Che Lagarto Hostel Itacaré

The bathrooms were dirty, with grime on the floors and shower mats left soaking wet. The outdoor seats and common area also felt run down, more like a clinic than a hostel. Check-in is all online, including submitting your details and a passport image, and you have to make your own bed. I can see how online check-in might speed things up, but having to do everything yourself comes across as lazy. I’m not sure why this place gets such good reviews; it’s average, and there are nicer hostels nearby, like Tropicalia or Mais Que Nada.

The location is hard to beat, right on Itacaré’s main street and close to the beaches, trails, and bus terminal. There’s air conditioning whenever you need it, with no restricted hours, which matters in such a hot city and isn’t common in hostels. The women’s dorm is spacious and its bathroom stays very clean. There are also other bathrooms available if the one in your room is occupied, and the hostel overall is very clean. Breakfast is tasty and filling, though the 7:00-8:00 window is unusual, so sleeping in means missing it.

I’ve traveled for years and never had an experience like this. The people staying there were amazing, but some staff and rules were really bad. One worker with glasses was very racist toward Israelis, even though we hadn’t done anything wrong, and they kept finding ways to bring the mood down. Nobody told us when we arrived that we couldn’t sit anywhere after 23:00, and there was no alternative offered, so you had to go out to the street to smoke or spend time with friends. Also, the beer tasted like it had been sitting in the fridge for years. I almost never leave bad reviews, but this was awful.

There’s air conditioning during the day, which was useful since there aren’t any places to lie down, hammocks, or comfy chairs. But the dorm sockets didn’t work. I arrived late after a long day of travel with my phone nearly dead, and then had to make my bed in the dark because they don’t do it for you.