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Gay cities must have a bug. Vancouver, WA is definitely not Vancouver BC.

Nice neighborhood. Lots of restaurants near by that are gay friendly. Very safe. Rooms are modern and nice. Pretty much ground zero for Sao Paulo pride. Staff that speaks English.

20 min walk to Oscar Freire st ( fine shops )
20 min walk to Ibirapuera ( like central park of Sao Paulo.. lots of gays running around )
15 min cab ride ( 10 min subway ) to Mercado municipal ( huge farmers market )
30 min cab ride to The Week
30 - 90 min cab CGH airport ( depends on traffic )
Praca Alexandre 5 min walk ( cruisy )
20 min walk to Japanese section of town ( funny huge Japanese center here where everything is Japanese.. you think you in Japan )
30min walk to Higienopolis.. center of Lebanese life in Sao Paulo

NOTE: Paulista ave is nice to walk down, but there really is not much there any more. Most stores have moved to Oscar Freire and closer to Ibiraquera. There is a mall at one end that is nice. Also Rue Augusta is home to much night life gay / straight.

PROS:

• Middle of Paulista Ave
• Good Food
• The "IT" place for gay

CONS:

• Food is pricey

There are lots of eye candy at this restaurant. People in Sao Paulo ( like most of South America ) eat late, so it can seem empty before 9pm. This is mixed restaurant, but gays are the main clients. Most of the help speaks English.

PROS:
Close to beach
Not run down, kept up wel
l Wide range of guys
Wifi
Legit & not Legit massages


CONS:
Very tight locker room
You have to be in a towel before entering the place
Only 1 free condom given upon entrance.
No Free lube provided.

As sex clubs go.. this is nice and clean. It has a full bar, internet, wifi. This place is very busy from 6 - 8pm each day. After being on the beach and drinking all day, many guys come here to shower off and change into street clothes. And after showering.. they relieve some "stress". Good times.. Good times. ;-) Also many people with late flights come here to shower after a last day on the town. Then they go back to their hotel, get their luggage and go to airport.

They will give you one condom at door. Its a good idea to bring more with you before you arrive. Also no lube either.

Like most places in Brazil, you have a tab assigned to your key and you pay on your way out. DONT LOOSE your key.

Rio has a gay neighborhood, but everyplace is gay friendly or have gay nights. So it is hard to find a gay only bar. Well To Nem Ai is one of the few in Rio that is mostly gay. It has a large outdoor seating. Seemed to be the place to meet all the other tourist.

It is a must stop on a trip to Rio.

PROS: Location in Leblon High end Restaurant CONS: No Reservations for large groups to restaurant ( best to break up into 2 groups if your party is larger than 4 ) Sundays is the gay night at Zero Zero. Keep in mind after the bar fire else where in Brazil, all clubs are following a "more" strict building occupation size. So it is best to come on Sunday before 9pm. The restaurant has good food, but they dont really have any tables for big groups. We waited for over an hour while the host sat other smaller groups and never holding tables for our group. Lesson for others, big groups just break your group up into 2 smaller groups and you will get a table quickly. They have a great outdoor patio with video display on old exposed building. NOTE: Like most bars in Brazil, you get a card. The bartender marks how many drinks you order and you pay on your way out. So DONT loose the card!!! There are a lot of hot locals.


Side note: to the person who complained having to bringing his ID to the bar, many bars in the USA have the same policy.

The owners of this club did not spare any cash when creating this club. It is very large and well done. The Week is the 800 lb guerrilla for gay night life in Sao Paulo, Rio, and Florianopolis. The people who frequent this place are more like the people who would go to The White party in Miami or Palm Springs. It is definitely the club to hit when you are in Sao Paulo. It is almost you have to go to say you went.

Since in Brazil you can get into clubs at 18 ( and some clubs let people in as young as 16 ), if you are in your late 30's or older, you will be asking yourself did they just kill off all the old people in this club. I can say, I felt like a daddy out of place at this bar ( a hot daddy I might add ). My age did not seem to matter though.

The Week is not open every night. I know they are always open on Saturdays.

Some of the other criticism about The Week on gay cities is kinda right. It is full of guys with no body fat, very load music, some stand and model type of guys, and some guys who parTy. But this is really no different than any circuit party in the States. If you feel uncomfortable at circuit parties, then The Week is not for you. ( But the club is really something to see just to say you saw ). Almost everyone I meet here was friendly.

The back pool area gets "busy" late into the evening. The Week ( like many clubs in Brazil ) will give you a card when you enter. The card is used to buy drinks. You do NOT pay your bartenders when you get a drink. The bartenders swipe your card and you pay on the way out. Very efficient. NOTE: Dont loose this card!!! You will pay a huge fee and they do not let you out until the very end of the night.

Overall, The Week is worth one trip if you are in Sao Paulo.

PROS:
1) right at gay beach
2) The Week bar takes over on holiday weekends
3) When you need a place just to sleep
4) Restaurant

CONS:
1) 2 star.
2) No AC
3) Pool is a little sad

I really dont like giving a bad review, but for my tastes.. this is just a hostel. If you are young and just need a place to sleep by the beach, then it will do. There are plenty of condos & homes to rent by the Praia Mole that are much better than this place. This is the ONLY hotel at the gay beach.

The Week is a franchise from Sao Paulo. This is the "IT" place to be during Carnival , New Years, Easter. It puts most clubs in the USA to shame ( all 3 do really.. Sao Paulo, Rio, Florianopolis ).
The Week bought the hotel Ecco Village Hotel ( although the hotel is not that great ) and converted the back to HUGE dance club. There is mulit terraces. It all over looks the back lagoon. They really did this up right. They usually have DJs from around the world. One nice thing is that they dont play "trance" music for ever and ever. They have dance shows on separate stages. In typical South American standard.. nothing starts until midnight and the crowd does not arrive until 1:30am. Last song is about 6-6:30am. Then usually the The Week has an after party on the beach until noon. ( So you need to change your sleeping habits or have a different "stimulus" to keep you going ). The beach bar is at the entrance of the gay beach.

The Week is pricey. $75USD entry. Cheaper if you buy tickets in Sao Paulo or Rio before your arrival. If you are shy about dancing in your underwear ( you can dance with clothes on but you will die of the sweat ), you could be nervous about going... but no one cares. Also like other bars in Brazil, you pre pay and get drink coupons, that are then used to get drinks or water at the bars. This keeps the lines moving quickly.

Sum up in one word: DAMN ;-)

PROS:

• Awesome setup
• The hottest guys around.
• Pre-purchased drink coupons keep the bar lines moving very fast
• Morning beach party
• Sweat from everyone packed in
• Dark-area by lagoon

CONS:

• Pricey entrance fee
• Not a place for the body image conscious.
• Parking can be tight if you are not staying at the beach

Praia Mole is the gay beach in Florianopolis and Bar do Deca is the bar / restaurant to get food and drinks from while sun bathing.
They have a shower to rinse yourself off. Note, you will be on display as you shower so you cannot be nude. They have live dance music and good bar food.
If you are feeling "frisky", all you have to do is walk to your left and the sand dunes / Rocks that separate the nude beach from the clothing beach is right there. That is where many guys release their "stress".
I was not there at night, so I cannot tell you about what happens then.

New Years / Carnival / Easter weekends are huge gay weekends in Florianopolis. This place is worth the visit.