Pousada Das Paineiras

The first impression was awful. The owner was across the pool and shouted from there to ask who we were instead of coming to greet us. After we explained, she kept insisting that she had prepared two rooms meant for eight people each, even though we were just two couples. She eventually agreed to put us in another room. When she showed us a paper map of restaurants and the city park, she said she would explain it only once and warned that if we left the park and took more than six minutes to get back, we should assume we were lost. We’d driven six hours from São Paulo to Olímpia after booking two separate rooms for the 18th, 19th, and 20th of November 2017 through the Hotel Urbano website. The listing said each couple’s room could hold eight people, which didn’t matter to us since there were only four of us. The photos had made the POUSADA DAS PAINEIRAS in Olímpia, São Paulo, look pretty, safe, and clean, with an inviting breakfast and a large, clean pool. In person, the place looked abandoned: the sign was dented and rusty, there were mosquitoes everywhere, and the reception area had cracks. Her son took us to our rooms. One was by the pool, the other at the back near overgrown brush. Each had a double bed, bunk beds, a bathroom that was very dirty, a broken wardrobe, a TV that barely worked, and a ceiling fan covered in dust that barely turned. The sheets and blankets were dirty, bloodstained, smelly, and dusty. There were dead cockroaches in the bathrooms, and we found more when we lifted the mattresses to check for scorpions. We didn’t raise it with the owner because she had already been rude when we arrived. That night, we saw there was no real security, just aluminum doors anyone could knock down. Then it started raining, and we heard water dripping. The rooms were full of leaks, soaking the floors. There was a large hole in the ceiling above the bunk bed, and a lot of water came through it. We barely slept, worried about more rain and about our safety. The next morning, our second day at the inn, we returned the keys, collected our things, and drove back to São Paulo. We’d come to rest but instead were stressed and upset that we’d been fooled by pretty photos. We took photos and videos of the nightmare we had there.

The place needs maintenance, and the photos being advertised don’t match how it looks now. Breakfast was plentiful, but everything seemed old, including stale crackers and dry cakes. The room was awful all around, with a worn-out feel, terrible beds, and a shower that wouldn’t heat up.

The beds are quite comfortable, but the bathroom could use some work. The shower head is very low, and the bathtub was a little dirty. It’s a decent option if you’re only staying a few nights.

The room was quite clean, and breakfast was good. The location was good too. The equipment, like the fan, wasn’t in great condition, though, and my room had no mini fridge. That could have been better.