Che Lagarto Hostel Rio - Ipanema

I visited here in April 2007. This one on Paul Redfern is the best one, a few blocks from the beach, in a fun bar district, and a safer area. Hostel staff helped me locate alternate accomodation on short notice.

It was great to visit Rio de Janeiro, coming from the Amazon Region from a wild region. I confess that I was a bit afraid of a big city like Rio de janeiro, but be sure that everybody from Che Lagarto/Ipanema and from Copacabana made me feel very, very safe here.

in my five months in latin america it was the worst hostel. To describe the poor quality of services I would need ten days. sorry I dont have time for this. just one thing -- dont believe the information they have a kitchen -- it is a lie, like almost everything in their propaganda. For example, they said that they have a air condition in the room, just they forgot to say that they put air condition on just after 10 p.m., so the rooms are sauna during the day.

We really liked this hostel... it was clean and the rooms were nice. The bar downstairs was a good place to hang out but the hostel is really noisy at night, so don't come here if all you want is a good night's sleep. The staff were really friendly but some were more helpful than others. The system for getting in and out in the evenings is a real pain, going through the bar and past the bouncers with bits of paper. They also didn't have our booking which we'd made via their Web site when we arrived, but it wasn't a problem as there was plenty of space.

Che Lagarto is a clean hostel located only 5 minutes from the beach. But, the place focuses too much on the bar and not on the service. It is the first house I ever been to that I had to go by a bouncer to get into at night. The morning staff is incompetent. I tried to sign my friend and I up for a football game on a Saturday and was told by two staff members that the game was on that day. After waiting for the van to come pick us up, I asked the guy at the reception if he was sure if the game was on Saturday. After being told yes, he changed his mind and said the game was on Sunday at 2:30. When I showed up on Sunday at 2:30, the same guy told us we missed the bus that left at 2:00. If you have to deal with the reception, wait until night when the more experienced staff members are there. Only stay at this hostel if you are a big partyer.

Great neighborhood. The rooms are very nice and clean, and there's a nice bar/restaurant on the bottom. However, the people who work here are completely incompetent and anything but helpful...after a few days we took to calling it "Che Retardo." You have to really push them to do even the simplest of things, such as checking in or out. Also, when we were there, we had no water on our floor for two days. The hostel was having a problem with their water pump (I know this because I saw a repairman there). But we were told by the guy at the front desk (I kid you not): "Yeah, uh, all of Rio is having a water problem right now, because you know, when it gets hot, people take a lot of showers." When I pointed out that the guy in the building next door was hosing down his patio as we spoke, he was like "uhhhh...." Furthermore, when I went to pay, I demanded a discount for not having water. They offered me a 10% discount, 4.5 reals, or about 1.5 euros. Good luck dealing with these idiots.

I did a reservation via email and they got it - but I had to email them again to confirm it. They seemed really disorganized. Place was alright. Had the room with aircon and private bathroom. Thing is, the bathroom smelled pretty badly so we had to keep the door shut, but otherwise, it was ok, has a real party atmosphere.

My boyfriend flew from Germany to meet me in Brazil and when we arrived in Rio we made a booking at the Ipanema. Surprise! No such booking existed when we paid for our taxi from the Rodoviaria. He left me on Monday night and I made a booking at the Copacabana Hostel. Surprise! No such booking! We don't take them over the phone. Oh, glad you told me that when I arrived late at night and not when I rang? These people are dodgy, dodgy, dodgy and gave me no assistance when I arrived late at night and had nowhere to stay after their 2nd stuff up.

I stayed over New Years here, and found it to be a better than average place, in a quiet but safe neighborhood, and a four or five block walk to the beach. Atmosphere in the commons area and on the patio was warm and welcoming. Manager was fun, cool, laid-back. Some pleasant places to eat nearby.