Pousada Denada — Hotel in Região Geográfica Imediata de Ilhéus – Itabuna

I cannot say that I like this posada, yes, there are some very nice features, the whole setting of the ‎cute bungalows just few meters from the beach, looks really awesome, but, it gets lost on the small ‎details which make all the difference, Luca the owner is indeed very nice, chilled out and cool, but ‎personal charm, even in bucket loads, does not make my stay in the room more comfortable.‎||||The room is tiny, besides sleeping in the bed, you can do absolutely nothing, on a rainy day, which ‎occurs here pretty often in these months, you simply have nowhere to move, nada. There is a literally ‎a Park Bench in the room, which is huge, and is much less useful, than let’s say a simple table and 2 ‎chairs, that is very much lacking. There is simply nowhere to sit down near a table, see pic attached of ‎my makeshift table, out of the outdoor low table and my suitcase acting as the top, which is a bit ‎ridiculous, but there was no other choice.‎||||Also, there is no sense of privacy at all, the window has some shutter, which you can see out and you ‎never feel comfortable that in the evening people can’t see in, the curtains are not all blackout, (see ‎pics) so you wake up in the morning or with the noise of the boats honking on the bay, which seems to ‎be a daily ritual or the sun rays shining right into your face. To get some sense of privacy, you have to ‎close everything, which is a pain and makes the already pretty dark room, even darker, simple net ‎curtains would let the light in without having to close everything and keep the mosquitos out too.‎||||There is only an electric shower, water is hot, but you get very little water out of it, a bit like Moses ‎trying to get water out a stone, surely not sufficient in any shape way or form, weak pressure, takes ‎double the amount of time to shower, a really lousy shower experience. Like many other things in this ‎Posada, you get very little to nothing, a bit like the name, “de nada” tiny room, little water in the ‎shower, tiny mini bar, the smallest I have ever seen, you can fit in few drinks, but that’s it, no phone in ‎the room at all, no safe, no table and chairs, no real cupboard, just shelves.‎||||There are also very economical with the basic services provided, like towel changes, not to mention ‎bedding changes, that does not come into question at all, but even towels are not changed daily. I was ‎given a dirty look by the “Donna” Valentina, who was really unhappy (and generally permanently ‎grumpy) to change my towels and made it totally clear, “HERE”, we do not change towels daily, only ‎when towels are dirty. However, at a price that is two and half times the other posadas along the same ‎strip, you would expect at least a towel change, not a frowned look and shrugged shoulders.‎||||The sheets and covers are the worst you will ever get, they are so cheap, they actually have an in built ‎function of disturbing you from sleeping, the bed is fine, however between the horrible sheets and ‎the two covers and the mozzy net on top, you don’t get a good night’s sleep.‎||The bungalow is not user friendly in any weather, if it rains, you have worms raining in too, we had one ‎creeping in from the wall and another dropped from the wooden ceiling just near the toilet seat, ‎lovely. At all times, you have to deal with the mosquito infestation, being near the pool, you would ‎expect more mosquitos, however, if they would just have had simple nets on the windows, like the ‎much better posada, I moved to, there would be no need of mozzy nets, which helps just a little and ‎the need of using endless amounts of repellent and the need to spray the room countless amounts of ‎times would become redundant.‎||||Neither was the dustbin in the room emptied every day or the tiny mini bar filled even once, when I ‎needed more water, I had to request and pickup more water from the kitchen.‎||||On top of it all there is a credit card machine, but it seems permanently “currently broken”, well since ‎the internet works fine, there should be no connection problems, so, it’s not clear what is broken, ‎might be it is, however it feels like just another service chipped off from the customer. You can only ‎pay by cash, at such a high price, in an area where there are no cash machines and you can only get ‎cash in Camamu, it becomes a big problem. Each way to and from Camamu is a one and a half hour ‎boat ride, so, you need to bring lots of cash to a place that has no safe. The doors are held together by ‎a pin and my sliding doors had an odd habit of a, not closing easily, b, it slides upwards to the sky too, ‎which means you might as well leave the door wide open.‎||||When I pressed a little, that I don’t really want to waste a whole day, by going to Camamu to get some ‎cash to pay the hotel, since with the time going there and the time differences of boats coming back, it ‎would practically mean a whole day wasted on taking out some cash. Valentino got really angry and ‎started huffing and puffing and swearing in all kinds of languages and then finally said angrily that I can ‎pay them with a credit card via the local supermarket. So, I paid for the hotel charges at the ‎supermarket and I also took out some cash for myself, now here is the interesting bit, then Valentina ‎charges another 8% for paying by card. Please note, the supermarket did not charge that money and ‎Valentina pocketed that money, cash in her pocket, so, on top of getting bad service, with a posada ‎that accepts cash only, they make another 8% on top of that too, nice.‎||||The Good;‎||It’s a clean, tidy and well looked after Posada. Valentino prepares a great Breakfast, nice breads and ‎cakes, fried eggs and juices. The location is awesome, just five yards from the sea, the setting is ‎stunning, small pool in the center. Air con is fine, cupboard space is ample and the Internet is ok.‎||||Generally, it’s a nice place, but if only they would take care of the small details, they would really ‎deserve to have a high rating. For the money you pay, you are much better off adding on just a little ‎and stay in the much nicer area of Taipus de Fora, the beach, considered as the second best beach in ‎the whole of Brazil, with stunning natural pools and out of this world scenery and facilities are much ‎more modern all around and all in a much classier experience. There is no valid reason to stay In Barra ‎Grande when Paradise=Taipus de Fora is simply 7 km’s away.‎||||I ran away from Denada to posada Taipus de Fora, paid there an additional 90 reals for the best room ‎and got a different world, totally different experience, huge grounds, huge communal space, massive ‎manicured gardens, river and sea views, top room, top service, top food, bang on the second best ‎beach in Brazil. So, if you consider staying in this area, you are much better off getting even a simple ‎room in Taipus de Fora rather than any room in Posada Denada. Thank you, for...

The posada is in a wonderful location right on the beach. I arrived after a long journey and I was received with a very warm welcome and it was suggested to me that before that before I did anything else I should have a tip in the sea and have a drink (the dip was wonderful) rather than do anything as tiring as checking in.

My little hut has in everything that i could possibly require and love the hammock on the porch which has had plenty of use, and the view my porch is awesome and if I want to head the beach for a swim it is only at most 30 steps away.

All I can say I think this place is magical, I feel at totally at peace here.

Oh and I nearly forgot the food is fantastic, the soft shell crab is to die for and I personally can not get enough of it.

I hope I am lucky enough to return here in the...

We stayed 5 nights at Posada Denada during the low season off 2012 (august). Luca and his staff speak very little english but they are very hospitable and we managed quite fine. The restaurent offer a basic set of italian and brasilian dishes all of which tasted great.||The location right next to the beach is perfect although the water is not that clear. The bungalows are also very nice. Our only problem was the millions of moskitoes that appeared every night, but that is hardly the fault of the posada. Overall the stay was a very positive experience.||||Barra Grande is VERY quiet and relaxed during the low season but judget by the number of posadas it probably get very buzy during the...