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Brazil Hostel Information
Hostels In Brazil
Brazil is probably one of the most magical places to travel. Whether you´re looking for a perfect beach to spend a week, looking for fun at Rio Carnival, or on a search for real adventure in the Amazon; God designed Brazil to fit your expectations!
Brazil is huge and varied, but common to most places in the country are good hostels for your stay. Depending on the money you have and the kind of trip you´re looking for, there are many hostel options. Brazil is a country well prepared for tourism and has good accommodation to meet your needs. Brazilian people are very freindly: you can always expect a smile when booking a room.
If you´re backpacking and travelling Brazil by bus, you will want to stay in hostels. In the main cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Salvador de Bahia and many others you will be overwhelmed by hostel choices and they´re usually located in the main tourist centers and downtown. In smaller cities and beach towns, you can also find good hostels, but normally you´ll have fewer options.
Hostels in Brazil usually combine price with quality, but don't be expecting five star facilities and services, rather a shared environment and hopefully helpful staff. A great number of today's hostels were once old residential houses or even former hotels which have been refurbished and transformed into a hostel.
Hostels provide rooms to be shared with other people, ranging from a few people to as many as 20 people. Expect to be sleeping in bunks, and in some there is a bathroom for every room, but this is not always the case as some just have big communal bathrooms for the whole hostel. Usually Brazilian hostels have nice socializing spaces, some have a bar and almost all will provide internet, either charging a small fee or offering it as a courtesy to guests. Laundry service is usually available and travellers save money by cooking their own food in the hostel kitchen.
In the best hostels there is usually a party vibe at night where guests are compelled to socialize. The good thing about hostels in Brazil is that you can meet a lot of people that are traveling to the same places as you. You can get excellent tips and advice from other travelers and you may even find a travel partner for your trip.
If you´re looking for an alternative to hostels, you can get a variety of other accommodation. In big cities, if you´re not comfortable in a hostel and you´re looking for an individual room, you can get nice hotels for decent prices. There are also pousadas (similar to European bed and breakfasts) and these are usually a great place to stay. They are not too big or crowded and run by the owners, so normally pousadas have a friendly atmosphere. In small towns there are hotels called familiar, which are nice and cheap. Even though they are pleasant, expect them to have shared toilets and even sometimes hammocks for sleeping.
Here are some useful tips for Brazilian Hostels:
- If you´re traveling in high season (Carnival - February/March, New Year or Easter) don´t forget to book well in advance. In these periods some hotels only book for a minimum of 2 or 3 days or sometimes they only have weekly packages. Expect higher prices as well!
- Use the lockers provided in the hostels. Even though they´re safe places, lockers are a good idea for preventing problems. Bring your own lock, as some hostels do not provide these and others rent them.
- Hostel prices include breakfast. Be prepared for a lot of bread, ham, cheese and even breakfast cake!
- In some hostels there´s a service for book exchange, some you may have to pay a small fee on top of exchanging a book.
- Take advantage of hostel advertisements and pamphlets to be found around the reception area, they offer good information, deals, and fliers of other hostels around the country.
