I do find there to be anything appealing about this place. I am not a picky traveller and have stayed in my fair share of hostels but for the price of this place, it is not worth it. I stayed in an 8 person all girls dorm with air conditioning. Not only was the dorm incredibly cramped (with hardly any room for backpacks), it also had storage drawers which woke the entire room up whenever someone tried to get something inside. I paid extra for air conditioning since it was very humid that week and woke up both nights with it shut off and unable to be turned back on.
The breakfast was decent, but it was never restocked and had fruit flies everywhere.
Overall, I would recommend finding another hostel. The only good thing about this place is its location.

Good place to stay when you are on a budget. Polite people, good hostel environment. Just beware of the steps to get the desk. Free internet, wireless. Do not expect too much. Very close to old area of RJ. Far from the beaches. Be ready to catch buses or taxi. Enjoy!!

If you aren't fussy and want to get a little taste of how some Brazilians live then I recommend staying here.

Location: Santa Teresa - the hotel is located up a hill about a 15 minute walk from the busy part of the city. Great if you want to be away from all the traffic, because the place is on the hill it has a great view of the city and not too many cars passing through the road its on. Its about a 25 minute bus ride to Ipanema Beach. Santa Teresa is considered the bohemian part of Rio with a lot of students, artists and musicians living here. A lot of old beautiful architecture, unfortunately some of the beautiful buildings have been vandalized. It is literally a 5 minute walk to Lapa, some amazing sights and sounds. Lapa is one of the popular places for amazing night life in Rio. Famous with the locals as well as some of the more versed travellers. About a 15 minute walk to the huge market (approximately a couple city blocks big), selling everything from cell phone gadgets to hair extensions. Great place to get your souvenirs for cheap.

This hostel is recommended for the younger traveller. Most travellers here are single and under 40. The benefit here is you get to meet younger people from all over the world and some who have travelled all over the world and most are friendly and looking to chat if you are. Don't mistake yourself this is a hostel and does not claim to be anything more, so if you're looking for the Hilton or a Marriot go stay there. If you have any mobility issues I would not recommend staying here as getting from the main part of town to the hostel can be challenging on the cobblestone street that leads down to town. 

Amenities: wifi, pool, free continental breakfast, laundry (extra $$), lockers (extra $$), bar onsite. 

Staff: very helpful and extremely friendly. Most of the front desk staff speak multiple languages and are interested in hearing where you are from and your travels as well as sharing some of their own. 

Rooms: I stayed in a private room with a shared bathroom. I had a single bed that felt about as comfortable as a cot but after being out all day I had no problems falling a sleep on it. If you can I would suggest bringing your own pillow, the one in the room is about 2 inches thick. The room did have an air conditioner in it. I suggest looking for a room with a washroom as I had to go up a flight of stairs to get to the showers/washroom.

Nightlife in Lapa: in one word AMAZING!!! If I could relate it to something in North America I would relate it New Orleans but it really doesn't do it justice. Street parties or more like city parties, live samba bands in the bars and on the streets, street vendors selling alcohol and food. Parties all night long. Whether you stay here or not try to get to Lapa on a Friday or Saturday night so that you can experience the party.

We'd booked 3 nights in this hostel as it had a great review in the Footprint guide. However, the dorm room by reception is unbelievably cramped, with no space at all for your backpack, and lockers are outside the room. The door was also kept wide open at all times, and although security into the hostel itself is very good (buzzer and cctv) this doesn't stop any other person in the hostel wandering into your room and helping themselves, and so there was no privacy whatsoever. Breakfast was quite good, in a nice breakfast room with good views. You had to pay for using the internet. We possibly just had a one-off bad experience, but there was no running water, so all the toilets (which are outdoors) were blocked and really disgusting, and the showers didn't work. The staff had been too busy to show us around or tell us that there were actually some more toilets in another part of the hostel. They were also unhelpful when I asked about safety in the area and if there were any areas we should avoid. We decided to move out the next morning and whilst we didn't initially complain and just said we were moving to another area, the manager made a fuss because we'd booked for 3 nights, and was extremely rude to us when we eventually mentioned the problems with the bathrooms. Like I said I'm sure it was a one-off, but the lack of space and the bad attitude and rudeness of the management meant I was glad we found a far nicer place to stay up the road.