Well that's called yield management. Some hotels employ managers called revenue managers who do nothing but change the prices of hotel rooms during the course of the day. So you could have called back 3 minutes after your first phone call and received a different quote - who knows.
Next time you are on an airplane, ask the stranger sitting next to you how much they paid for their seat 99.9% chance you will have paid a different amount. Or in some high density tourist locations, the menus in restaurants vary prices according to arrival times, seat locations in restaurants or day of the week.
400-750 does sound excessive. I would have negotiated that as a tourist too or chosen a different hotel before I flew out. I don't think many tourists would fly over to Brazil then walk in a hotel and ask if they have rooms. I mean to try and fly to Brazil without a hotel reservation, you are probably slightly mad and risk not be allowed in the country at all.
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