Passal Hostel — Hotel in Ponta Delgada

I came here with a friend in September 2023, and we had a mixed review of this place. The place itself is very clean, safe and comfortable. However, we had a negative experience with the owner Paulo due to miscommunication. Before my flight, I messaged him our arrival time (to the hostel) and messaged him again when we landed. He responded in an angry manner because he was not at the hostel to check us in since he thought the arrival time I gave him was my flight arrival (although I never stated that). He was able to check us in, but it took some time for him to travel to the hostel. This was a negative start to our hostel stay.

Throughout the stay, we found that the staff was only available for a small time window during the day so if you plan to be out all day, keep this in mind. We were not able to get our towels after spending a day out on the island, and had to text Paulo to come back to the hostel to bring them. We had to wait for some time since he lives far away. Additionally, we were told to switch rooms in the middle of our stay (which was also inconvenient), and they told us they would transfer our luggage for us. After they switched our rooms, we came back to the hostel and my luggage was missing. I had to wait an hour for Paulo to come back to the hostel and find it which delayed our plans and caused us to miss the sunset that day. We were only in Sao Miguel for two days so it was upsetting we had to spend our time like this.

Lastly, when we got back from our trip, we found we were overcharged for our stay by 40 euros. I messaged Paulo about this but he stopped responding and this issue was...

The worst hostel experience I ever had. Basically a scam, don't come here. The way the room was described is just not true, private family deluxe room in a 200$, but it didn't mentioned shared bathroom (!!), or 2 single bed connected together, which is not very fair compared to the price. The host, Paulo, will charge you for whatever he can, will give you "pre check in" which is to let you leave the bags for 5 euro, which is ridiculous, the first time I see something like that. Give you towels only for rent and more.. We paid for the "pre check-in", but then our bags were locked in the hostel, without any way to access them (we had medication and phone charger that we needed) the whole staff were at a lunch break (no one was there to open the hostel for us!) so we couldn't get our bags for almost 3 hours, even after we contact Paulo, he just reply again and again that check in is only at 3pm and until then no one will open the hostel for us, which is rediculos and just so disrespectful, specially after this high price!! We wanted to just relax in the shared zone (living room), Because it was before check in so the room wasn't available, but he didn't let us stay because they were cleaning, told us to leave the hostel and to come back later, but when we came back after 2 hours, the hostel was locked without any access. So Paulo won't let you stay in the hostel not a second before 3pm. In general Paulo was extremely rude, felt like he's not trying to help/ or to host us from his heart, only wanted our money. Will never...

It's the best of the best! And I'm not joking! I seriously highly recommend you to stay there whenever you come to Ponta Delgada! There's so much to say but the core that definitely made most out of my stay was the hostel owner Paulo by himself! He is so so caring and kind, he definitely helps you with every situation! No matter if you need a spontaneous booking extension, camping equipment, flight schedule-management-assistance or any recommendations for the local area. To Paulo matters a lot if you feel comfortable and that you can make out most of your stay and he just puts in all his heart to make you having an amazing experience. Thanks to him Passal Hostel is not only an accommodation but it's such a personal lovely place where you'll make friends immediately. The whole crew is just very open and nice! The hostel in general is quiet modern, I personally also love when the (very comfortable) bunk beds have curtains so you can even have personal space in a dorm. Sleeping rooms, bath rooms and breakfast room come all in a modern style and are very clean. You can easily reach the farmer's market and the beautiful town center Plaza in walking distance. Even the airport is in a 45-minute walking distance ;-)

THANK YOU! I MISS THIS...