We were here to celebrate carnival February 7-15, 2024 ($149/night including a breakfast allowance). We chose Floripa because the scale of celebration felt reasonable and it’s known to be a very gay-friendly location. It was also an easy direct flight from Montevideo, Uruguay where we were beforehand. The size of Floripa is 1.3 million people; Rio, another option we considered, is 14 million. (We decided our big city experience in Brazil would be Sao Paulo — we skipped visiting Rio.) So Selina Floripa initially appealed to us. It’s across the street from popular Mole beach. It’s close to a clothing-optional beach too. We had a standard room, although the have dormitory-style rooms too.

Initially, it was so hot and the sun so strong that the only time we liked being on the beach was at sunrise. Coming from the much milder climate of Uruguay, it was a little bit of a shock.

We paid US$116 per night including a marginal breakfast allowance. The people working in the restaurant and in housekeeping were friendly. Otherwise, the hotel just felt tired to us. We stayed three nights too long. If we went back we would not chose Selina or this beach neighborhood but instead would look at the nearby Lagoa area instead because it had more restaurant and shops options.

The first carousel of pics below is from the hotel; pics from our activities are in the second carousel, including the main Floripa carnival celebration.