NAME: pousada dos Meros

WHERE: Vila do Abraão, Ilha Grande, Río de Janeiro

WEBSITE: www.pousadadosmeros.com.br

IN ENGLISH: yes

PRICES ON THE WEBSITE: yes

LOCATION: in the Vila do Abraão, two blocks from the beach and a short walk from shops, restaurants and the main pier.

THE PREMISES: a two-storey building with all the rooms facing a small garden.

THE ROOMS: smallish rooms with a comfortable bed. A small tv and a mini-bar. Electric shower.

PRICES IN NOVEMBER 2008: we paid R$80 per room per night.

BREAKFAST: included on the price. Reasonable breakfast with sweet and savoury options.

FOOD: the pousada doesn’t serve meals. However, complimentary coffee and cakes are served every afternoon. There is a crepe parlour right next to the pousada.

RECEPTION: helpful and kind. If you book by email, print all the messages and take them with you, as the person who handles email communication with the pousada is not based in Ilha Grande.

CONTACT BY EMAIL: All our enquiries were replied to in less than 24 hours.

OUR OPINION: if being right by the beach is not a must, Pousada dos Meros is a good option in Ilha Grande, offering a correct balance between price and quality. The location is good and its staff is kind and helpful.

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RELATED POSTS:
destination: Ilha Grande
map of Ilha Grande
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[photo: view from the window of our room at the Ibis Rio Vermelho]

NAME: hotel Ibis Rio Vermelho

WHERE: Rio Vermelho, Salvador de Bahia

WEBSITE: Ibis Salvador Rio Vermelho

IN ENGLISH: yes

PRICES ON THE WEBSITE: yes

LOCATION: the hotel is located in the Rio Vermelho neighbourhood, right next to a tiny and secluded beach. Rio Vermelho is one of the bohemiam quarters of Salvador, with lots of restaurants and an active night life. To get to the center of Salvador (Pelourinho) from Rio Vermelho you have to take a taxi or a bus. The tourist Salvador bus stops right in front of the hotel. See the location of the hotel on Google Maps.

THE PREMISES: the hotel occupies a building attached to the Mercure hotel – belonging to the same hotel chain. It has the classic structure of most Ibis hotels, with a dining room and bar on the ground floor.

THE ROOMS: your standard Ibis room, correct. Separate bathroom. Tv and telephone. For our travelling needs, more than enough.

PRICES IN MARCH 2009: we paid R$109 per room per night.

BREAKFAST: not included on the price. It costs R$10 per person per day. We ended up having breakfast at the hotel to avoid being delayed. Breakfast is correct, it lacks the charm of a classic breakfast at a Brazilian pousada but it is more generous than a continental breakfast.

FOOD: available at the restaurant. We didn’t eat at the hotel.

INTERNET: the hotel offers paid wi-fi access. There is also a computer offering paid internet access.

RECEPTION: efficient and professional.

CONTACT BY EMAIL: we booked through the hotel’s website. All the options and charges were presented clearly.

OUR OPINION: those familiar with Ibis hotels are unlikely to be dissapointed. Comfortable accommodation with no luxuries attached at a very competitive price. Those wanting to stay at the Rio Vermelho neighbourhood will find the Ibis hotel an excellent choice. Being far from the center of town wasn’t a problem for us.
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There are three youth hostels in São Paulo affiliated to Hostelling International:

• Praça da Árvore hostel. On a residential area on the southern region of the city. It is very close to the subway granting easy access to the most important tourist sights [location on Google Maps]
• São Paulo Hostel Downtown. In the centre of the city, which in the case of São Paulo it is a run down and troublesome area. We strongly advice against seeking accommodation on this part of the city [location on Google Maps]
• Sampa Hostel. On the bohemian quarter of Vila Madalena, with an abundance of bars and restaurants. A bit far from the subway (20 minutes on foot) [location on Google Maps]

There are also three independent youth hostels:

• Casa Club Hostel Bar. In the heart of the Vila Madalena, right where the action is. A bit far from the subway (25 minutes on foot) [location on Google Maps]
• Lime Time Hostel. In the Bela Vista neighbourhood, an excellent location close to the Avenida Paulista and the subway [location on Google Maps]
• Vila Madalena Hostel, in spite of its name, it is on the Pinheiros neighbourhood, not far away from the Vila Madelana. It is not close to the subway but there is easy and frequent public transportation nearby [location on Google Maps]

I haven’t stayed at the any of the hostels mentioned on this post. For that reason, I can only comment on their location and not on the services they provide. I also found some low cost flights to Sao Paulo in Flight Centre.

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RELATED POSTS:
Youth hostels in Brazil
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Our Accommodation in Brazil has a new listing, this time with hotels and pousadas in Porto de Galinhas.

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Our Accommodation in Brazil has a new listing, this time with hotels and pousadas in the island of Boipeba, Bahia. Boipeba is one of our favourite destinations in Brazil and at this blog’s post destination: Boipeba you will find all the travel information related to the island.

