Farol Barra Flat

I should have stayed in Pelourinho. You live and learn. The beach-facing Airbnb on the fourth floor of Avenida Oceanica 409 was nice to look at during the day, but the waves roared all night along with the relentless wind, so I barely slept. The rooftop pool is small, and the restaurant beside it has seen better days. The building is run down, with all sorts of colorful, down-on-their-luck characters around. The front desk staff were professional, and the cleaning service did a great job making the beds when they remembered to come by. Beside the building on the Oceanica side, there's a gated open yard used as a dumpster. It had a little mountain of trash that looked weeks old, and nobody picked it up during my five days. Av. Almirante Marques de Leão, the parallel street, has more abandoned businesses than open ones and didn't seem remotely safe even during the day. Why risk going there at night? There isn't a decent market within 15 miles for groceries to take back.

The receptionist was aggressive and had no manners. She shouted at us like we were misbehaving children, then started ignoring us. We'd booked for two but arrived as three, which was our mistake, though it should have been an easy fix since the apartment had three beds. Every time I tried to explain, she interrupted me. I've never been treated so badly by a receptionist.

We only managed to see apartment 102 because the Booking reservation system wasn't working, and we left as quickly as we could. The air conditioning was broken, dark tags on the outside completely blocked the windows, and the couch was just two bare mattresses stacked together. Everything looked old and dusty, so there was no way we were staying. Keep in mind these are separate flats owned by different landlords, so this one doesn't represent the others.

The staff were a great help, and we had a wonderful time using the amenities. It's close to the beach and felt safe.