Reviews of O Veleiro Bed and Breakfast

Thank you for your review! Unpleasant Owner??? May we remind you that as you were arriving very early, we facilitated the possibility of an Early Check-In for you (attending your request) instead of after 3pm (the normal time). But as you knew you would be leaving late as well, why did you not mention that also at time of reservation? Well before you began your travel to Brazil we alerted you to the fact that our mechanism for receiving payments via credit card was broken and asked if you could pay on arrival instead (in Euros, US$ or Brazilian currency). You confirmed you would pay in cash BUT arrived with no cash!?? We facilitated by driving you to a nearby ATM to help you which then left you just a 10 min walk from the Corcovado train station so you could start your day easily! Had our system been working correctly you would have been charged at time of reservation 2 months before your arrival - so you had a grace period!! Yet you complain? UNPLEASANT was for me to be asleep in bed, woken by phone calls after 11pm from other guests complaining of the singing and loud talking from your room!! They said they had knocked on your door to alert you of the inconvenience, but there was no response. I tried calling you but was FORCED to get out of bed, get dressed and come down 3 flights of stairs to talk to you personally. I did not appreciate this! Of course you can talk after 10h30 pm but quietly in your room or there is a bar area away from the other rooms more appropriate. Question of RESPECT for the other guests staying in the house and nothing to do with me as owner!!! Also, as written on Booking.com, we do not offer a baggage storage area and as this is our home, on weekends and holidays after 12 noon we finish work and go out to enjoy our life. It was possible to pay an additional for late check out but you felt this service should be free and were angry because of this. Does not seem reasonable to me following my own experiences of travel over the past 50 years to innumerous countries and destinations. I did not understand what flexibility you refer to on your part?? Important to bear in mind we are a family home Bed and Breakfast and not a hotel (which perhaps would have been more appropriate to your needs). We remind other guests: should you require to leave after our normal check out time of 11am you should discuss this with us at time of reservation and not at the last minute on your check out day!

Thank you for your review! Unpleasant Owner??? May we remind you that as you were arriving very early, we facilitated the possibility of an Early Check-In for you (attending your request) instead of after 3pm (the normal time). But as you k… Show more

Hi Gunnar! Thank you both for your review. We’re glad you enjoyed our unique location. We are one of the very few options in a bustling city of over 12 million people (unofficial population), located in the heart of the touristic ZONA SUL yet up a historic colonial road surrounded by remnants of Atlantic forest – with monkeys, toucans, parrots and other flora and fauna! Regarding NOISE. Have you tried staying in Ipanema, Copacabana or the Centro of Rio? Here is a peaceful forest setting compared to the 24 hour traffic noise, ambulances, fire and garbage trucks – even gunshots! in the wee hours of the night! I couldn’t stand to live in Copacabana in front of the beach for more than 1 month!! Planes do sometimes pass over the south zone depending on weather conditions. Noisy trucks up our road are a rarity!! Yes, Copacabana is convenient to go the beach (which is only 10min by Uber from us) but it is a lot of time and traffic from any other touristic location! We are a 10min walk using the 2 short cuts from closest restaurants, 15min to a major Shopping Mall. And 5-15 min by Uber from the major Touristic attractions of Brazil!! On Booking.com on the Standard room’s description is written: “private external bathroom” and clicking on the room name are photos illustrating the exact location. Just a few observations for other potential guests as well to bear in mind. We are a family home Bed and Breakfast with a limited staff. We were the very first Bed and Breakfast to open in all Brazil 26 years ago and have received to date over 25,000 guests – the majority satisfied!! As this is our home, and we also try to maintain a life, we are not a good choice for guests who have no idea of their arrival and/or departure times! Can you imagine sitting home an entire day and the guests finally arriving 1am with NO prior communication?? Or announce at the last minute, they will be leaving 4am and could they have an Early Breakfast please?? We see it all… For those who need complete flexibility a family run B&B is not a good choice. We recommend a standard Hotel with 24 hour Front Desk, Baggage Storage facilities etc. Our Check in is 15h to 20h and Check Out before 11am. It is possible to arrive starting 8am and if available, pay for Early Check In and even an Extra Breakfast on arrival. In your case it was a Saturday arriving and we normally take the afternoon off but you didn’t know when you would arrive. As it was from Ilha Grande there are not many options. So we suggested before noon or after 7pm (which is when you arrived in Rio anyway). Most guests take an early boat or one at 5pm and arrive 9pm. As it was, I was home by 6pm waiting for you… Also, it is written on Booking.com we DO NOT offer Baggage Storage. When it is possible to offer this flexibility we do so at no extra cost. We offered YOU to have complete flexibility paying a fee for late check out so you could shower after the beach and leave when it was convenient for your flight but you were not interested in any payment for the extra service! If you knew you would have a late flight and needed to leave your luggage somewhere you should have communicated this at reservation time not pass on the responsibility to us and then be unsatisfied…

Hi Gunnar! Thank you both for your review. We’re glad you enjoyed our unique location. We are one of the very few options in a bustling city of over 12 million people (unofficial population), located in the heart of the touristic ZONA SUL y… Show more

Hi Karolina! thanks for your review and let me say it was REALLY a pleasure to receive you both for such a fun and mutually satisfying stay! Really makes me want to go to Poland now that we have met so many wonderful guests from your country!! We sincerely home that somehow and somewhere we will meet again your 4 days with us was just too short. Big hugs from all of us here at the house and a special thanks for the chocolates!!

