a strong economy throughout the last decade led to the development of rio-based international commerce, with many international firms establishing local headquarters - this in turn created the need for long term accommodations met by both regular apartment rentals, and more business oriented apart-hotels.

in fact, if staying in rio de janeiro for an extended period of time, visitors and business travelers now often consider apart-hotels as a viable alternative to regular hotels.

while hotels may be great for short-term stays, they can become quite expensive, and do not offer the flexibility, comfort, and privacy of a regular apartment - apartments, on the other hand, do not offer the in-house service so valuable to executives short of time and busy with work.  

apart-hotels are perfect for slightly longer stays in the city, as they are a combination of a hotel's full service, and an apartments' spacious and more complete settings.