best Value Reviewed: 1996 Review: Good hotel (a little modest, perhaps, but charming and full of character in its own unique way) located several blocks from the bus terminal and the downtown area. Rooms are basic, clean, small and that’s about it. The bathroom is located down the hall. At the time of my visit, they were having a sale on these types of rooms (regular price is $10). They do have rooms available with your own private bathroom and tv that starts at $20. However, this room is more than adequate. Very economico and very much recommended. Price includes breakfast. PIRAPORA, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Cariris Address: rua Felipe Sampaio 121 Price: $26 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1995 Review: Good and pleasant hotel conveniently located near the bus terminal and very near the downtown area. Rooms are comfortable, spotless and come with color tv, frigo bar (less per night without) and air conditioning. Recommended! Price includes breakfast. Drawback: The seat on the toilet is missing. PIRASSUNUNGA, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Municipal Address: rua Siqueira Campos 1546 Price: $14 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1996 Review: Good and adequate hotel located a few blocks from the bus terminal, one block from the immediate downtown area and an attractive park. Rooms are spotless, somewhat small and that’s about it. The bathroom is located down the hall. There are more expensive rooms available with your own private bathroom and tv. The best hotel that this city of 57.000 has to offer. Recommended! Price includes breakfast. PIRATUBA, BRAZIL Name: Tirolesa Hotel Address: rua 13 de Marco 123 Price: $47.50 Rating: Honorable Mention Reviewed: 1995 Review: In this peaceful and very friendly town of 5,000, there are many fine hotels to choose from and this is one of them. Excellent hotel located a good distance (a 45 minute walk) from the bus terminal but close to the thermal waters. Rooms are clean, fairly spacious and come with a fan, color tv, a small writing desk and a well-stocked frigo bar. What makes this hotel an especially good value is that, besides the excellent Brazilian breakfast, lunch and dinner are also included in the price of the room with a wide variety of entrees. Amenities include a mini playground for the kids. Friendly and helpful staff. One of the staff will drive you the 2 kms. to the bus terminal when checking out. Highly recommended! Travel Tip: The main tourist attraction of the town is the Thermal Springs (which is really nothing more than a swimming pool) so bring your bathing suit. Admission is $3. PIRES DO RIO, BRAZIL Name: Real Hotel Address: Price: $10.50 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1995 Review: Adequate hotel located several blocks from the bus terminal and a couple of blocks from the downtown area. Rooms are basic, clean and come with a fan. It seems to be the only hotel in the downtown area. If traveling on a shoestring budget, there are rooms available without a private bathroom for just $4.50 per night. Can be recommended for an overnight stay. Price includes breakfast. PIRIAPOLIS, URUGUAY Name: Hotel Danae Address: Price: $10 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1991 Review: Piriapolis is a small resort city with several hotels located across from the beach including this one. Rooms are basic, fairly small and don’t come with really anything. Recommended! PIUMA, BRAZIL Name: Unmarked Pousada Address: Price: $12 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1994 Review: In this small resort town, there are a few inexpensive pousadas to choose from and this is one of them. Adequate pousada located four blocks from the bus terminal, in the center of town and a short distance to the beach. Rooms are simple, spotless, fairly spacious and don’t come with really anything. Stuffy without a fan. The hotel staff was not particularly friendly. Recommended only for an overnight stay. POCONE, BRAZIL Name: Skala Hotel Address: Pca. Bem Rondon 64 Price: $28 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1995 Review: Good hotel located several blocks from the bus terminal (allow at least 25 minutes walking time but take it easy in the drenching heat) and in the center of the downtown area. Rooms are simple, spotless, somewhat small and come with a fan. More expensive rooms are available with air conditioning. Adequate hotel and room but it might not be worth the price paid for it. However, it was the only hotel I could find in this city of 30,000. Perhaps with the lack of hotels, they feel justified charging what they do for a room. Price includes breakfast. Advisary: This is an especially poor city so be careful. POCOS DE CALDAS, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Minas Gerais Address: Price: $61 Rating: Best Reviewed: 1993 Review: In this charming resort city located just five hours away by bus from the city of Ribeirao Preto, there are numerous hotels in all price ranges to choose from. Excellent and quaint four star hotel located a short distance from the bus terminal by taxi ($4.50) and a couple of blocks from the downtown area. Rooms are small, cozy, spotless and come with color tv and a frigo bar. This hotel is a good value since the excellent noontime hot and cold buffet is included in the price of the room. The lobby is magnificently decorated in “old world charm” decor. Very friendly staff. Good service. Highly recommended! Price includes breakfast. POMERODE, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Schroeder Address: rua 15 de Novembro 514 Price: $16 Rating: Honorable Mention Reviewed: 1995 Review: Very good hotel conveniently located within walking distance from the tiny bus terminal and on the main street that runs through this peaceful and friendly town of 19,000. Rooms are spotless, somewhat small and come with a sink and a small table. The bathroom is located right down the hall. There are more expensive rooms available with a bathroom, color tv and air conditioning. Besides Portuguese, German and a little English is also spoken. Helpful staff. Highly recommended! Travel Tip: This town is definitely worth coming to, since it’s reminiscent of a Bavarian village high in the Alps. Also, there’s a craft store located across the street from the above mentioned hotel. PONTA GROSSA, BRAZIL Name: Vila Velha Palace Hotel Address: Price: $43 Rating: Best Reviewed: 1992 Review: In this large city that claims to be “the soybean capitol of the country”, there are many hotels of all price ranges to choose from. Excellent four star hotel located a short distance from the bus terminal by taxi ($2.50) and four blocks from the downtown area. This is truly a world class