Ao sair do hotel, a guia recomendou um passeio curto pelo centro da cidade.

It means when leaving the hotel, upon leaving the hotel, or as she/they left the hotel.

This is a very common Portuguese structure:

• ao + infinitive = when / upon doing something

So:

• ao sair = when leaving
• ao chegar = when arriving
• ao entrar = when entering

In this sentence, ao sair do hotel sets the scene for what happened next.

Because ao + infinitive is a specific structure used to express time.

Compare:

• Sair do hotel é fácil. = Leaving the hotel is easy.
• Ao sair do hotel, ... = When leaving the hotel, ...

So ao sair does not simply mean to leave. It means at the moment of leaving or when leaving.

Do is a contraction of:

• de + o = do

So:

• do hotel = of/from the hotel

Portuguese uses these contractions very often:

• de + o = do
• de + a = da
• em + o = no
• em + a = na
• por + o = pelo
• a + a = à

In sair do hotel, the verb sair commonly uses de to indicate the place someone leaves from:

• sair de casa = to leave home
• sair do hotel = to leave the hotel

Yes. A guia means the female guide.

In Brazilian Portuguese:

• o guia = the male guide
• a guia = the female guide

So the sentence specifically tells you the guide was a woman.

This is different from some nouns where the form stays the same and only the article changes, but here that is exactly what happens:

• o guia
• a guia

Recomendou is in the pretérito perfeito, which usually corresponds to the simple past in English.

So:

• recomendar = to recommend
• recomendou = recommended

It describes a completed action in the past:

• A guia recomendou... = The guide recommended...

Because the normal, neutral Portuguese word order is:

• subject + verb + object

So:

• a guia = subject
• recomendou = verb
• um passeio curto... = object

You can sometimes change word order in Portuguese, but a guia recomendou is the most natural standard order here.

Here, um passeio means something like:

• a stroll
• a short outing
• a little tour
• a walk around

It is a flexible word in Portuguese. It does not always mean a formal guided tour.

For example:

• dar um passeio = to go for a walk / take a stroll
• um passeio de barco = a boat trip
• um passeio pelo centro = a walk/stroll around downtown

So in this sentence, it suggests a pleasant, casual visit around the city center.

In Portuguese, adjectives often come after the noun:

• um passeio curto = a short walk/trip

That is the most neutral, common order.

You can sometimes put the adjective before the noun, but that may sound more literary, emphatic, or stylistically marked:

• um curto passeio

That is possible, but less neutral in everyday speech.

So um passeio curto is the most natural choice here.

It means something like:

• through the city center
• around downtown
• around the center of the city

Here:

• pelo = contraction of por + o
• centro da cidade = the city center / downtown

So:

• pelo centro da cidade = through/around the city center

It suggests movement within that area, not just a destination.

Because pelo is the contraction of:

• por + o = pelo

So:

• pelo centro = through/around the center

This contraction is extremely common:

• pela rua = through the street / along the street
• pelos bairros = through the neighborhoods
• pelas praças = through the squares

In this sentence, por gives the idea of movement through an area.

Da is the contraction of:

• de + a = da

So:

• centro da cidade = center of the city

This is a very common possession/relationship pattern in Portuguese:

• o nome da rua = the name of the street
• o centro da cidade = the city center
• a porta da casa = the door of the house

Yes, very often.

Depending on context, centro da cidade can be translated as:

• the city center
• downtown

In many everyday situations in Brazilian Portuguese, o centro is where shops, offices, buses, and older buildings are concentrated, so downtown is often a very natural translation.

Because Portuguese uses definite articles more often than English does.

For example:

• do hotel = from the hotel
• da cidade = of the city

In Portuguese, articles are very common with places and nouns in general. English is often less explicit about them.

This is one reason literal word-for-word translation can feel awkward.

Grammatically, the understood subject is usually the same as the main clause subject, so the most natural reading is:

• the guide recommended a short outing when she was leaving the hotel

In other words, the guide is probably the one leaving the hotel.

In real-life context, however, sometimes this kind of phrase can feel slightly broader, like when leaving the hotel in a general situation involving the people present. But the standard grammatical interpretation points to a guia.

Sometimes yes, but it is not exactly the same structure.

• Ao sair do hotel, ... = When leaving the hotel, ...
• Saindo do hotel, ... = Leaving the hotel, ... / As [someone was] leaving the hotel, ...

Ao sair is a very clean, standard way to express when/upon doing something.

Saindo can work too, but it may feel a little different in tone or rhythm, and ao sair is especially common in written and careful spoken Portuguese.

A few natural translations would be:

• As she left the hotel, the guide recommended a short walk around downtown.
• When leaving the hotel, the guide recommended a short stroll through the city center.
• On the way out of the hotel, the guide recommended a short walk around the city center.

A very literal version is useful for study, but a more natural English version will often use walk, stroll, or downtown.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

ao sair do hotel, a guia recomendou um passeio curto pelo centro da cidade

Approximate English-friendly pronunciation:

ow sah-EER do oh-TEL, a GHEE-ah reh-koh-men-DOH oong pah-SAY-oh KOOR-too PEH-lo SEN-troo da see-DA-jee

A few notes:

• ao sounds roughly like ow
• sair has stress on the second syllable: sa-IR
• hotel in Brazilian Portuguese is usually oh-TEL
• guia is usually GHEE-ah
• recomendou ends with a stressed -dou
• centro often sounds close to SEN-troo
• cidade in Brazil is often close to see-DA-jee

Pronunciation varies by region, but this will get you close.