Inside One of Brazil’s Luxurious ‘Love Motels’ Where People Pay Up to $750 A Night

Brazil is aiming to reinvent their motel industry by creating suites that foster fantasy experiences.

“Love motels” are proliferating all over the Sao Paulo, Cambuci district of the South American country. From rooms equipped with private saunas and jukeboxes to suites with indoor swimming pools and personal DJs, these establishments are more reminiscent of Las Vegas resorts than your local shabby motel.

Love motels were first established in the 1960s for low-income individuals who needed private rooms that could be rented at a low rate by the hour. However, they’ve gone from decrepit to extravagant in recent years.

The Harmony Motel, for instance, is comprised of 11 suites across over 13,500 square meters and caters to adults who are looking for an upscale sensual experience. The Harmony offer $220 rooms with large hydromassage baths decorated with gold-plated tiling so that couples can sip Veuve Clicquot Brut champagne and enjoy a rack of lamb while soaking.

The Lush, another popular love motel, offers 60 different themed suites, including ancient Egypt and Rome, that can include hot tubs colored with disco lights, widescreen televisions, private saunas, aquariums and chromotherapy showers.

The Lush offers additional services such as a $340 Ferrari ride, a 30-minute helicopter adventure over Sao Paulo and a two-hour limousine service for $400.

These love motels were designed around the idea that guests should not have to ever meet the staff. They are equipped with private garages that allow couples to arrive and leave as they please, as well as secret rotating hatches where guests can receive food and condoms without having to ever having to make a face-to-face transaction.

Felipe Martinez, co-owner of the Lush Motel, said that most couples who book rooms at his establishment are celebrating an anniversary or a special event and that rooms are rarely rented just in order to have illicit sex. He told the Daily Mail:

“The idea is to offer to our clients an experience in which they almost feel like they are in a parallel universe, not a motel bedroom.”

“The sex is not the most important part. It is the whole experience, the couple’s moment of intimacy together. We don’t sell sex, we sell experiences.”

The Lush was founded in 1990 and had been operating under pay-by-the-hour confines until the motel upgraded all of its rooms last year in a $1.5-million project. They now charge nightly for most of their luxury suites, but they still offer rates by the hour for their basic rooms.

Other love motels are adopting the new model and are now branching off into different styles and niches. One motel allows guests to hire their own private DJs for $550 an hour, while the Acaso Motel in Vila Prudente has a boxing ring with a bag and gloves in the middle of the room.

While some motels in Sao Paulo are still offering the minimalistic motel room design, others are using life-like statues, 4D cinemas and luxury packages to create the ultimate erotic experiences.

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