Airbnb hopes to find available rooms for 2016 Olympic games in Rio

[mvan1]

If anyone plans to go to Brazil for the 2016 Olympics and is concerned about finding housing or a place to stay, the esteemed Airbnb housing agency plans to find 20,000 rooms for about 380,000 visitors.

All I can say about their plans and expectations is "good luck" in over crowded Rio.

Here is a link to an article that discusses the matter:

http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-real-estate/airbnb-strikes-deal-with-rio-olympics-to-host-tourists/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRioTimes+%28The+Rio+Times%29

Maybe they will pull it off, maybe not.

[Guest tomcal]

since Rio was selected several years ago to host, I said, it will be a miracle if they can pull off the logistics. At that time they were talking about anchoring cruise ships to serve as "hotels", I don't know if they are still thinking about that or not.

Basically there is one highway from the International airport to Copa/Ipanema and then a narrow highway from Ipanema to Barra where events are planned as one of 4 separate geographic venues.. Traffic is terrible everyday, and to try to get thousands of people to and from the different venues even with the subway/metro line extended from Ipanema to Barra I think is going to be a nightmare. My friends who live there agree, actually they think it's going to worse then I do.

I don't plan on being anywhere near Rio for several weeks before and after the Olympics! I will watch on TV!

If you look at the map attached, it shows the 4 major olympic venue areas, on a normal day going from Copa to Barra is 45 mins! and to go from Ipanema to Deodoro has got to be an Hour, I can't imagine with hundreds of thousands of visitors the horrendous traffic they will have. Hate to negative, I wish them Good Luck, they are going to need it!

[mvan1]

I don't plan on being anywhere near Rio for several weeks before and after the Olympics! I will watch on TV!

If you look at the map attached, it shows the 4 major olympic venue areas, on a normal day going from Copa to Barra is 45 mins! and to go from Ipanema to Deodoro has got to be an Hour, I can't imagine with hundreds of thousands of visitors the horrendous traffic they will have. Hate to be negative, I wish them Good Luck, they are going to need it!

As tomcal pointed out, traffic in Rio is already bad without the Olympics.

I could not venture a guess how many times I was stuck in traffic for an hour or more going from the main Rio airport to Copacabana. Those delays were when there were not 380,000 extra visitors in town.

Of course, the 380,000 expected visitors will be spread out over 16 days. Even then, there will be a lot of extra folks in town competing for transportation.

Many times after I arrived and settled in for my Rio stay, using the Metro was often extremely difficult. It is not uncommon to find that all seats in a Metro car to be used and "standing room" is occasionally not possible because each Metro car is frequently filled to capacity.

Trying to squeeze one more passenger into a Metro car that is jam packed is not possible. Again, this happens regularly while there are not 380,000 extra visitors in Rio.

One can only shudder to think of visiting Brazil during the period of the 2016 Olympics.

Even if 20,000 rooms are found for the 380,000 expected visitors, traffic will be the real issue.

I, too, shall stay away from Brazil prior to, during and shortly after the 2016 Olympics. Sitting in traffic jams is not my thing nor is waiting for hours for access to a crowded Metro not my thing.

What could the Olympic Committee have been thinking when they selected Rio to host the 2016 events?

[Guest Trench]

As they say in Seinfeld, Good Luck with that.

[ihpguy]

Well, for a rsponse from someone who lives here:

1)There are already two BRT lines completed in the metro area with a third nearing completion and the fourth under construction but planned not to be ready for the Olympics.

2) The two-level Elevado Joa which runs from Barra to Sao Conrado is being doubled with a second structure and tunneling as well as a separate smaller tunnel for bicyclists and pedestrians.

3)I've been here for the World Youth Journey in 2013 and the World Cup in 2014 and things seemed to run pretty smoothly. Except for the flooded field past Recreio in 2013 where the final celebration was to be held and then moved to the beach in Copacabana. One thing they did during the World Cup at the Maracana and I assume that they will do again for the Games, if you didn't have a ticket you didn't get within a great distance of the stadium. So I have my doubts that if tourists are planning on coming to Rio for the excitement and not plnning on purchasing tickets, they wil not be getting close to the venues.

4)In 2013, some of the Peregrines were being housed out past Sao Goncalo in rental bedrooms, and even by me we had pilgrims from one of the Baltic states.

5)That many new hotel rooms, I doubt. For Reveillon, there are usually around 6 or so cruise ships docked at the Praca Maua, so maybe they can squeeze in a few more or even more at the naval base or at the container port further west,

6) I was quite surprised at how well organized things seemed in both 2013 and 2014. So I think it could be a pleasant surprise at how well things might run. And if one has been to Copacabana for Reveillon, it is a marvel at how quickly the city government can move a million people to the north and away from the beaches.

7) Biggest problems will be the complaints about the water for the events in the ocean, Guanabara Bay and Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. Really filthy all around. The politicos have been dragging their feet and lining their pockets for nearly 25 years.

8) I just got back from a month in Europe. Having been at the airports in London T-5, Amsterdam, Brussels, Barcelona and Madrid - Barajas T-4, I fear that the substandard facilites at Galeao will be a nightmare.

[Guest riosul77]

One of the transportation infrastructure projects that is / was planned for 2016 completion is called the VLT (Veículo Leve sobre Trilhos – Light Vehicle on Tracks. Essentially a tram running on dedicated tracks from the Santos Dumont airport to centro, the business centre of the city.

During initial construction along Avenida Rio Branco, some materials were discovered that may be from 19th century houses. Construction of the line has been halted while the archeological significance is evaluated. That was several months ago , meanwhile one of the main streets is half dug up, adding to horrendous congestion, and delaying the VLT.

[Guest tomcal]

This article appeared in the WSJ. http://www.wsj.com/articles/brazilian-probe-into-petrobras-sparks-worries-over-olympics-1416615388Ialso heard last week, that the Petroblas scandal enveloping President Dilma's admins. could potentionaly slow the construction remaining as 6 major construction firms are under scrutiny and they are also the ones that are building the Olympic venues, and the law says they cannot be involved while the investigation is going on, yet they are the only companies with the expertise to do the construction...so kind of a catch 22.

This is a quote from USAToday "...The investigations have implicated six companies which are also responsible for the lion's share of infrastructure projects for the Summer Olympics, to be held in Rio next year. Major projects they are responsible for include the Olympic Park, the athlete's village, and transportation and sanitation projects related to the Games."

The Car Wash Operation has named more than 50 current and former politicians, many in the close circle of President Rousseff and allied with her party. They also include Rio de Janeiro's current governor and his predecessor.

Ihpguy maybe you have heard more being there?

[ihpguy]

Lava Jato/ Car Wash Scandal is old hat down here. Right now the bigger is the Petrobras 3% payoff biz where anyone awarded a contract from the oil company had to kick back three percent to the political parties. This had dirtied basically every politican except Djilma. However, as Djilma was head of the board for Petrobras, how could she not have know? Unless she was as out of it as GWB was without a clue as to what the NeoCons were doing by manuevering us into Iraq pre-9/11? Even fairly clean Mayor Paes of Rio got a 250,000Reais payoff. And when the Olympic Gold Course was dedicated last month, he had to defend the property develop who is a major contributor and is building multimillion real condos at the margins.

As to the law about suspension of building by firms under investigation, not a clue.

For the VLT, they have already begun laying cement ties and rails around the routes near the bus station. I'm doubtful if all six lines will be completed in the next 15 months.