Pharmacies, Supermarkets and Hospitals near São Conrado

Emergency numbers

Save three numbers before you need them; all three answer day and night. 192 calls SAMU, the ambulance service, for serious medical emergencies such as chest pain, seizures, breathing trouble or injuries in an accident. 193 is the Corpo de Bombeiros, the fire brigade, which also handles rescues, and 190 is the Polícia Militar, for a robbery, a threat or any danger in progress.

Two more are worth knowing: 199 is the Defesa Civil, the civil protection service for natural hazards, and 180 is the line for violence against women. At the beach, the number for someone in trouble in the sea is the fire brigade's, 193. From a mobile phone, 112 and 911 also reach the police, and a caller who does not speak Portuguese can be passed to an English speaker, but 190 is the number to remember. The numbers are national, so they work on day trips outside Rio too.

If your Portuguese is limited, ask the villa's driver or the concierge to make the call with you. Keep the villa's full address and its CEP saved on every phone in the group; where São Conrado is explains how Brazilian postcodes work.

Hospitals with emergency rooms

A private emergency room open 24 hours is at the Clínica São Vicente, part of the Rede D'Or group, at Rua João Borges 204 in Gávea, about 10 minutes from São Conrado through the Túnel Zuzu Angel. It is open every day around the clock, treats trauma as well as medical, surgical and cancer-related cases, and needs no appointment; the number is (21) 2529-4422.

The main public hospital for this part of the city is the Hospital Municipal Miguel Couto, at Rua Mário Ribeiro 117, on the Leblon and Gávea border and also about 10 minutes away. It opened in 1936, works within Brazil's public health system as the reference hospital for the area and is known as one of Rio's main trauma hospitals, with around 100,000 outpatient and emergency visits a year. Its emergency department is on the city's list of units that stay open around the clock.

In Barra, about 15 to 20 minutes west, Hospital Barra D'Or has separate 24-hour emergency rooms for adults, at Avenida Nelson Mufarrej Filho 255, telephone (21) 2123-8500, and for children, at Avenida Ayrton Senna 3079, telephone (21) 2430-3600. Neither needs an appointment.

For anything life-threatening, call 192 rather than setting off by car; for a minor injury, the driver can take you straight to the Clínica São Vicente, and for a child, the paediatric emergency room at Hospital Barra D'Or is open day and night. Carry your travel insurance details and the insurer's emergency number, as a private hospital will ask for them at the desk, and keep a photo of each traveller's passport on your phone.

Pharmacies

Pharmacies, called farmácias or drogarias, are easy to find in Rio. The large chains include Drogaria Pacheco, a Rio chain that merged with Drogaria São Paulo in 2011 to form the DPSP group, as well as Droga Raia and Drogasil, which belong to one group and together run more than 3,600 pharmacies across Brazil.

Hours differ from branch to branch, so check the chain's own website or ask the concierge for the nearest one open late.

Bring enough of any prescription medicine for the whole stay, in its original packaging, with the generic name written down, as brand names vary from country to country. For anything more than a minor complaint, the emergency rooms above are open all night.

Supermarkets and food shopping

For day-to-day shopping, São Conrado has supermarkets and greengrocers a few minutes from the villa, and Gávea and Leblon have many more within 15 minutes. Water, fruit, coffee and breakfast basics are never far away, and supermarkets also stock beer, wine and the well-known cachaça brands for caipirinhas.

Many groups never need a big shop. Through Art de Vivre's concierge, a private chef can shop the morning markets and cook at the villa, and the food markets guide covers the street markets for anyone who wants to go along.

For a quick top-up, grocery delivery through the apps below saves a trip. Rappi's Turbo service has promised deliveries in 10 to 15 minutes in the areas it covers, which suits a forgotten bag of ice before lunch by the pool.

Delivery apps

iFood is Brazil's main food-delivery app, and Rappi is the best-known alternative. 99Food, owned by the Chinese company Didi, returned to Brazil in 2025 and began operating in Rio in October 2025.

Give the full address, the CEP and a phone number that someone in the group will answer, as couriers often call on arrival. On a busy Friday or Saturday night, order a little earlier than you would at home.

Cash machines and cards

Most places take cards, and the money and tipping guide covers payments, cash and service charges in detail. For cash, the Banco24Horas network, shared by more than 150 banks and financial institutions, has more than 24,000 machines in over 1,500 towns and cities and accepts international cards on the Visa, Mastercard, Cirrus, Maestro and Plus networks, as well as Diners, Discover and UnionPay. Its English-language website has a finder for the nearest machine.

Use machines inside malls, supermarkets or bank branches during the day rather than in the street at night, check your own bank's fee for foreign withdrawals, and take out only what you need for the beach and small purchases. Keep a second card at the villa in case one is blocked.

Phones, plugs and water

For mobile data, a Brazilian eSIM is the easiest fix. In October 2025 Vivo launched a tourist plan sold online, with the purchase pages in English, Spanish and Portuguese, so you can buy it before you fly: an eSIM with 5G, 25 GB of data and calls and texts included for 30 days, bought with a passport number and an international card for R$ 55 at launch; check the current price. Claro sells prepaid chips too, which visitors without a CPF activate in a Claro store with a passport.

Rio runs on 127 volts at 60 Hz, and Brazil's sockets follow the country's own three-pin standard, Type N, which also takes two-pin Type C plugs. A plug adapter changes only the shape, so check that chargers and hair dryers are dual-voltage before you plug them in.

Tap water in Rio is treated to drinking standards, and Águas do Rio, the company that supplies São Conrado, reported every sample it tested in 2025 within the limits for turbidity, chlorine, colour and bacteria. Many people still drink it filtered or bottled.

The police station for tourists

If something is stolen or you need a police report, foreign visitors go to the DEAT, the Delegacia Especial de Apoio ao Turismo, a civil police station for crimes against tourists, at Avenida Afrânio de Melo Franco 159 in Leblon, on the same avenue as Shopping Leblon and about 15 minutes from the villa. Brazilian visitors use their nearest police station instead. Opening hours and phone numbers change, so ask the concierge or check the Polícia Civil's website before you go.

Insurers usually ask for a police report, and many set a deadline for reporting a loss, so get one even for something small and take your passport or a copy. For anything in progress, call 190 first.

Getting help from the villa

With the English-speaking driver arranged through Art de Vivre, a pharmacy run or a trip to the clinic in Gávea takes minutes through the tunnel, with no parking to find at the other end and no address to explain on the way. Save the concierge's number on every phone in the group on the first day.

A short list saved on every phone helps: the three emergency numbers, the villa's address and CEP, the nearest clinic and the concierge's number. Most stays never need any of it, and the privacy and security guide covers the wider picture for São Conrado.