Pousada da Barra Prado Bahia

The staff made a good impression once I arrived. They were respectful, efficient, and helpful, answered my questions, and even found a chair for my room, which mattered since I was working remotely and spent a lot of time there. I think being the only guests on Wednesday may also have meant we got a room with a bigger bathroom. The team was understanding when we bought lobsters on the second day. At first they said we could use the kitchen, then said not for that kind of cooking, but they let us keep the lobsters in the fridge, which was a big help because they wouldn't fit in the room's minibar. Before arriving, though, the experience had already started badly. I was choosing between a hostel and this pousada, and picked this one because its website said breakfast was included. At check-in I was told it wasn't. The room rate without breakfast was about R$50 cheaper, but that didn't really make up for it. Eating out every day isn't practical: the nearest bakery was by the church square, and one toasted ham and cheese sandwich cost over R$15, so more than R$30 a day for two people. Paying by card also came with a machine fee that wasn't on the site or mentioned in messages, and replies to those messages were slow. A few practical things were missing during our five-day stay. We got just three tiny, basic bars of soap, which ran out on the second night for the two of us. The toilet paper ran out on day four, so I got some myself from an outside bathroom. There was also a broken piece of wood near the bathroom window, apparently a support for hangers, and that would have helped keep things organized when sharing a room. The large rat in the kitchen was the most worrying part. It appeared in the gap between the cupboard and the wall. We told reception, and they took it in good humor, but it was still concerning. The kitchen also didn't seem clean: the cooktop looked dirty and was covered only with a dish towel. There was no drinking water available either, such as from a water fountain or purifier. The pousada has some positives, especially the service, but these were significant shortcomings that affected the stay.