Pousada La Duna Lençois Maranhenses

We missed the last boat to Atins and went down the street looking for somewhere to spend the night. I never expected to meet the nicest people in the world that way. Everything was perfect, I slept so well, and I’m really grateful. Muito obrigada!

The customer service was the best. They’re so helpful, and even when the misunderstandings are on my end, they’re willing to do whatever they can to help.

A few days before our trip, my girlfriend and I were told by the owner of La Duna that we’d be moved because authorities had closed our room. The owner assured us the replacement, Duna Village, was unquestionably good. But when we arrived, it turned out to be a makeshift operation in a residential building called Encanto das Dunas. The room seemed hastily put together, with old, neglected furniture, damp patches on the walls, worn and torn sheets, damp and dirty towels, and broken air conditioning with faulty electrical wiring. Several bathroom fixtures were rusty. Breakfast was served in the garage among clotheslines holding bed linen, and the guest instructions were handwritten on a notebook page stuck behind the bedroom door. On our second day, the toilet stopped flushing. That was the last straw. After my girlfriend complained repeatedly, the owner of La Duna finally sent a taxi to take us to the pousada. The driver was very rude, didn’t even help put our bags in the trunk, and tried to charge us R$ 20 for a 300-meter ride we hadn’t asked for. If you don’t want your vacation to turn into a nightmare, I wouldn’t consider La Duna reliable accommodation. The owner may leave you stranded and then undermine your experience and review, as he did with my girlfriend and me.

I booked accommodation, tours, and transfers through La Duna three months in advance. Two days before our trip, just before a holiday, they messaged to say they’d had a problem but had resolved it. They moved us to a nearby pousada, Duna Village, claiming it was even better quality. When we got there, the receptionist had no idea we were coming. The room was dirty, the toilet and air conditioning didn’t work, the walls were covered in mold, the bed was under a window that wouldn’t close properly, and the towels were damp and dirty. It was a nightmare. Only after I made a scene outside the pousada did they move us to their own pousada the next day. I saw on Booking.com that they’d lied to me: rooms were available, but they hadn’t told us. I’d been accepting things because I thought they were having difficulties, but that wasn’t the case. I read all the reviews before choosing this place. My advice is not to book everything through one provider, because when you question something, they say they’ll cancel everything and refund you. That may be easy for them, but for tourists who planned months ahead it’s torment, and they know it. If you complain, they give you an “option” like the one I got. Who would accept this a day before a holiday trip, when the whole city is full? The pousada is great when there are no problems, but if something goes wrong, they’ll leave you on your own, as they did with me. Total disregard. I wouldn’t recommend it to my worst enemy. They ruined our vacation on the first day in a way I can’t even explain. The next day, during the relocation, they sent a taxi to get us. The driver didn’t help with our bags, drove three blocks, then wanted 20 reais for the ride. Terrible from start to finish. Their response says a lot about the quality of the place.