hotel. Rooms are comfortable, spotless and come with color tv with remote control, air conditioning and a frigo bar. Each room has a balcony overlooking the city which is breathtaking at night. Friendly and helpful staff. Good restaurant. Highly recommended! Price includes breakfast. PONTA PORA, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Guaruja Address: Price: $21.50 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1993 Review: In this border town (bordering with Paraguay), there are numerous hotels of various grades to choose from. Good hotel a good distance from the bus terminal by taxi ($4) and located right in the downtown area. Rooms are clean, comfortable and come with color tv, air conditioning (a welcome relief in this hot town, although initially it has to be turned on from the lobby) and a frigo bar. Highly recommended! Price includes breakfast. PORTO BELO, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Baleia Branca Address: Price: $43 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1992 Review: In this very quaint fishing village of 10,000, there are very few reasonably priced hotel accomodations. Good three star hotel located within walking distance from the bus terminal and the center of town. Rooms are spotless, fairly spacious and come with color tv and air conditioning. The rooms are adequate but may not be worth the price paid for them. Amenities include a small swimming pool. Not all of the hotel staff is friendly. Price includes above average breakfast. PORTO SEGURO, BRAZIL Name: Pousada Caravelas Address: Av. 22 de Abril/Av. dos Navegantes Price: $26 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1994 Review: Good Pousada located near the seafront and a good distance from the center of the downtown area. Rooms are clean, somewhat small and come with color tv (doesn’t always work properly), air conditioning, fan and a sparsely stocked frigo bar. A nice touch is that every room has its own individual picnic table located just outside the room. Reasonably priced for this tourist city. Recommended! Price includes a good breakfast. PORTO UNIAO, BRAZIL Name: Opera Hotel Address: rua Visc. de Guarapuava 6 Price: $14.50 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1995 Review: Dilapidated looking hotel located across the street from the bus terminal in the city of Uniao da Vitoria and a few blocks from the bus terminal in Porto Uniao and close to both of the downtown areas. Even though the outside of the hotel is badly decaying, the rooms aren’t half bad for a budget type of hotel. Rooms are clean, somewhat small and come with a nice view of the park located directly across the street. A couple of dollars more per night will also include a tv. A few dollars more than that, will get you a more spacious room with your own private bathroom in it. Recommended! Price includes breakfast. Advisary: Porto Uniao (population: 29,798) and Uniao da Vitoria (population: 43,948) are actually two cities side by side in two seperate states (Santa Catarina and Parana). It’s virtually impossible for the typical foreign tourist to distinguish one city from another as they seem almost like one large city. When arriving from towns or cities in the state of Santa Catarina, the bus will drop you off in the bus terminal in that state. If you want to take a bus from Porto Uniao to other cities and towns (with the exception of Curitiba) in the state of Parana, you will have to walk a few blocks to the bus terminal in Uniao da Vitoria. It’s actually a train station where buses also leave from. Admittedly, it’s a bit confusing at first. POUSO ALEGRE, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Felix Address: rua Bernardino de Campos 143 Price: $66 Rating: Best Reviewed: 1996 Review: Very nice, indeed! Truly a world class hotel. Excellent hotel (one of the two best hotels in this city of 82,000) located a few blocks from both the bus terminal and the downtown area. Rooms are very attractive, comfortable, spotless, spacious (including even the bathroom) and come with air conditioning, color tv (showing special American movies at night in English with Portuguese subtitles) and a well-stocked frigo bar. Most of the rooms located on the upper floors (mine included) have the added advantage of having an aerial view of the city. Breathtaking! Service is excellent. If your plans take you to the city of Pouso Alegre and you want a special splurge, this hotel lets you do it in style. Highly and enthusiastically recommended! Price includes excellent breakfast. PRADO, BRAZIL Name: Pousada Prado Address: Price: $18 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1994 Review: There are many pousadas of varying degrees around the bus terminal in this friendly tourist town of 22,000 and this is one of them. Adequate pousada located a block from the bus terminal and a short distance to the center of town and the beach. Rooms are simple, clean and come with a fan and frigo bar. Friendly staff. A little high in price, perhaps, for what you actually get but still recommended. Price includes breakfast. PRAIA DO FORTE, BRAZIL Name: Unmarked Pousada Address: Price: $36 Rating: Honorable Mention Reviewed: 1994 Review: There are many good pousadas in this tiny resort town located 81 kms. north of Salvador, Bahia and this is one of them. Excellent and reasonably priced pousada located a short distance from the center of town, the bus stop and the beach. Rooms are comfortable, spotless and come with a fan and mosquito net over the bed. What is especially nice about this pousada is the hammock out on the balcony so one can lazily lay looking out to the palm trees. Very much recommended. Price includes breakfast. PRATA, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Ferreira Address: Getulio Vargas 307 Price: $4.50 Rating: Worst Reviewed: 1999 Review: I have just one word for this hotel: Yuck! Dumpy and drab hotel located a good distance from the bus terminal by taxi ($3 - fair price!) and a couple of blocks from the downtown area. Rooms are basic, dumpy, small and fairly clean (the floor is, anyway) and come with just a bed and a sink. There might be a spider or two to keep you company (saw one in the sink). The communal bathroom is located down the hall. The bed is so comfortable, it feels like you’re sleeping on a board. They give you one filthy looking towel and expect you to take a shower with it. This hotel is definitely a traveler’s worst nightmare. However, since this is the only hotel in town, you’ll probably wind up staying here. Price includes breakfast but it might be wise not to eat here. Not recommended in the least. |
 |
|
|
| P |
 |
 |
| Click on the Warrior to return to the Table of Contents |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |