Casa Piauí Hostel

I needed somewhere to rest before an early flight, so I stayed, but the whole experience left me feeling disrespected. Booking showed one price, then at checkout they added a card charge that neither Booking nor the property had mentioned. I asked the manager about it and she basically said to pay or leave. I'd also messaged days earlier with a question and never got a reply. The room they put me in faced construction, with cement dust and noise that made resting impossible. In the bathroom, the toilet was broken and smelled bad. An outlet didn't work, there wasn't one near the bed, and the door lock jammed. When I told an employee, they didn't seem interested in checking it. The beds are comfortable, so it may work if you only need to sleep before another flight. I wouldn't want to stay several days, especially after being treated that way.

My first trip to Brazil turned into a really welcoming cultural exchange. I spent a little over a week there, and people made me feel at home. The stay was peaceful, the food was delicious, and the location was fairly central. Thank you.

The electrical problem in our room made the stay miserable from the start. There was no power for the AC or fan, and the people in charge first blamed Equatorial, the power company. We later learned it was an issue with the hostel's own wiring. It was unbearably hot that first night, so we barely slept, and the problem was still there the next day. They only told us what had really happened after we pressed them. The breakfast wasn't fresh or good quality either. Then ceramic tiles suddenly burst up from the room floor, creating an accident risk, and we spent two days with it like that. The unstable network meant we couldn't charge our laptops, so we had to go to the mall and spend an entire afternoon sorting it out. Service depended on the mood of whoever was working. We were moved to the wrong room and then asked to move again. We were exhausted and refused, and the owner treated us badly. On the second-to-last day, a cockroach showed up in the bathroom, which already had a strong sewer smell coming from the drain. I'd only recommend this for a quick stop where you don't need to spend much time at the hostel. My friends and I had a frustrating experience. We were in Teresina to present our research at an event, and all this even got in the way of enjoying the city.

I wouldn't return or recommend it, even though it wasn't all bad. Our original booking was for one day, then we extended it. Since the same room wasn't free, we spent the stay in two rooms: first a private suite, then a smaller room with a shared bathroom. The suite had odd marks on the walls, a bedside lamp that didn't work, and no hot water in the bathroom, though it was clean. I saw tiny cockroaches by the sink, probably coming from the drain. The other room was smaller but better set up, and the shared bathroom was extremely clean. The hostel was being renovated while we were there, so maybe some of these issues will change soon. Breakfast was basic and didn't have much variety. The butter jar was the one thing I'd call attention to, and I think that alone is enough. We got keys to both the room and the gate, so we could come and go whenever we wanted, which was handy. The main reason for my two stars was the persistent sewer smell outside the hostel. It was so strong that it reached the breakfast area in the morning.