The suite, with white sheets and small soaps, could go through a simple hotel, were it not for the mirrored ceiling and pole dance mast beside the bed.
The decoration of the secret motel, outside Belém (PA), usually serves as a backdrop for stealing meetings at lunchtime, extramarital cases and couples in love in search of a few hours of privacy away from tight family homes.
But the motel, as well as others throughout the capital of Pará, is now adapting rooms ranging from sensual to bold to a very different audience: diplomats, climate scientists, public servants and environmental activists who will arrive in the city in November to the 30th United Nations Conference on Climate Change, COP30.
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“We are taking anything very erotic from the rooms,” said Yorann Costa, 30, owner of the secret motel. “And the location is perfect.”
The summit, the first held in the Amazon region, made Belém run to prepare for the thousands of expected visitors. To meet the demand, authorities promised to almost triple the offer of beds – from 18,000 by 2023 to 50,000 during the event.
As the meeting is approaching, however, the uncertainty about lodging capacity raised prices to more than $ 1,000 per night and caused alerts of diplomatic crisis, with delegations from poor countries – those most affected by climate change – complaining about exorbitant values.
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To contain the spirits, which will offer about 6,000 additional beds at subsidized prices, up to $ 220 per night, initially intended for developing and island countries.
New hotels are being built and old, retired. Schools are receiving beds, sports clubs are being transformed into accommodation and residents are adapting their homes for rent. Still, less than four months from the event, most of the works are unfinished, and the city is still thousands of beds below the goal.
In this scenario, motels – establishments that charge per hour and usually dispense with reception or gym – are adapting to fill the gap, reforming part of the 2,500 rooms available to receive visitors from the summit.
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“It’s time to add strength,” said André Godinho, Belém’s representative in the organization of COP30. “The possibility that a motel is used as a hosting is not ugly, not wrong. It is part of the solution.”
The motels grew in Brazil during the military dictatorship, when houses were often watched. They became common in the country, where many young people live with their parents to adulthood.
Inspired by US roadside motels and Japanese motels, Brazilian motels have gained fame for their affordable tariffs and romantic or provocative decoration.
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On a recent afternoon in Belém, the reforms to make the motels less sensual were in full activity. In the fit motel, round beds were leaning against the walls to give way to conventional rectangular mattresses.
In Love Lomas, a few kilometers ahead, the rooms received new painting and clean bedding. In the premium suite, the flashing colored lights would be kept, but guests could ask for the removal of the “erotic chair” – a mixture of dentist chair with leather straps fixed to the floor.
“People think it’s a brothel,” said Ricardo Teixeira, 49, administrator of the two motels and enthusiastic to improve his image. He has not yet decided whether to change the bedroom menu, which includes beers, hamburgers and erotic toys rental.
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At the secret motel, Costa adapted a suite with bunk beds and removed a painting with a person’s buttocks. But he decided to keep the dance mast, leopard wallpaper and red -shaped red tub. “I have to think about post-COP30,” he said. “I can’t spend a fortune and tearing everything.”
Upon leaving a suite by a dark corridor, Costa apologized to the sound of moans from the busy rooms, identified by flashing red lights. “It can get a little embarrassing,” he whispered. “There are people making love.” These lights, according to him, will also be kept.
So far, few visitors have confirmed reserves on motels. Delegations from at least six countries have shown interest, according to owners of motels and brokers, but few reservations.
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Even with few options, many still resist the suggestive decoration, explained brokerage Giselle Robledo. “The embassies are very conservative,” he said. “They don’t want to stay in motel.”
There is also the price issue. Despite government alerts, many motels continue to charge hundreds of dollars a night. “Prices are absurd, they need to go back to reality,” said Robledo.
Couples who attend Motels in Belém usually pay from $ 55 to $ 195 for the first hour; One night in the premium suite costs more than $ 840. But during COP30, some owners hope to charge $ 300 ($ 1670) to $ 650 ($ 3,640) per night.
“The market is defining these prices,” said Teixeira, who is also a regional director of the Brazilian Motel Association. “And it’s still cheaper than a hotel.”
In a three -star hotel across the convention center street, the daily rates are $ 1,250 ($ 7,000), according to reserve sites. “The demand is insane,” said manager Jeimison Loureiro, whose landlord asked the apartment back to rent it during COP.
Costa, in turn, has no doubt that visitors will change their minds and fill their motel. “Unfortunately, there will be no room for everyone,” he said. “And what we are offering is an option.”
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