Sheraton Sao Paulo WTC launches bike it! program

Posted on February 26, 2012 by admin

Sheraton Sao Paulo WTC launched a program which is first of its kind in Sao Paulo: the bike it!; since the beginning of February, the hotel is providing two sets of five bikes each, to be borrowed by guests.

The campaign is an attempt to foment ecological conscience in Sao Paulo; the bikes were provided by Caloi, and the protective gear by D&D Shopping. At these early weeks, the bikes will be available on Sundays only, when the transit is quieter; the intention is encourage the guests to bike their way to the touristic places of the city.

The Sheraton WTC is part of the World Trade Center Sao Paulo, the largest business complex in South America; the WTC Sao Paulo comprehends  also a large Convention Center, an office tower, a business club and the D&D Shopping.

Sheraton WTC offers 296 rooms with high standards of comfort, one of the best luxur hotels in Sao Paulo; besides, the hotel offers 67 design suites, which were decorated by famous Brazilian architects, such as  Brunete Fraccaroli, João Armentano, Sonia Menna Barreto, Maurício Karan, Fernando Piva and Deborah Aguiar.

The hotel offers a menu of premium services, which include free GPS, exclusive reception desk, personal concierge, selection of pillows, in room spa, in room fitness, and discounts in ten fine restaurants, including  La Tambouille and Badebec.

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Estanplaza Hotels

Posted on February 23, 2012 by admin

By looking at the list of the largest hotel networks that operate in Brazil, one notices the usual presence of the big international brands (Accor, Choice, Tulip, Melia, etc) and a few large Brazilian players (Transamerica, Windsor and others).

There is one operator which is closed related to Sao Paulo: Estanplaza. Estanplaza was founded in Sao Paulo, operates only in Sao Paulo, and is focused on high level accommodation (four and five star hotels and flats).

The flagship is Gran Estanplaza (photo – book online), rooms and suites for five star corporative guests.

Estanplaza operates several four star hotels, all named after their privileged locations: Faria Lima, Naçoes Unidas, Paulista, Berrini, Ibirapuera (if you are coming for business in Sao Paulo, one of these will surely serve your needs).

Estanplaza offers also options for long term stays (ideal for someone moving to Sao Paulo), the Estanconfor flats (such as Upscale Estanconfor): suites or apartments, fully equiped kitchen, office space, services on request.

The Estanplaza Group is about to complete 30 years of activity, and currently operates nearly 2,000 rooms, all in Sao Paulo.

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Sao Paulo hotels – booking online

Posted on February 21, 2012 by admin

Sao Paulo is the most visited city in Brazil; if you know that you are coming to Sao Paulo, it is better to reserve accommodation as early as possible.

Then, there are a few ways to find a hotel in Sao Paulo.

In other big cities, many people just leave the airport or train station and shop around looking for a hotel room. That wouldn’t work in Sao Paulo, because the international airport is far from the hotel areas, and there are not long distance railroad transportation in Brazil – not to mention that the staff of the cheaper hotels probably won’t speak English or any language other than Portuguese.

Another option is to book a room in hotels which keep a website, and provide a reservation form. The disadvantage, though, is that every hotel will attempt to highlight the better aspects of their services, while hiding any possible drawback.

Booking through a travel agency looks even worse: they usually have connections with a preferred hotel network, and would make recommendations based on their commissions, rather than the traveler interests.

The best way to book a hotel in Sao Paulo is using a online hotel booking service. Advantages: they have arrangements with hotels, to guarantee lower prices; they allow every guest to post their reviews – and unhappy guests usually speak out; they become a party in the contract involving the traveler and the hotel – should any problem arise, you have someone who abides by the same laws as you, and have all interest to solve your problem.

Take Booking.com, for example, which offers more than 200 hotels in Sao Paulo and thousands of hotels around the World.

You just select the city, the dates of check-in and check-out, and the number of people traveling. They provide a list of hotels available; click each hotel link, and you can see actual photos, description of the hotel, and a long list of comments of guests who stayed in the hotel.

The reservation is made in minutes, with no need to talk to anyone. A credit card number is required, but usually no charge is made until the actual check-out in the hotel – notice that to avoid charges, you must cancel early, and some fees must apply.

A few minutes after the reservation, a message is sent to your email, in your language, with all information regarding the booking (rooms description, dates, prices in the currency that you selected), and the most important: a link for cancelation.

Should you need to change the reservation (change date, change room or even cancel the reservation altogether), just click the link and request cancelation – no questions asked.

So, you combine: more room options, better prices, easy booking, easy cancelation.  Unless you do want to stay in a hotel which doesn’t offer reservations through hotel aggregators, there is no better way to reserve a hotel in Sao Paulo.

CLICK HERE to see the Sao Paulo hotels available.

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Largest hotel networks in Brazil

Posted on February 19, 2012 by admin

In Brazil, the vast majority of hotels are not associated with any of the largest hotel networks. Many are family owned, and lack professional management.

