The hotel has a good location, just 2 minutes walk from the main street, a bit further from the beach. The breakfast was excellent, the pool area is nice and the whole hotel area was very clean. The rooms are ok, nothing extraordinary but spacious and clean. The bathrom is small but nice. It does not, however, have a window, only an opening with wooden bars which results in a hot and humid bathroom.

The main problem was the airconditioner. It was VERY noisy. We had to wear earplugs to sleep and it was not nice to stay in the room to relax because of the noise. We would also have preferred a table and chairs on the balcony instead of a hammock. It would have been nice to sit at the balcony and enjoy a refreshing drink at night.

Overall I would recommend the hotel if they replace the airconditioners.

We had a good experience upon check-in, good service, and there is an elevator if you don't want to take the stairs. The pool is very lovely, but the photo on their website gives an impression that the pool faces the beach, but it does not. Their "villa net" room has only one computer for accessing the internet. The location is good and in walking distance from everything, while still away from the noise of the busy roads.

While the overall experience was positive, one critical issue was that our air conditioner was noisy and kept my husband awake at night. I wore earplugs. the air conidtioner was it such a location above the door of the room that it is not in arms reach, and the controls are on the a/c unit. So you have to be very tall, or stand on something to change the setting. Sorry, but the air conditioner is an important feature of a hotel room, and I will not recommend this hotel for this reason.

Also, the staff were varied and didn't always speak English, or they spoke Portuguese too rapidly for us to catch what they were saying.

There is a nice family of a momma cat and her 5 kittens living at the hotel that gave an extra charm to staying there.

Lovely B&B/hotel with friendly staff and good food for the price. It's rated as a 2* on a lot of websites/brochures but really it's at least at 3*. The rooms are comfortable & well air conditioned. The pool is quite small, but nicely designed and fine for a quick dip & for relaxing in. A quick nod to the barman and he puts on the jacuzzi for you and if you're lucky, you might just catch a glimpse of a humming bird in the flowers right next to you - fantastic!

Praia do Forte itself is a rather quaint touristy resort, but not in a bad way. The good thing about it is that there are lots of Brazilians there too - either up for the weekend from Salvador or just generally chilling out. The hotel is a little off the beaten track (about 5-10 mins to the main strip & a bit further to the beach) - but that's fine. You get to walk through the backstreets and see the locals going about their business. It's all perfectly safe and welcoming - so makes for a very relaxing easy-going holiday with the only stress of deciding which restaurant you want to sample next - on the whole, they were all good (especially if you like steak!) but we reckon the best was "Bamboo" & highly recommend.

We were content to fill our two weeks just pottering around the town, beach & market stalls most days, but for the more active there are plenty of organised activities available. The receptionist at the hotel, Amir - has a lot of local knowledge and does guided tours around the nearby Sapiranga Forest, which was interesting. He's no longer working at the hotel but his contact details are: [--] (Amir Higashi) and worth contacting if you want a more personal tour of the forest or any advice about travelling further afield.

All in all, we had a thoroughly enjoyable, relaxing holiday and definitely recommend it for one to two week break. It's a good base for day-tripping into Salvador or heading into the mountains for a few days. The National Park, Chapada di Diamantina, is supposed to be incredible, and you can get an overnight bus from Salvador for at relatively little cost.

What a holiday we have had! All I can do is repeat the comments given above - I will try to add some more......

The hotel is small and centrally located. Although given three stars I would say that it is worth much more. I would describe it as a boutique hotel. It has none of the facilities of a large all inclusive hotel - but if all you want to do is relax by the pool and eat in lovely restauraunts every night it fits the bill. The rooms are excellent and impecably clean. The staff themselves are all smiles (especially Isael) and extremely helpful - yes, some speak very little english, but we got by fine.

The village is great. Many, many places to eat -our favourites being Bambu, Beach House and O Europeu. All the restauraunts look quite expensive but there not - often a price on the menu will be for two people. There are many shops selling really nice clothes, jewellry etc. Not your usual tacky holiday gift shops.

The village comes alive at the weekends with locals spending their time there. We spent a Saturday night at a bar called Da Souza - you have to pay about £1 to get in but it is certainly an experience watching the locals dancing samba and enjoying themselves! We got up and had a dance ourselves - what a great night.

Finally I would recommend a trip that goes to Salvador on a Tuesday night. We enjoyed it so much we went twice! You walk the streets in Pelhourinho visiting various live stages with bands playing music- also you get to see the famous drummers who perform on carnival nights. Fantastic!

All in all it was excellent. I would recommend Brazil to anyone. Others who had been to the nearby all inclusives said they were a bit 'out of it' and would have enjoyed it much more if they had stayed in the village on a B & B like us. Our Aitrours rep commented that Brazil was not getting the kind of take up they would have liked and that they may stop offering it as a destination soon. Please don't let that happen - it would be a real shame.