Villa Cachoeira da Rocha

The rooms are comfortable and cozy, and the place feels wonderfully connected to nature. Rose and her team gave us amazing service.

We left feeling that paying the full price for this stay was unfair. We spent days climbing in and out through the window, ran short of basic supplies, found the room unclean, had no working Wi-Fi, and saw no effective management of the problems. We don’t recommend this place and won’t return. The door was already hard to use when we arrived: the key was difficult to insert and turn, and the door scraped against the floor. On New Year’s Eve, it stopped opening altogether. The key wouldn’t turn, and after trying different ways, it got stuck because it only went in backwards. The owner, Rose, called an employee, Roberto, to help. He took apart the lock and found a piece of a broken key inside. Rose first suggested it was part of our key, but she and Roberto quickly confirmed it wasn’t, which suggests the problem was there before we arrived and another guest may have struggled with the door too. With no fix, we used a ladder provided by the inn to get in and out through the window for several days. During that process, Rose seemed more concerned about keeping the walls clean than our comfort or safety. The window could also be opened from outside even when it was latched shut from the inside. The room had a stale smell and spider webs, and the dishes were dirty. An empty coffee can and empty salt shaker were left there, apparently as trash. We were missing basics including a hand towel, matches, and toilet paper; there was only one roll for five days. The Wi-Fi never worked, and we had to use our 4G to pay because the card machine was broken. The next day, while we were out at the beach, Roberto came into our room without warning to try to take apart the lock from inside. We understand he was trying to fix it, but no one told us someone would enter, and we only found out by chance, which made us uncomfortable. At checkout, Rose tried to charge us for a locksmith even though it was clear we hadn’t caused the problem. She also complained that we’d woken her at 1 a.m. on New Year’s to get help with the door, as if we should have just been left stranded. Only after we insisted did she agree to cover the cost. There was no compensation for all the many and absurd disruptions. We do recognize that Rose and Roberto tried to find solutions. Still, the maintenance issues, disorganization, and way we were treated made the full price feel unjustified.

I wish I’d had more than one night here, though I wasn’t there for sightseeing. The room was simple but cozy, with a very soft mattress and pillows, and everything was clean and organized. The inn sits right in the Atlantic Forest, surrounded by all kinds of trees and waterfalls, a unique attraction. Rose’s father welcomed us, and he was a very friendly, polite man.

Waking up to birds and the waterfall is priceless. It’s a wonderful little paradise in Ilhabela, and Rose was such a warm, attentive host on our family trip. We’ll definitely be back soon.