With the growth of tourism in Brazil, large world networks are seeing profit opportunities and increasing operations in the country. Large networks are managed professionally, and have minimum standards of service; guests of these hotels in other countries know what they expect when staying in Brazil.

The largest hotel networks in Brazil, ranked by number of rooms, are (reference: September 2011; sources: Jones Lang and Brazil Hotel Operators):

Read also: minimum standars of five star hotels in Brazil.

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Accor brings Adagio Hotels to Sao Paulo

Posted on February 18, 2012 by admin

French based Accor, the largest hotel network operating in Brazil, announced that four units of the flag Adagio will be built in Sao Paulo until 2015.

Accor already operates about 150 hotels in Brazil, carrying the flags Sofitel (top of line), Pullman, Novotel (four stars), Mercure (business travelers), Ibis and Formule 1 (economy).

Four Adagios will be built in the State of Sao Paulo, and another one in Bahia. The hotels should be ready by 2015, at an estimated cost of R$ 320 million (about US$ 190 million); hotels will be built in partnership with Brazilian constructor Setin.

The Adagios are focused on guests who stay longer and in larger groups; the rooms of the Adagios are larger, and the kitchens are fully furbished. It’s a competition with the flats, but with more standardization and less bureaucracy.

According to Accor, about 50% of the guests stay longer than one month, as opposed to 12% who stay shorter than four days.

Prices start the same range as the Mercure (check, for example, prices in Sao Paulo for the Mercure Vila Olimpia and Mercure Paulista), but after the fifth day the price starts to lower. Besides, guests can choose which services they will pay for, such as breakfast and room cleaning, which will also help drive prices down for long term guests.

In the city of Sao Paulo, the Adagio will be built in the district of Barra Funda, near a metro station and with access to the main highways.

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Hotel where you can play golf

Posted on February 16, 2012 by admin

Do you want to practice golf during your trip to Sao Paulo? If so, you have only one choice: Prince Tower Hotel.

The Prince Tower is located in the Northern part of town, near the Anhembi Pavillion Center (several fairs and exhibitions happen here), aproximately 25 km from the Guarulhos airport (which is considered a short distance).

Actually, the hotel doesn’t provide a golf curse, just a driving range; that is, however, the only option to practice golf long shots in the entire metropolitan area of Sao Paulo.

The hotel is a bit aged, but the golf facilities were inaugurated in 2010, occupying an area of 4,000 square meters. The image below shows the size of the green area, compared to the tennis court of the hotel.

According to this report, the golf facilities are opened for non-guests, who are charged by the number of balls (R$ 20 per 100 balls); most players are from the Korean community who live in Sao Paulo. Hotel guests have a 100 ball-courtesy included in the ticket.

Notice, however, that many guests rate the hotel as below standard, not compatible with the four-star rating. If what you’re looking for is just the golf training, then it may be a good idea to stay in another hotel in the neighborhood and pay just to use the driving range.

 

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Sao Paulo to host Rotary Club Conference 2015

Posted on February 15, 2012 by admin

The Mayor announced today that the city of Sao Paulo will host the Rotary Club World Conference 2015 (update – it looks like since 2005 Sao Paulo had already been chosen, which means that either the Mayor of Sao Paulo is kept misinformed by his advisors, or he enjoys gaining popularity among the misinformed population). Sao Paulo won unanimously the 13 votes of the board of Rotary, beating out the other candidates Phoenix and Houston.

The Rotary Conference is one of the major events in the World; more than 40,000 people are expected to come to Sao Paulo in 2015.

That confirms the trend that Sao Paulo is becoming an important World center for exhibitions, Congresses and other big events; the city is member of ICCA, and already beat the mark of 100 international events per year (one each three days – see some of the major events in Sao Paulo).

Sao Paulo already hosted the Rotary’s Convention in 1981, when 17,000 people visited the city (which was the last time that Rotary came to a city in South America); for the 2015 Conference, visitors will see a much improved city, not only due to the growth since the last time, but to the improvements the city is experiencing for the World Cup 2014.

The Rotary International Conference in 2012 will be in Bangkok; in 2013, it will be in Lisbon; and in 2014, it will be in Sydney. To attract such a big event, besides offering World Class infrastructure, the city needs a strong marketing team; in the case of Sao Paulo, there was a concerted work put together by the city Government,  the Convention Bureau, the Ministry of Tourism, the Hotel Association, among others.

According to the Rotary Calendar, the tentative date for the event will be June 5th through 8th. The venue was not informed yet. Booking a hotel early is recommended.

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Five star hotels in Sao Paulo: mandatory items and services

Posted on February 13, 2012 by admin

What items and services a five star hotels in Brazil must offer to their guests?

Until recently, there wasn’t a clear definition of what a five star hotel was – all the stars rating were self-attributed; for example, this list of Five Star hotels in Sao Paulo was based on non-official information.

Because the World Cup 2014 is approaching, the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism issued, in June of 2011, an act which defines what specifications hotels and other accommodation enterprises (resorts, inns, flats, etc) should follow to obtain an official star rating (see the Official Gazette which published the act).