Hi Karolina! thanks for your review and let me say it was REALLY a pleasure to receive you both for such a fun and mutually satisfying stay! Really makes me want to go to Poland now that we have met so many wonderful guests from your countr… Show more

Hi Johan! We must say that we are shocked to receive this review from a young guest who spent a week with us and whenever asked, said they were really enjoying their stay in Rio and our home and NO complaints?!! We don’t even understand the title of your review: “Worse than it seems” You mean you thought that it was bad but actually it was worse????? We remind any potential guests reading this: that this is our home and we take a lot of pride in having opened the first B&B in all Brazil 25 years ago and having received now more than 24,000 guests. We ask that anything that is not to guest’s expectations be brought to our attention immediately – not after you have left! We genuinely go out of our way to provide tips and information to all guests regarding where to go, what to see and enjoy in Rio and how to do it safely! Good to know that for the very few times when you actually woke up for Breakfast (and we were able to enter and clean your room – which is done until 12 noon daily), that the quality for you was “generally good”??! We offer a lot more than just eggs, bread and home-made juices… Tea, Brazilian coffee, chocolate, 4 types of cereals, selection of different breads, pancakes or waffles on Sundays, fresh daily fruit, home-made jams and jellies, cold cuts and cheese, yoghurt etc. The general feedback from guests is that our breakfasts are excellent! To us it seemed that you were very naive as to the dangers of Rio! And we honestly wanted to avoid you having a terrible experience!! While the police daily advise about the risks of using over the shoulder pouches with valuables and “neck bags” or waiting in the street for your Uber with your cell phone out. You seemed to deliberately ignore and criticize for us reminding you. Remember it was not only YOUR safety but for us as well as you had the keys to our home!! At least you paid some attention and decided against your “private Favela Tour” with a complete stranger you met an hour before as we insisted you NOT do! But ONLY after another Brazilian family you met randomly in the park when you lost our keys also advised against!! We are most happy that (we like to imagine with some of our advice) that nothing bad happened to you in the end. We live in the forest and we asked to NOT consume or have open food in the room which you ignored so of course ants will come! Every UBER uses a map app to arrive easily just putting in the name “O Veleiro Bed and Breakfast”. And they normally come here more than 20 times a day as it is the cheapest way to move around Rio (cheaper than the metro for a couple!!). Did you expect that over 190,000 drivers using ride apps in the city would know our house without looking at their screen?? In any case, the walk down the hill (as you preferred), takes 10 min there you will find 3 different restaurants, pharmacy, Super market, bus stop etc. Or 5 min more walk to a major Shopping mall and just after, the Botafogo metro station. Remember that you chose our “Budget Room” on Booking.com with full description and photos of the room available showing the glass box shower by the bed (which you chose not to read or look at). We have 3 other categories of rooms available all with air conditioning: Standard 2x the size, Superior 3x (and with en-suite Bath) or Master Suite 8x the size!! The overhead fan in your room was replaced 2 months ago and I personally checked there was NO DUST on the blades. Perhaps it was your cracker crumbs which we found in the room each of the times we cleaned…

Hi Johan! We must say that we are shocked to receive this review from a young guest who spent a week with us and whenever asked, said they were really enjoying their stay in Rio and our home and NO complaints?!! We don’t even understand the… Show more

Hi David! It was genuinely a pleasure to receive you and wife in our home for 10 days and trade travel stories together! Also to be able to offer you a custom day Tour of the West Zone of Rio, its paradisical beaches, the rustic seafood restaurant on the edge of the surf beach and the boat trip through the islands to see the Caymans, Capibaras and diverse bird life of the lagoons!! Followed by the Tour which we did together to see the Highlights of Petrópolis in the mountains (erra) outside of Rio and then an afternoon hike to the waterfalls in the Serra dos Órgaos National Park (PARNASO). I am a guide with the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism for 27 years and our Bed and Breakfast - the very first in all Brazil - was a personal project which began in 1999 after extensive meetings with the Federal (EMBRATUR), State Tourism board and Rio city Tourism Secretary. We truly hope our paths will cross again! Perhaps in the UK next time? Happy travels!!

Hi David! It was genuinely a pleasure to receive you and wife in our home for 10 days and trade travel stories together! Also to be able to offer you a custom day Tour of the West Zone of Rio, its paradisical beaches, the rustic seafood re… Show more

Thanks for your review Sarah! Glad to hear you enjoyed our home and our breakfasts!! As you discovered it is very easy (and inexpensive) to move about with Uber - about 10 min from Copacabana, or the Sugar Loaf tram and just 5 min to the Christ Statue train station! But for those who like to walk, only a 10 min walk down to the nearest restaurants, pharmacy etc., 15 min to a major Shopping mall and 20 min to the Botafogo metro station - from where you can reach Copacabana in 1,5 min and Ipanema or downtown (and museums, historic churches and galleries) in 10 min. Most of our guests have found a firmer mattress more comfortable but every one has their own taste! In any case, we have brand new beds arriving next week, so hope you can come back sometime and test them out hehe!! Also a note: we showed you when you mentioned this on leaving, that because it is a gas powered demand shower, it is necessary to open the hot water first and leave it on FULL! then adjust the appropriate amount of cold water. If not, the heater will keep turning on and off when the water pressure changes. To bad you didn't mention this to us when you first had the issue. Wishing you happy travels! Big hugs, Rob and Richard

Thanks for your review Sarah! Glad to hear you enjoyed our home and our breakfasts!! As you discovered it is very easy (and inexpensive) to move about with Uber - about 10 min from Copacabana, or the Sugar Loaf tram and just 5 min to the Ch… Show more