I strongly recommend the Hotel Portinari. They have fantastic rooms that are decorated in different themes. The hotel is a bit pricey and I don't know if they are garota-friendly, but if you are tired of the cramped quarters in some of the other hotel rooms and a step up in quality, this is the way to go.

http://www.hotelportinari.com.br/

If anybody has stayed here please post your impressions, etc.

I stayed at this hotel in early May and I'd advise anyone against staying here. The problems I had with it are:

1.- VERY noisy. Street noise is bad but the noise coming from inside the hotel is even worse.

2.- The "artsy" emphasis leads to other problems. My room had a sofa and chair. They both looked very good but sitting in either one for more than two minutes was so uncomfortable that they could be considered torture devices. Again, because of the artsy emphasis, form (whether something looks good) takes precedence in this hotel over function (does it work well - i.e. is it comfortable).

3.- I've stayed in countless hotels, but the beds in this one had some of the hardest mattresses I've ever seen.

Because of all these problems I left after two nights and stayed a different hotel for he rest of my trip.

Hulk27,

Sorry to hear about your discomfort. Maybe you are a big bulky guy (Hulk27 sounds like you might be a big hombre). I didn't have that problem at all. I loved our room and didn't have any problems. I was on the 6th floor. Sorry to hear about your experience.