Villa Rica Pousada

I was planning a road trip around Minas Gerais with friends visiting from London between Christmas and New Year, and had booked and prepaid for two chalés to celebrate my birthday. I was really looking forward to a relaxing stay at this pousada. When the UK went into lockdown and Brazil cancelled all flights to and from the UK, I contacted the pousada. I explained what had happened and asked to cancel my friends’ booking, while keeping my own. This was ten days before arrival. The response felt like “computer says no”: cancel seven days before arrival and you only get 50% off. They showed no understanding that my friend couldn't enter the country, so I had to cancel her reservation. I still went because I wanted to stay somewhere with a swimming pool and visit the region. The place was clean, breakfast was nice, and service was good. But the pool was extremely small, more like jacuzzi size, and was under maintenance. Our chalet faced the main road, so it was pretty noisy when all I wanted was peace and quiet. At checkout I had to ask again about my friend’s reservation. I was told I could only get 50% of the deposit back, even though I’d cancelled well in advance and only because she couldn’t enter the country. To make things more complicated, the pousada couldn’t refund the money to the card used to pay, so I had to ask a friend with a Brazilian bank account to receive the partial refund. The whole thing felt like a real scam. Ten days later, I’m still waiting for the pousada’s letter confirming the partial refund, so my friend can try to claim the difference from her travel insurance. It was very stressful, with zero customer service. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this place!

Top 10!

Omg, excellent 🤰🏿

Everyone was very friendly.