Name: Pousada El Capitan
Address: 131 Avenida Vasco Neto, Marau, Marau, Marau, 45520-000, Brazil
Rating: 8

Air conditioning

Smoke-free property

Garden

Patio

General

Non-smoking rooms

Room service

Minibar

Shower/Bathtub

Shower

Rooms

Accessibility features

Accessibility

Safe-deposit box

Services and amenities

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Transfer services

Transfer

Parking

Swimming pool

Outdoor pool

Pool and beach

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Pousada El Capitan

Marau

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

We stayed at the Pousada El Capitan for seven laid-back days in February ($51/night, high season).  The pousada is located on the first road back from the beach, about 300 meters south of the pier.  It is nicely laid out on a long, narrow lot.  To the front as you walk by the office and entertainment area (a building with a large screen TV and seating area) there is a roofed patio with a small bar where breakfast is served.  Next is a nicely landscaped and grassy area with a small but very nice pool on an elevated concrete area to one side.  Further along, the rooms are in two long, narrow buildings that face each other across a grassy pathway, and at the back are two small buildings that house the apartments.    

The rooms are small, but because of the 14 foot high hardwood ceilings and the lack of much furniture, they seem quite spacious.  The bed had a Brazilian mattress (no springs) that was a bit uncomfortable.  The room had a frigobar and AC, but no ceiling fan or safe (we just locked our valuables in the suitcase – there are no worries about crime here).  The room was poorly lit with those ubiquitous energy saving bulbs, so it’s difficult to see things easily during the day.  There was no wireless internet in the room, but it was available in the breakfast area.  Breakfast was served from 8-10 am and was basic – scrambled eggs, sliced wieners, three types of fruit, two types of fruit juices, cold cuts, sweet pastries, and café com leite.   

There is a mini-mart about a block away for snacks and restocking the frigobar – go out the back gate, turn right, then left at the next street.  There are no ATMs or cambios in Barra Grande, so be sure to bring enough cash.  The pousada and many restaurants take credit cards, but power and communication failures make it risky to depend on plastic.  The pousada management and staff do not speak English, but were very friendly and helpful.  On our first morning, we had set our clock wrong and were late for breakfast, but they cheerfully brought everything back out for us.  At the end of our stay, the handyman helped us with our bags by wheeling them down the sand street to the pier in his wheel barrow!  

While the beach is only 50 meters away, there isn’t much there except pousadas and private residences.  For the best beach, go to the pier and look to the right.  On the point (Ponta da Mutá) about 300 meters away, you will see the umbrellas of what are the best beach barracas in Barra Grande.  They serve coconuts (R$3), large beers (R$6), lunch (R$30) and dinner (R$60-90).  The beach here is great for swimming (the water is so saline that you almost float on top of it) and for endless walks with almost no one in sight.      

The village of Barra Grande is small (only 2-3 sand streets), with 2-3 mini-marts, some tourist shops, two dive shops and perhaps 10-15 restaurants.  Many of the restaurants are Italian/pizza places, so the actual variety is much less than the number suggests.  Dinners and a couple of drinks cost R$30 for hamburgers, R$50 for pizza (Brazilian thin crust pizzas are very good), and R$80-100 for moqueca or bobó.  By far the best restaurant was Restaurant Donanna on the “outskirts” of town – their moqueca was the best we have had in Bahia.

As a last note, the photos on the Pousada El Capitan’s website do not do it justice.  The pousada is clean and spacious, the grounds and pool area are beautifully landscaped with just the right mix of shade trees and direct sunlight, the rooms are comfortable and the staff is great.  Combine that with the reasonable price, this one is hard to beat.

Pousada El Capitan

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Location

Description of the hotel

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