Pousada Monte Bello Canela

The breakfast was good, and we stayed at the back of the property, but there’s no parking. The room was disappointing: it didn’t seem clean when we arrived, the shower was weak and hard to adjust, and our requested double bed was actually two singles pushed together. The photos made the room look spacious, but there wasn’t room to move between the beds. It’s also a bit far from the center of Canela. We had to wait outside on the street before anyone came to help us at reception.

We only stayed because we’d prepaid, and Serra was packed, so finding another place would have been hard. The breakfast was good, but the two attendants seemed rushed, doing everything while also washing dishes and cutlery because there wasn’t enough linen to meet demand. There was no water in the minibar, no shared sitting area, and nowhere to be except the room. The apartment entrance is around the back, where a pile of bedding was left under the stairs. Dogs barked at night, and at 7 in the morning we were woken by noise from the breakfast room above us. Our room looked out onto a partly abandoned-looking house with a guard dog. Staff seemed grumpy, perhaps from being overworked. The bedding was awful: the fitted sheet was too small, and we had to turn the top sheet sideways to keep the bed covered, so we slept with the blanket directly on us. The beds were crowded together, with no room to pass between them. There’s not much nearby, and although the center isn’t terribly far, the pousada is at the edge of a neighborhood, as you can see on the map.

The worst part was dealing with receptionist Jorge. When I complained that the website falsely said there was guest parking, after he wouldn’t let me leave the car in the parking area, he turned his back and walked away while I was still talking. As he left, he said they had indoor and “outdoor” spaces, but those “outdoor” spots were on the public street along the neighbors’ sidewalks. Having its own parking is one of the things I look for in a pousada. Jorge was rude to both my wife and me. The website says private parking is available and doesn’t need to be reserved. There were other problems, too. After we came back from room cleaning, we found the suitcase combination changed to “111,” very different from what we’d left it as. We asked for the room to be cleaned, but the towels hadn’t been changed by the time we returned at night. The cleaner also left the window open, giving access to the room. The electric shower had low pressure and only got a little warm, with the temperature coming in waves. The air conditioner’s LED stayed on, there was no outlet in the bathroom, and outlets were awkwardly placed, including one above the door by the ceiling but none beside the bed. There was nowhere to hang towels or let them dry. The bread and cakes were stale and crumbly, certainly not fresh.

Our main disappointment was breakfast. We stayed two days, and every loaf of bread was completely dry and impossible to eat. The few other options were old and dry, too. The location was poor, and reception wasn’t good. Our room wasn’t properly clean. We booked a room with a kitchen, but there were no kitchen utensils. When I asked at reception, they said they didn’t provide any.