Apartment Hunting Mess in Aracaju, Brazil
We arranged to see four apartments on September 3rd (check out was September 4th). We liked the first place we saw the most. The only thing we didn’t like was that the laundry area next to the kitchen had a large opening without a window. Other than that, it was a very nice apartment and only three blocks from the beach! The apartment complex was very nice too. It had a lovely pool area, exercise room, kids play area, and a tennis/volleyball court. We only hesitated because of the open “window” in the laundry room. We were afraid of our little 3 year accidentally falling out.
The first place was a clear winner in every other aspect compared to the other three apartments. The other ones were farther from the beach, older, the apartment complex was not as nice, and more expensive.
I ended up calling later that evening, and we decided to go with the first apartment and ask if the landlord would be willing to install at least a net over the opening. It is pretty common for the balconies and windows in apartment windows to have a net over them. The landlord lady said she would call in the morning to get some prices and let us know. Awesome!
The next morning I called her about 10 am to verify everything. Even if she didn’t put in a net, we would have come up with something ourselves. When I spoke with her, she said sorry she won’t be putting in the net, and she had already rented the place out.
I quickly called the front desk to get a late check out at 2pm (thank you Club Carlson gold status). I would have book another two nights, but the hotel was all booked for that night. With about four hours till check, we got to work. We still have the other three options. But none of them we really would want to stay in for a whole month. The next best choice would have been the most expensive (see table below for the details) and the farthest from the beach, 7 blocks. Not that 7 blocks is super far, but we wanted to live close enough to the beach so that one of us could walk with the two kids. 7 blocks would be a little tough.
So we said a little prayer, and I started looking again online at the various websites. I found that list vacation apartments (see full list below) and through my emails from the different places I had contacted.
At about 1pm, I found a place that was available for 11 nights, til 9/15 for R$1,000 + electricity. We thought that was the best bet since it would allow us to find a place we really liked for a month. Funny, this place is in the same building as the #3 apartment was in. The beds were not very nice, but it all worked.
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| Apartments | Price | Details | Distance to Beach |
|---|---|---|---|
| *Favorite One* | R$2,000 (utilities included) | 2 bedroom/2 bath | 3 blocks |
| *Second Option* | R$2,500 + electricity & water | 2 bedroom/3 bath | 7 blocks |
| Apartment 3 | R$2,200 (utilities included) | 2 bedroom/2 bath, no internet, yet. A little old | 5 blocks |
| Apartment 4 | R$1,500 + electricity & water | 3 bedroom/2 bath, no internet. A little old. Ugly complex. | 11 blocks |
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After our stay there, we ended up taking an apartment for R$3,000 3 blocks from the beach. We are loving it.
Vacation Housing Sites for Aracaju, Brazil
I used these sites to find furnished vacation apartments. Most are in Portuguese. If you don’t speak Portuguese, google translator can help. Listed in order of most useful for me.
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- http://www.aluguetemporada.com.br/ (this is the Brazil language version of www.homeaway.com
- http://temporadavip.com.br/
- http://se.bomnegocio.com/ – This is like a classified ad site, such as CraigsList
- http://search.vivanuncios.com/ – This is like a classified ad site, such as CraigsList
- http://www.vrbo.com/ – Has lot of listings in Brazil but none in Aracaju, Brazil.
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