Mango Tree Hostel Ipanema — Hotel in Região Geográfica Imediata do Rio de Janeiro

I've noticed the Hostel is focused on foreigners and not on persons, unfortunately. I was so impressed with the nice reviews I've read over the Internet, but that turns out the place is "warm and friendly" only to "gringos", cause I shall stay at the Hostel for two nights and the impression of the staff after just 24 hours wasn't good at all - I may leave tomorrow morning.

The girl called Amanda at the reception do a fair job, but a friendly smile wouldn't cause any harm to her pretty face. Being polite is different than being gentle with the guests and you won't get a gentle face with a spontaneous smile from no one at Hostel, unless you're a gringo. For my bad luck, I'm Brazilian haha That sounds like a joke, but that's my impression of the place.

To make things even worse, I've asked about the Internet to a guy at the reception (he has black long hair and he's beard) and he answered without even looking at me. He literally ignored me by answering with monosyllabic answers. It's rare occasions I feel embarrassed with something and I felt like that this morning when speaking to him. His behaviour towards me it's not (or shouldn't be) a behaviour from a person who welcomes people and suppose to be the first impression of the whole property.

However, another staff, a Brazilian guy with earnings who seem to be the security was very friendly and gentle - at least! There's also a very funny and chatter guy who's always smiling and making jokes! He's the only one here with natural and spontaneous behaviour, I must say...

To the property, they have a very nice building to relax around the common area, but if you want to stay in your room you won't be able to use Internet, as the wifi doesn't reach the rooms. Well, at least it didn't reach mine!

If you decide to use your 3G in the room, make sure your phone is fully charged as there's no plug close to the beds to charge it, so you have no option, but stay at the common areas, which I particularly try to avoid when I'm in Hostels, as I like to be by myself...

The kitchen closes at 10pm, so if you need water after that time you're in trouble, as there's no other option! The staff wouldn't aware me about that, so late at night I had to drink the sink's water to have my daily medicines. Awaful!

Great point for the place is that it's close to the beach, clean, quiet, organised and with good prices. The issue here is the staff that could be what they say that they are: friendly!

Another great point is the breakfast! Variety of fruits, breads, cheese, etc. Make sure you're not vegetarian, celiac and cow food allergic (like me) to enjoy all the variety!

The place seems to be too much "professional" which lead us to a dreadful customer service, as if you're too much professional you tend to be "dry". And to be "dry" when working in a Hostel is indeed ironic... My big confusion is that the "dry" part was only towards me, for I saw the beard long hair guy loudly laughing with other gringos a few minutes later being dry at me... Anyway...

To make the dreadful service from the beard guy with long hair even worse, I pressed the buzzer to get in and after I entered he asked me if I had a reservation... I made my reservation in person and he was there! Ok, right, he forgot, but what was the need to ask so unpolitely for the bracelet that any guests may wear???!

Well, the place is great and you may enjoy your stay here, but certainly if you're a Brazilian like me, you may miss the "friendly" Carioca...

Mango Tree was recommended to me by someone, and the reviews looked good. I’m a frequent traveler but it was my first hostel experience as I normally go to hotels or motels. So I thought, let’s give this a try!

As I mentioned, I travel a lot and have stayed in all sorts of places from America, Europe, Asia, South Asia, so my standards are not high and frankly don’t expect too much. But my experience here, was not great.

When I arrived, I spoke to a receptionist who had a lot of attitude from the get-go and did not speak any English. Which I was surprised given, it is a hostel that hosts travellers from all over the world! I understand I am in a foreign country and should not rely on others to know the language I speak. However, English being a universal language, you would think the people working in the hospitality industry would know a bit of English to communicate. Thankfully, I knew a little Portuguese and Spanish to be able to understand him. His attitude though, was very unwelcoming and unprofessional.

He showed me to my room, earlier than check in time, and for that, I was super grateful and probably the only good thing that came from this experience here. He did not show me around like the other receptionists did with guests, so I had no idea where anything was or what to do.

When I got to my room, I did not expect anything fancy whatsoever, but at the very least, I expected to have some soap in the bathroom to wash my hands. Not to mention, the towels were stained and everything smelled like mold. But again, I didn’t expect greatness from a hostel.

I did, however, mention about the soap to a receptionist, and they told me to walk to the drugstore to get some. I know for a fact soap is not a luxury, in even a 1 star hotel, and should be available to all guests. It’s an inconvenience for people just coming through for a couple days, having to go and buy a whole bar or bottle of hand soap for a few days and especially for hygienic purposes, every room should have that.

For the duration of my stay, none of the receptionists were warm or welcoming and the whole place seemed cold and empty. I tried to get a drink from the bar area but no one was around. The hostel itself was really quite pretty with all the greenery around and had a nice lounge/bar area that seemed promising. Maybe I always came around a quiet time in the hostel, but the whole vibe of the place seemed awkward and uncomfortable.

For the price I paid per night, it was definitely not worth it.

I hope my review will help Mango Tree staff to better their workplace environment and to improve...

I had a wonderful experience at the Mango Tree from Feb 11th - Feb 18th for Rio Carnival 2015. I had never been travelling alone and had not stayed in a hostel before so this was a new experience for me. I was recommended Mango Tree by a friend who had stayed there before and told me the workers are friendly and take people out to the blocos during carnival.

From the moment I arrived Katheryn was very friendly and showed me around the hostel. She made me feel very welcome and even informed me of a trip to the Maracana that night to watch Flamengo play.

The first two days were quiet as people arrived but by day 3 the hostel was full with guests and the atmosphere really started to develop. There was a real family atmosphere at the hostel. Everyone I met there was likeminded and wanted to have a great time in Rio whilst getting to know people.

It is a very sociable hostel and pretty much every night as spent drinking together at the bar in a group of 30+. I made lots of friends there and from day 3 I was going out in groups of 8+ with people I'd never met before. On the final day there was a group of around 20 of us all out together. Maybe I got lucky but from what I can see Mango Tree really tries to create a family atmosphere where everyone feels welcome and made to be part of the group.

In terms of my room the people I shared with were all very respectful and didn't make noise when coming in at night which was great. I felt as if I could leave items out without having to worry about them being stolen. The hostel is very clean and tidy and rooms are cleaned daily.

If you had asked me 12 months ago if I would of stayed in a hostel I would of probably of said no. I would go as far as to say that if I went back with my friends next year I would stay in Mango Tree as the atmosphere there is brilliant and creates a great carnival experience.

They had a BBQ on one of the nights which was great as you got to know more people and they even put on Brazilian dancing which the guests are invited to get involved in.

The location is brilliant as well, one block away from Ipanema beach which I can say is nicer Copacabana. I wouldn't of thought to stay in Ipanema if it wasn't for my friend but I would say its a nicer beach.

You have the high street right behind with all the shops you need, a HSBC. It really is a great location.

I would certainly recommended staying at...