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NAME: pousada Fazenda Caeira

WHERE: Third Beach, Morro de São Paulo, Bahia

WEBSITE: www.fazendacaeira.com.br

IN ENGLISH: no

PRICES ON THE WEBSITE: yes

LOCATION: at the Third Beach (Terceira Praia) in Morro de São Paulo, in the half of the beach not built yet, nearer the Fourth Beach. Twenty minutes walking from the main Morro de São Paulo pier and 10 minutes from the First Beach. Speedboats touring the island leave right in front of the pousada. Exact location of the Fazenda Caeira in Google Maps.

THE PREMISES: several houses scattered along a very pleasant palm tree garden. With the beach right in front and the pousada’s landing strip at the back. The main building houses the reception and the dining room. The pousada has a swimming pool facing the sea. A computer offers free internet access.

THE ROOMS: ample and quite simple, with a comfortable bed, a small tv and a mini-bar. Electric shower in the bathroom.

PRICES IN MARCH 2009: we paid R$170 per room per night.

BREAKFAST: included on the price. Excellent, with lots of sweet and savoury options changing from one day to another.

FOOD: simple dishes are prepared on request but we didn’t try any of them. The bar next to the pool prepares some mean cocktails. Quite close to the pousada there is an excellent Italian restaurant.

RECEPTION: friendly, efficient and helpful.

CONTACT BY EMAIL: friendly and fast. All our enquiries were replied to in less than 24 hours.

MORE PHOTOS OF THE POUSADA:

OUR OPINION: Fazenda Caeira is an excellent choice in Morro de São Paulo. Its location was precisely what we were looking for, on the quieter part of Morro but close to everything. If you want to be bang in the middle of where the action is (night life, in particular), then Fazenda Caeira is not the best option. But its location is excellent if you are looking for peace and quiet while at the same time want to be able to reach the village in a few minutes. If you fly to Morro you have to take the Addey plane, it will land at the pousada’s landstrip.

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RELATED POSTS:
destination: Morro de São Paulo
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We’ve made another update in Accommodation in Brazil, with three new blog posts with full listings of accommodation in Barra do Sahy and Barra do Una in the state of São Paulo and Praia do Forte in the state of Bahia.

We’ve made another update in Accommodation in Brazil, with five new blog posts with full listings of accommodation in Canoa Quebrada, Fortaleza, Guarda do Embaú, Ilhabela and Paraty.

Accommodation in Brazil has five new blog posts, with full listings of accommodation in Ilha do Mel, Ilha Grande, Maresias, Natal and Ubatuba.

Finding affordable accommodation in the city of Rio de Janeiro is no mean feat, as many of you will have already found out first hand. I had wanted to post this entry for quite some time now, but the lack of useful pointers made me postpone the post several times. Now I think I’ve gathered enough material to give you some tips on how to find a place to sleep in Rio that won’t blow your trip budget.

BUDGET HOTELS

The Accor hotel chain, present in other parts of Brazil (it has a strong base in São Paulo) only landed in Rio recently, with three budget hotels located in the centry of the city:

• the Formule 1 Rio de Janeiro Centro at Rua Silva Jardim, 32.
• the Ibis Rio de Janeiro Centro right next to the previous one, also at Rua Silva Jardim, 32.
• the Ibis Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumond, right next to the domestic airport and a few hundred yards from the centre of Rio.

An outstanding feature of the hotels mentioned above is that they don’t hold any surprises – a bonus in the context of Rio hotels. They are simple, to the point of being spartan. You won’t find charm or glamour in them. But in return for that, their fares are more friendly than the ones charged by most hotels in town. Their rates do not include breakfast. If you have stayed previously at a Formule 1 or Ibis hotel you know what to expect.

BED & BREAKFAST

There are three networks providing Bed & Breafast accommodation en Río.

• The first one is Cama e Café. At its website you can check details of the houses providing accommodation. All the houses are located in the Santa Teresa neighbourhood.
• Rio Homestay is the upper market version of Cama e Café. Most of its apartments are located along the corridor that links Copacabana to Leblon, passing through Arpoador and Ipanema.
• The third organization is Bed & Breakfast Brasil. It has 60 houses in Rio, on the most popular neighbourhoods (Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, Santa Teresa) and on places slightly more unusual for a hotel (Cosme Velho, São Conrado or Urca).

YOUTH HOSTELS

On Youth hostels in Brazil we listed all the Brazilian hostels affiliated to Hostelling International. There are three in Rio:

• Adventure Hostel
• Rio Rockers Hostel
• Rio Tijuca Hostel

On top of those, there is a long list of hostels you can check out at Hostelworld.

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We haven’t stayed on any of the hotels listed here and for that reason we can’t give first-hand accounts. What we wanted to do here is to empower you to carry out your own searches.

A final tool on your arsenal is the hotel meta-search engine we have incorporated to the blog. It searches through dozens of hotel search pages and brings together the results. There is always a chance you might find an unexpected bargain. The results open on a new page.

Don’t forget to check out this blog’s post on Rio: Destination: Rio de Janeiro.