Notice that the hotels are not obliged to follow this legislation; the hotels which want to obtain (and exhibit to the public) an official Star Rating, with a plaque authorized by the Ministry of Tourism, must comply with the legislation (an auditing process is conducted before an Star Rating is attributed); the hotels already rated are listed by Cadastur.

Below, some specifications that Five Star hotels must follow (notice that the items and services may incur extra charge, depending on the hotel):

  • parking space, with valet service
  • plug adaptors, including foreign models, at request of guests
  • space for meetings and conventions
  • minimum area of the room, excluding bathroom, is 17 m2 (for Four Star hotels, the minimum area of rooms is 15 m2)
  • minimum area of bathroom is 4 m2 (Four Star hotels, 3 m2)
  • baby cradle, at request of guests
  • all rooms must have whole body mirror, magnifying mirror, hair dryer, mini-fridge and equiped bar
  • heater and air conditioner (in 3 Star hotels and lower, fans are acceptable)
  • working desk, with phone and energy plugs
  • internet access
  • cable TV (pay per view channels are optional)
  • at least eight bath and hygiene ammenities (shampoo, hair conditioner, etc)

Below, some mandatory services in Five Star hotels:

  • reception desk available 24 hours, with attendants who speak Portuguese and at least other two languages
  • courier and concierge available 24 hours
  • emergency medical services
  • internet access in the social areas
  • umbrellas, sewing kits and shoe shiner, at request of guests
  • routine daily cleaning, more cleaning at any moment requested by guests
  • daily exchange of bed linen
  • laundry and ironing services, for same day delivery
  • breakfast (all hotels in Brazil must offer breakfast, not necessarily free)
  • restaurant with capacity at least 50% of total capacity of the hotel, with menu in Portuguese and other two languages; a sommelier must be available
  • restaurant must offer special diets, such as vegetarian, low calories, etc
  • room service (light meals and drinks) 24 hours
  • internet website, in Portuguese and at least one more language
  • at least six services must be offered within the premises of the hotel, such as car rental, travel agency, beauty saloon, etc

Notice that the following items and services are not mandatory in Five Star Hotels in Brazil:

  • leisure and comfort itens like swimming pool, saunas, playground, etc. The Brazilian legislation consider a Hotel a place for sojourn, whereas the place for leisure is the Resort
  • spaces reserved for non-smokers; upscale hotels have the common sense to create separate areas for smokers and non-smokers, but no hotel in Brazil is obliged to do it.
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Hotels in Brazil are more expensive

Posted on February 13, 2012 by admin

Hotelinvest monitors the hotel business in a few Brazilian major cities: Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, Porto Alegre and Salvador. A recent study by Hotelinvest revealed that prices of hotels increased by more than 20% between the last trimester of 2010 and the same period of 2011 (see a report in Portuguese here; and Yahoo informed that prices in Sao Paulo increased by 18%).

The average increase in hotels prices across all cities was 20.5%. The highest increase was in Curitiba: 28.6%. According to Hotelinvest, the spikes in prices are a result of the full occupation of the hotels. The revenue per room increased by 18.4%, with a peak in Rio of 32.3%.

For this year of 2012, the forecast is for a further increase between 15% and 20%; only Salvador, where another 625 rooms were added to the hotels network recently, prices should remain stable.

Hotels in Sao Paulo, however, should experience an increase in prices in 2012. In 2011, two major events fell short of public: the Auto Room (which was skipped in 2011) and the Formula 1 GP, which arrived in Sao Paulo with a champion already decided.

The trend is on the wall: prices of hotels in Sao Paulo are more likely to go up than down.

See also: best five-star hotels in Sao Paulo.

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Best hotels in Sao Paulo

Posted on February 12, 2012 by admin

American billionaire J. Paul Getty used to say: “in every city, there is a best hotel; and in that hotel, there is the best room; and in the best room, there is a guest; I want to be that guest”.

Like other big cities, Sao Paulo have many five star hotels, and it is not easy to point out which is THE best – that would depend on your needs and tastes.

If you want to follow J. P. philosophy, and money is not a problem, take a look at some of the hotels below.

  • Hilton Morumbi. When President Bush visited Sao Paulo in 2007, the Presidential staff rented the entire Hilton building.
  • Fasano. The Fasano family was known for running the best restaurants in Sao Paulo; since a few years ago, they have been focusing in opening the best hotels in several cities of Brasil.
  • Hotel Unique. The uniqueness starts with the shape of the building; and goes on in the interior, with combines the luxury of a five star hotel with the charm of a boutique inn (not to mention the award winning rooftop pool).
  • Tivoli Mofarrej. This one is the favorite among the Formula One crews, who come yearly to Sao Paulo for one of its biggest events.
  • L’Hotel Porto Bay. This one has a privileged location, near Avenida Paulista (the financial center of Sao Paulo), at walking distance from MASP.
  • Emiliano. The smallest of the pack, with the most personal service.

Take a look at this list with all five star hotels in Sao Paulo.

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