what makes the rio dolphin inn such a great place to stay - is its host, John.

not only is the inn clean, full of maps, books and local information and in a safe location (a block from Ipanema) - John also offers his time and personal insights to every guest. oh and he stocks the fridge with the best coconut water imaginable!

from location to cleanliness to personal touch - i rate the dolphin inn as a strong 5. if you're looking for a low-key chilled guest house - obviously not 5-stars in the normal sense of the term.

~ Tonia

From the moment we arrived, John looked after us superbly. We stayed here for 3 nights back in November, prior to a Gap adentures tour to Buenos Airea we were doing. We arrived past midnight, but that was no hassle for John. He has two rooms in his house, but within minutes his house becomes your house. The room was clean, had air con and it's own private bathroom (we were in the little prince room). You get full access to the kitchen, there is free wifi and John is well connected! He sorted us out a private driver for our Jesus Christ The Redeemer and Sugar Loaf tour, a favela tour (favelatour.org highly recomend this, the tour is from a guy who lives in the favela, very insightful) and got us tickets for a Vasco game and he even spent a couple of hours on our first day, giving us a orientation of the area and we had breakast together. What a top guy John is. The rooms are well priced compared to hotels in Rio, which are extortionate. Thanks for a great stay John, I would highly recommend you to anyone. Cheers!! :-)

It was our first visit in Brasil and Rio and I can personaly say that John made our stay in Rio incredible. He is kind of person who REALLY loves to take you around the neighborhood, show you all possible places worth visiting on the map and talk abt Rio for hours:-) It is obvious and easy- he just loves to be with people and share his love for Rio. Eventhough sounds like a cliche, we really felt like visiting some old friend there and together with his dogs, even felt like at home. I do recommend Rio Dolphin if you prefer cozy place to stay for reasonable price and you get even more than you pay. Thank you John!!

John was an excellent host. We arrived at 3AM and he was waiting to greet us. The next day, he showed us the map of Rio and told us the main spots we needed to visit given the limited time we had. Also, he went out of his way to tour us around the area wherein all the great restos and beaches were walking distance from the inn. My friend and I lost our luggages and since we were out the whole day, he would be the one calling the airline to get updates. He hjelped me follow even after we have left Rio!!! GIven the chance to visit Brazil again, I will definitely stay here at Rio Dolphin. Thank you so much John!!!