Pousada
Check out some Videos of Pousada Favelinha at YouTube
The pousada is open since December 31st, 2004, and is the first such project ever in a favela! If you would like to see how we built it, you can see it in the photo galleries!
We have five double rooms, a suite, and a dorm room which all have a bathroom and a large balcony with a wonderful view of Rio de Janeiro (see above!)
We also have a terrace with over 120 square meters to chill out, enjoy the views, drink a caipririnha and relax in a hammock!
But you may also chill, watch TV, chat with others, play games, drink beer, eat good Brazilian food or whatever else you like to do in our large living room…
The pousada is by far the largest building inside the Favela – and definitely the one with the best view.
Come, relax and join in the fun with us and other tourists from around the world!
Hope to see you soon! 😉
Seven spacious rooms are available – five double, one suite, and one dorm room.
All of them come with their private bathroom and a beautiful balcony,
A large tropical breakfast is already included in the price of the room!
The communal kitchen can be used to cook your own food, we also have fridges to store your belongings. There are several delicious and cheap restaurants inside the favela, as well as the possibility for a delivery service (pizzas and hamburgers).
Breakfast always includes fresh bread, tropical fruits, coffee and tea, a selection of jams and cheese and ham etc…
What else do we want to offer our guests?
- Guided Tours through the Favela
- Trips by car to Corcovado (see to the right 😉 )
- Trips to Sugar Loaf and through the City of Rio
- Boat Trips on Request
- Information on day trips or weekend trips from Rio
- Information on nightlife in Rio (we are very close to one of the hippest nightlife districts in Rio, “Lapa”
Prices/Rates
..our current prices are:
- Double Room: 250 R$/Reais (approx. 40€ /US$44)
- Dorm Bed: 100 R$ per person (approx. 16€ /US$18)
– including a large tropical breakfast!
Free WiFi in all areas!
All other information, photo-copies of city maps etc. are also free, of course!
…and if you would already like to get used to the Brazilian money, you can see a selection of the bills accepted at our pousada to the right 😉
P.S.: Like most or even all other hotels/hostels in Rio de Janeiro, we do charge a higher price for our rooms during the week of carnival and between Christmas and New Year´s ((R$ 500 for a double room). Thank you for your understanding.
Please click here for availability and to make a reservation! Thank you!
Why it is safe to spend the holidays in a favela…
Also check out CNN´s 2009 Blog and photos of Pousada Favelinha and the security situation!
Although our website has not been online for a long time, we have already received quite a few e-mails asking questions about the “security” at our place. In Europe and America it can often be read in the newspapers that Rio de Janeira and especialy the favelas there are “dangerous”. And it is true that you should rather not walk around many of Rio´s favelas if you are obviously a “gringo”.
Then why do we invest in such a project in a favela and why do we think that our guests will feel good in our hostel?
Because the “Favela Pereira da Silva” is not just any favela!!!
Of course this favela has also had its share of “bad days”. But fortunately, these days have gone since 1999.
Until the spring of 1999, the Pereira da Silva was just like any other favela in Rio. There was a “boca de fumo”, the drug dealer´s selling spot, and there were fights with the police nearly every day.
Life was pretty much like it was diplayed in the very authentic movie “Cidade de Deus – City of God”. If you talk to some of the older residents of the favela, you can still hear and learn a lot about the days before 1999…
BUT: In 1999 there was one big “blow” by the police who killed or caught all of the favela´s drug dealers (traficantes) in a single day. Afterwards, the police occupied the whole hill (“morro”). Until 2003 there was a regular police post at the foot and at the top of the favela with around 20 officers present all the time. Now there has been no police presence for over 20 years, but we have not had ANY dangerous incidents within the favela during that time. There remains a BOPE (a special forces police post) in walking distance of the favela.
We have had more than 4,000 people from Europe, America, Asia, and other parts of Latin America stay with us since we opened the pousada in January 2005. They have all confirmed to feel very safe indeed!!
