If you don't mind staying in a small room with no glass windows and geckos clinging to the walls at night then there are some great and fairly inexpensive places along the beaches you ccould stay. If you're more of the pampered type then there are some more modern large hotels in the city that might suit you better.
Although the food is pretty good in Brazil you should be cautious of some places and certain foods. I've had friends that ate McDonalds over there and got very sick and I had some strange sea food and got very ill and had to be taken to the hospital. To my surprise the hospital wasn't as bad as I was expecting. The doctor was very nice and I felt like I was better cared for there then if I was home. The only problem I ran into was that when I received my antibiotics they were expired. But I recovered and it was one of my greatest and most memorable trips. But go to the nicer restaurants and avoid the inconvenience.
