The standard of pousada in Rua Antonio Do Carmo, just off the Pelourinho, is very high. Next to Villa Bela there are other structures all with amazing sea view, some also with restaurants. Vila Bella makes the difference because of Stephane, who has a European heart and knows how hospitality works (most of Brazilians don't). His wife is also a very lovely host. We got the room called Barroco, nice, overlooking the Rua inside, so not with sea view, still great because of how dynamic the street was, you could stay there all evening and just watch what was going on. There is a wonderful sea view from the dining room, which also includes a terrace. I would recommend you only get the rooms with view on the street or with sea view, the ones in the middle are very claustrophobic. Also take advantage of their transfer offer, it is 90 brazilian Reais so on average cheaper than taxi agencies that offer the service from airport to the centre.

What a lovely place this is. It's on the outskirts of the Pelourinho so not too noisy, but still safe. The rooms are beautiful and have a lovely view. The owners are really friendly and ensure that your stay is enjoyable. My 2 little gripes are firstly we had to pay cash as they don't accept credit/debit cards. We knew they didn't, but thought we'd already paid when we booked. It turns out that they took our card details for security so they had to drive us to a cash point to get the money for them. The other slight niggle is that in our room there was no air con, just a ceiling fan. It was 40 degrees so air con would have been really appreciated. Otherwise, a lovely little place.

Stephane and Gerusa were communicative when I was trying to book the pousada, they were very prompt and even held my reservation without an advance. Their driver met us at the airport even though our flight was delayed by over an hour. When we arrived at the pousada Stephane spent a lot of time acquainting us with the Pelourinho, and also walked us through the house and shared some stories, we really enjoyed meeting him.
The view from our room was breathtaking! We stayed in two different rooms at this pousada and both were unique and decorated beautifully. We met Gerussa the following morning, she was just as friendly and helpful as Stephane and arranged out transportation to go to Morro as the catamarans were not running. She also gave us her number and asked us to call her in case of any problems.
The breakfast was amazing, like most breakfast we had in Brazil. Lots of fresh fruit and breads.

All in all, our stay at the pousada was our best in Brazil and I would definitely recommend staying at Casa Vila Bela.

We were met at the airport even though our flight was an hour late. There was someone waiting to greet us and help us check in at 9:30p. The next morning we were greeted by Gerusa and served a tasty breakfast. After breakfast she helped us plan our day, helped with reservations to the Bale Folclorico and provided directions and guidance on what to avoid as we walked around the Pelourinho. Our room was clean and well appointed as was the whole Pousada. Later that day we met Stephane who helped us decide to try acaraje. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay.