The Top Cheap Hotels to Book in Ipanema, Rio De Janeiro

This party-hostel chain’s Ipanema branch possesses a great location, two blocks from the beach, with restaurants and stores on the doorstep. Mixed and woman-only dorms have plenty of light and air, and brightly painted metal bunks with storage space for a backpack beneath. A word of advice – there are no privacy curtains. Private rooms are white cubes with just enough room for a bed and an upbeat poster. They have little balconies with chairs. There’s a cafe-bar and free caipirinhas. The hostel even hosts parties on the beach.

Just a block from the finest patch of sand on Ipanema, the tranquil Mango Tree couldn’t be in a much better location. There’s a great-value semi-al-fresco cafe-restaurant, and plenty of hangout areas, but no booming parties to keep you awake. Segregated and mixed dorms sleep a maximum of six so never feel too crowded, even though beds are tightly packed-in. Doubles, triples and quadruples are compact, with private bathrooms, boasting modern muted palettes offset with colorful art and counterpanes.

It’s a littler pricier than the competition, but this flashpacker hostel is a great option if you want to party in-house without stinting on privacy, a decent sleep and easy access to the beach. Decor throughout is fresh and modern, in clean whites and blocks of color. Dorms have big lockers and berths have reading lights. Doubles come with private balconies for breakfast. Hostel activities include a Monday all-night boat party and tours throughout Rio. Handily, Ipanema beach is just a block away.

On a quiet street an easy stroll from Ipanema, Copacabana and Arpoador beaches, the Atlantis is in a privileged location indeed. There’s a rooftop patio with glorious views over Rio’s skyline all the way to the Sugar Loaf, and a swimming pool and sauna. Rooms are decidedly compact, but on the upper floor they have ocean views, and all come in fresh, modern colors with little dining tables and a wardrobe. Top tip: a decent buffet breakfast is included in the price.

Share a basic triple at the Vermont and you’ll pay only a fraction more than you would for a hostel bed. There’s no intrusive bar-music, a large buffet breakfast is included, and all rooms have a fridge (with a minibar). You even get complimentary toiletries. The subway and the beach are less than five minutes’ walk away and there are restaurants and bars on the doorstep, so it’s easy to forgive the sound of traffic coming from the street outside.

With a great location and compact modern rooms , The Mar Ipanema is a good option if you want to upgrade from a hostel during your Ipanema stay. Rooms are small but quiet, and come in contemporary soft creams and honey-colored-woods, with lithographs of Rio on the walls, workstations, and decent, marble-faced bathrooms. Some on the upper floors even have partial ocean views. A large breakfast is included and there’s a gym and a lovely rooftop restaurant-bar with Christ the Redeemer views.

The cheaper rooms in this tower block hotel don’t have space for much more than a bed – on wood-laminate flooring under white walls. But they couldn’t be in a better location, a block from Ipanema beach. And the hotel has a small swimming pool, a simple gym, a lobby cafe and a beach club. Upgrade to a twin or a queen-size junior room for a modest fee and you get far more space, a workstation and in some rooms, a walk-in shower.

The Ipanema branch of this Rio hostel-chain is perfectly positioned, two minutes’ walk from the beach and the kiosk cafes around the Posto Nove lifeguard station. There are plenty of communal spaces where travelers meet, drink and party after buying cheap caipirinhas at the bar. The hostel cafe serves snack food (and a complimentary buffet breakfast) and there’s a patio with outdoor tables. Rooms and dorms are diminutive, with plenty of beds and modest bathroom space, but most guests and staff are here to party, so that means very little sleep.