But will it stay this way? Of course no one can guarantee that, but it would be quite stupid of us to invest so much into this project if we were not absolutely sure of it. Directly at the bottom of the favela, at the end of the dead end street, a French college has been operating for quite some while. Right next to it is another dead end street leading to a noble neighbourhood including a residence of the current governor of Rio de Janeiro “Rosinha”. And at the upper end of the favela the huge “Colegio Asuncao”, a religious college, is situated. The upper entrance of the favela is actually THROUGH this college.
All of this is probably also a good reason why the police has selected this place for one of their first big actions against drug dealers in Rio. It is very much in the interest of all the neighbors – and the residents of the favela themselves – that it will remain this way!
One advantage is that the Pereira da Silva is very small (only about 3000 to 5000 inhabitants, as compared to up to 120,000 in “Rocinha”, the biggest favela). There are only two entrances to the favela, one at the bottom and one at the top, which can be very easily controlled. Even the drug dealers of other surrounding favelas have expressed their interest that drug dealing will not return to THIS favela – because as the police would certainly march in again, this would also have an effect on the other favelas in the neighborhood. Therefor the “traficantes” themselves take care as well, that no crimes will take place in the Pereira da Silva. Any resident of the favela who threatens one of “our” tourists would have a problem not only with the police but also with the traficantes from the other favelas – which are certainly respected much more than the police 😉
The Favela Pereira da Silva has been in the news before with the project “TV Morrinho”, a social program which helps a large group of teenagers from the favela by teaching them to administrate and film a project of building a miniature favela inside the favela. See our links page for further details! Many tourist have come in the last years to visit this exhibition, which is only a two-minute walk away from our pousada.
The Favela Pereira da Silva can rightfully be called an example of how an “outlawed” favela community can be re-socialized very well and integrated into the society. It was also one of the first favelas to profit from the project “Favela Bairro” which took care of a better canalization, waste disposal, and integration into the neighboring communities…
Of course each person should decide for themselves if he or she would like to live in a favela. But this is the only way to experience the easy-going life style of over 20% of Rio´s population. And: There is no other place in Rio where you can live so central, yet with such a great view and without the noise of any cars or machines.
We are also convinced that it is probably safer to stay in this favela than to stay at any of the posh hotels at the Copacabana or at one of the backpacker hotels in Catete, which is only short walk from our favela…
P.S.: Of course we also have a big fence around our compound and windows and doors can be locked separately. We also have our staff on duty 24 hours, just in case you come home late at night and can´t find your keys :). So come enjoy your holidays: You can really feel safe here 😉
Some rules to make life easier for everybody…
- Check-In is at any time as long as a room is available, otherwise leave your luggage with us and the room will be available at 2 p.m.
- Check-Out is at 12 noon
- Breakfast is included in the room rate and is served from 8:30 to 11:00
- If you would like to have dinner at the pousada, please let us know before 12 noon. We sometimes offer home-made meals, otherwise you have free use of the kitchen for yourself.
- With regard to the other guests, please don´t make any loud noise after 12 midnight.
- If you would like to have a drink, help yourself with water and beer from the fridge. A big bottle of water is 7 R$, a can of beer is 6 R$. You may also ask us for a Caipirinha at 15 R$. Please mark your consumption with chalk on the board near the kitchen and pay any time or at the time of check-out.
- Small snacks are available from the little shop about 100m to the left when you get out of the hotel. It is open until approx midnight on weekdays and sometimes even longer on weekends.
- Please don´t leave the water running when you go out – we have only a limited supply of water.
- When you check out, please don´t forget to give back the room keys!
- If you would like to be picked up at the airport or be taken to the
airport when leaving, please let us know. Pick-up is 130 R$, when going to the airport the driver will charge according to the meter in the taxi (approx. 40 R$). - We are happy to offer you a range of tours to get to know Rio de Janeiro. Please let us know as early as possible if you are interested in one of the following tours.