Atelier Molinaro Hotel

Atelier Molinaro Boutique Hotel was a wonderful find. We found it on Trip Advisor and booked it through Booking.Com. It is located in the hilly outskirts of town, about 5 to 10 minutes out of the center of Petropolis. We had room #1, a large Master Suite that had a larger-than-King sized bed plus a separate small sitting room that would have had space for two more people (kids). The room opened onto a patio to the lovely garden. Breakfast was delicious and included. WiFi and parking are free. The only problem we had was FINDING it. We rented a car at the Rio airport and had no problem at all getting to the city center of Petropolis. There our problems became evident. First, our Yahoo Maps directions were useless – we forgot to get them in Kilometers and our “miles” did us no good. Furthermore, there appear to be only TWO street signs in the entire of Petropolis so our street name turn-by-turn were totally useless, too. Thank goodness for the local McDonalds on Rua do Imperador (not to be confused with the only other street name we saw – Rua da Imperatriz, which intersects it!). We went into the McDonalds and one woman called the B&B and got directions then the young man who spoke a bit of English, translated and drew us a map. We never would have found it on our own as we do not speak Portugese and neither did the man on duty at the B&B (they do have several English speakers there during the day). So – if you find yourself lost in Petropolis looking for Atelier… head towards the Cathedral, where you will pass it on your left, then make a left when the street stops. This will take you out of town towards Itaipava. Follow the signs for Itaipava for a few miles. On the way you will pass a police station on the left and go over two small bridges (the town has a creek running through most of the city and just about all the streets are one-way streets. ) Just past the second bridge, be on the lookout for a bus stop and a small sign on the right that has the hotel name. Head up this small hill and you’ll find it. It is worth it!