I just stayed in the Pestana Convento de Carmo for the last four days with my family. It was an excellent experience. Not only is the hotel located in a great part of the city (the historic center), but it is also a beautiful building. The center of activity in the hotel is the circular pool/fountain in the courtyard. While you are not out exploring the city, you can spend time relaxing on the chairs around the pool, enjoying drinks from the bar. A few things to note:

1. Yes, (as seen in other reviews) some leaves and fruits were falling from the trees around the pool, but there was an attentive pool person to remove them from the pool and walkway. Not a big deal at all. And, I think it makes it a bit exciting to know that at any moment, something can fall on you.

2. The rooms are very cool. We stayed on the 3rd floor and our windows looked out on the courtyard. You have to keep in mind that you're staying in a historic convent so, know that the lighting isn't super bright and you may have to fiddle with the door key. However, the rooms are well kept, nicely furnished, and unique.

3. The concierge spoke good English which helped with planning our adventures around Salvador. The serving staff knows minimal English, but this is how most of Brazil is anyway- so good opportunity to practice your Portuguese.

4. For coffee lovers: I did not have a chance to try the drip coffee or cappuccino but, they do have great espresso. They even have an intense Nespresso machine with an extensive selection of choices- so you can be sure to get your fix.

5. The hotel's location is an easy walk to anywhere in the historic district. Cabs are always available. The neighbor is vibrant and gives you a sense of the surroundings. We also took a taxi to a couple restaurants in the outskirts of town, to the wharfs, and to some markets. It was easy fto return to the hotel as the Convento do Carmo is a well known landmark.

The hotel is an old Convent. There is a central courtyard with a round swimming pool, sunbeds and palms. I found the music played in the background somewhat irritating. The bedrooms (en suite) have been created from the old nun's cells and are simply but adequately furnished. I found our bathroom a little cramped. Some of the rooms can look a little on the dark side as they have smallish windows - this is particularly true of the rooms on the 3rd floor as the windows are smaller than those on the 2nd floor.

I found service to be slow and we had to ask three times for our television remote to be replaced as it didn't work. Dinner and breakfast can either be taken under the cloisters around the pool or inside, in the dining room. The staff speak almost no English (except on reception) but are pleasant and willing to try to please. The bedrooms lie on the two upper floors where you will find long corridors with high ceilings. I found that the hotel looked a little jaded during the day but it looked more inviting at night with soft lighting.

Breakfast was adquate with plenty of fruit, bread rolls etc. but I hate buffet scrambled eggs and bacon - better freshly cooked! Coffee was absolutely grim!

The town itself is stunning. It is Portuguese in style and has the atmosphere of a village with old cobbled streets which would not be suited to anyone with a walking disability. The streets are also very steep in some places. There are wonderful and dramatic churches to see and the houses are tall, narrow and very individual in style. They are painted in pastel colours which really brings out some of their special features. We sat in a street bar on our first evening and very much enjoyed the traditional Brazilian drink 'caipirinha' which is made from crushed sugar cane rum, ice and limes. I had one made with lime and passionfruit and it was delicious. Whilst the main area of the town were safe in the evenings, a policewoman did indicate to us that there were some roads which we should avoid.

Overall, I would recommend this hotel but it does need sharpening up a little which make it into a truly first class hotel.

A converted convent that has been tasttefully restored, but needs some training and attention to detail. The first thing that gets your attention when you enter the hotel is the circular, green swimming pool that looks like it was a converted fountain. Shame that as it is surrounded by trees all the leaves drop into the pool and no one seems to clear them away so you will find yourself swimming with the foliage. There are lovely two person covered loungers by the pool, but the peace and quiet is spoilt by piped music which is unnecessary.

The rooms are pleasant, but the bathrooms are poorly designed and are cramped with poor lighting and no lighting in the shower. My wife's bedcover had stains on it and the room service was exremely slow.

The restaurant has a nice breakfast, but on no account order a cappucino. A brown glutinous liquid turns up that looks and tastes like poison and I thought that cappucino was nowadays universal. There is little English spoken by most of the staff, but they are pleasant and try to be helpful.

The historic centre of Salvador is delightfully pretty. We came near Christmas and there were lots of brass bands, ladies in colourful outfits and entertainment in the streets. We were warned about security, but must admit we saw and felt nothing threatening, but there were lots of police around at the time which may explain why we felt safe. The streets are quite steep and cobbled which are extremely uneven, so make sure you wear good shoes suitable for uneven ground.

We sat outside in a bar and drank the local rum cocktail called Caipirinha with lime and another with passion fruit, which my wife loved and spent a pleasant hour listening to a small band playing in the street.

Nice hotel, good position which training and a bit of attention to detail would make into a first class hotel.

This place is absolutely gorgeous. It's a 450 year old converted monastery that later became a convent, and then a hotel, now a part of the Small Leading Hotels of the World category. The service is impeccable; location is amazing in the heart of Pelurinho; and the rooms are just amazing.
We especially loved the restaurant service here. Elio, the host at the restaurant, went out of his way to make a special vegetarian dish for us----a traditional Bahian soup and root vegetable dish. When I merely mentioned that I loved the spicy peppers there, he then bought some from the marketplace and delivered it to our room! Where else would you find a host who actually buys you the peppers you loved so much at his restaurant?
We spent three nights here, and it was probably one of the top 3 hotels we've ever stayed in...simply amazing, full of history and charm.