I stayed at the Luxor Regente a few years ago. It is walking distance to HELP disco. The staff is great, but many of the rooms have twin beds. There is a 15 real charge for taking a woman to your room. Miramar Palace is also ideally situated very close to HELP.

<i read that taxis are not safe sometimes--is this true?>

If you get a taxi at the hotel, it's usually okay. The hotel generally deals with reputable drivers. When you first arrive at the airport, go to a taxi stand and book a ride to your hotel.

In BA, never flag a taxi on the street. Always call for a radio taxi or a "remise", a fixed price taxi.

<How much does a taxi cost from the intl airport to copacabana?>

I seem to recall that it is 40-50 reals.

<Is copacabana a safe place?>

As long as you don't do anything blatantly stupid, then it is no more dangerous than any large metropolitan city in the world. Don't flash large sums of cash. Don't wear ANY jewelry - watches, rings, pendants, etc. Even a cheap watch gives a pickpocket an excuse to ask you for the time and if you cannot answer in Portuguese, you have to let them close enough to you to see the watch, and pick your pockets. Watch out for the "bird crap" and the "dog crap" scams. Don't ever get stinking drunk, ever.

<are there are hotels close to any of the well known termas there like centaurus or solarium?>

I believe that L'uomo is fairly close to Copa.

LW