Location

Carioca

Catete

Sao Francisco Xavier

Lapa

Catedral de Sao Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro

Arcos da Lapa

Selaron Steps

National Fine Arts Museum

Museum of Modern Art

Santos Dumont Airport

Museu do Amanhã

RioZoo

Aterro do Flamengo Park

AquaRio

Sugarloaf Cable Car

Maracana Stadium

Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden

Copacabana Fort

Arpoador Beach

Leblon Beach

Tijuca National Park

Galeao Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport

Jacarepagua Airport

Cortico Da Lapa

Rio de Janeiro

We booked through booking.com months in advance as our arrival in Rio  coincided with Carnival. As we were traveling by bus from Bolivia we notified the property that we would arrive late checked that this was okay and  asked them to hold our booking for us until we arrived. They replied that this was okay and that they would hold the room for us. After battling our way through crowds of drunk people we eventually found the location. Firstly it is NOT a hostel but residential units. We were told this rather loudly later on.  Anyway the door was locked but we got lucky as some tenants were returning home and let us in. After looking around we found no manager or reception anywhere.  The tenants who let us in called one of the owners who said that the booking didn't exist after several minutes discussion he admitted that it did exist but that it was canceled. We were dumbfounded as our most recent email contact had been within days. We sat in the courtyard with our bags trying to work out what to do. It was implied that we leave the premises  but by now it was 2.30am and outside everyone was drunk and this area is one where tourists are targets for theft especially during carnival so we stayed.  A kind tenant who spoke English offered to call the other owner and explained the situation further on both sides. Our booking was canceled that night as we had not arrived by 8pm. At first the second owner denied ever receiving our emails but eventually with strong Insistence accepted their existence. However our booking remained canceled and we were told that we could rebook for the next night however the price would go up significantly perhaps triple.  We decided not to go with this after the disgraceful way we had been treated but remained in the courtyard as it was unsafe to go elsewhere the tenants were happy for us to do this. At around 3-3.30am a very kind couple insisted we come and sleep in their room along with them. If not for the kindness of the tenants here we would have ended up being two young women sleeping on streets full of drunk carnival revellers. PLEASE DO NOT EVER BOOK WITH THE CORTICO DA LAPA. Put your safety first and go elsewhere even If it means not visiting Rio.

DO NOT BOOK.

Firstly, the area is niceish. It is the centre, and meant to be hip but it also means there are quite a few street drunks, but they're mostly harmless unless your a girl on your own.

The hostel (it wasn't really a hostel), mostly locals there. Quite basic accommodation, 1 bed table fridge and thats it. But it was quite basic, so dont go here unless you really have nowhere to stay (like us!)

quite bad actually

Arrived at this property having booked through booking.com and it was totally not what we expected. The booking.com website makes it sound like a typical hostel (shared kitchen/bathroom etc), but this is not the case. This is more like what we in the UK would know as a bedsit; traveller rooms alongside locals. 

Having had our flights delayed, we emailed ahead to let the proprietor know that we would arrive later than expected, to which we received a reply saying this would be fine. Despite this, when we arriived there was no one around to let us in. Brazilians do not often speak English, so we had no way to communicate or find out how to get in or what to do. Luckily a local called the hostel owner and through the limited portuguese we understood, informed us that the owner would now come... we waited 45 minutes but he did not, but we were eventually let in by some of the local residents.

The room was acceptable, although the ceiling fan looked precarious, the plug sockets did not fit our adaptors as they were inverted and there was no glass in the windows or safety deposit box so it felt rather unsecure. The communal shower/toilet (one single tiny cubicle) was squalid and had no working light. We were not shown access to any kitchen facilities either.

Despite booking.com stating that wifi was available, we were unable to access this (booking.com has now changed to state no internet is available).

The property is situated in a dodgier part of Lapa, which may be quite intimidating to a first time traveller. 

When booking you will need to make a 50% deposit through Western Union which will incur charges of around £5 (normail booking.com reservations will require a 10% deposit). Given our disappointment with the property, we left the same night to find a much better hostel locally and were then requested to pay a further 50% cancellation fee for being 'no shows'. We did not pay this after explaining our situation with booking.com, although as we were considered no-shows we are not invited to write a review on their website and give a better view of what this property is like.

If you are looking for value for money and are used to travelling (and are preferably not travelling alone, especially a single female), you could well appreciate this property. We did not, and would certainly not recommend it to many.

Cortico Da Lapa

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