Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Hotel Rooms at the HDM - name change exception

only there one night but right on the beach. Good for people watching.

I chose this hostel because it was VERY competitively priced during the World Cup. Because it was so much cheaper than hostels located in more touristy areas, I was a little worried about what I would find. In the end, I was very pleasantly surprised and left with an overall good impression of the place. Before saying anything about the facilities, I'll qualify my review by saying that it is a hostel. A lot of people seem to not understand what this means and arrive with ridiculous expectations. The dorm rooms (which sleep 8 - 12) are in a perfectly acceptable state, relatively clean, nothing disgusting like stains on the mattresses or cockroaches running around. The bathrooms and showers are in relatively good shape and were always in good working order, but really need to be cleaned more often! The AC didn't seem to do much and there was a bit to much noise a couple nights. The common spaces were nice and the bar offered fair prices. Breakfast was good. There were two staff members that spoke perfect English and were extremely helpful and welcoming. One of them is usually around except late at night. The others will try and do their best to help, but their English is minimal. That said, they are all incredibly nice and reactive if there is any problem. The location is in a safe area, but a little far from the metro (15-20 minute walk). That said, there are tons of busses and taxis and you can get anywhere in the city relatively easily.