I've written a fair amount of reviews for this site, and so far only been positive about the places we've stayed. Now I understand that the people who write negative reviews aren't just being picky or unlucky - there are bad hotels out there, and this is one of them.

We are 30-year-old career break backpackers, and we're trying to do it properly, saving money by staying in much cheaper hostels and pousadas (Brazilian B&B's). We stayed in one in Rio which was very simple, but clean and secure. In comparison this pousada in Salvador was not nearly as good.

Lets start with the positives; it's right next to the sea, the bed was clean, there was a fridge and TV in the room, the shower was warm, and there's internet downstairs.

Negatives: the bathroom was utterly revolting - we had to keep the door closed at all times because it smelt so bad, the pousada is on a very, very busy road, the air con is incredibly noisy.

We also had a problem with the receptionist/manager. As a girl I found him very sleazy - fine if you're travelling with your boyfriend, but we spoke to another of the guests, and she said he'd rung her at 11.30 at night to find out whether she "was okay". Needless to say, she felt very nervous about this. He said he was "jealous" about her going for dinner with another man. She had to change hotels.

And then we returned from a day trip that we'd booked through him (which was fabulous) and discovered that our mobile phone had been stolen from our room. We can claim on our insurance, but the situation was handled very badly by the guy downstairs. The tourist police in Salvador are fantastic though, and have great English!