Villa Sophia Hostel

It's a cute restored house in a great location, and the beds were comfortable. The weekend I stayed, it was calm. Breakfast came as an individual package with juice, a sandwich, and a piece of fruit. There's no reception or supervision from the owners, and no one stays at the hostel apart from the guests. Since the bedroom doors don't lock, companions can easily get into the common areas and even the rooms. The lack of anyone on site made the house feel open to anyone, and the impersonal setup felt strange. I had to give an exact arrival time for check-in, but I was unfamiliar with the city and ran late, so I waited on the street for about 10 minutes. When I left, I was told to put the key in a little pot and go. On the second day, both of the only two bathrooms ran out of hot water. We messaged the hostel on WhatsApp and were told they'd check, but nothing was fixed. It's good in some ways, but that hot-water issue, for example, wasn't resolved.

The location is great, and the hosts were super friendly, but there was a lot of noise throughout the hostel. Even the bedroom door creaked, and sleeping was really difficult. With no reception, people seemed to take liberties: a couple came in singing in the middle of the night, and the next night a girl in the room turned on the light and made a lot of noise while sorting her things. The cleaning also fell short. Since they only cleaned in the afternoon, the bathrooms got really dirty.

The bunk bed was high and noisy, with no little ladder to climb up. My locker was downstairs while my room was on the first floor. The kitchen and bathrooms had a strange smell, and the other guests were loud. One guest came back drunk at night and woke everyone up. I was in Porto Alegre to take a public service exam, and it was hard to study. Didn't like it at all!

The hot shower was perfect, and breakfast was great, especially the unforgettable orange juice. Everything was clean, fresh-smelling, and organized, with three outlets at the head of each bed. There's parking, and the owner helped me maneuver the car since I'm not very practiced at it, hehehe. They were always ready to help. This has become our place to stay in Porto Alegre!