If you’re on your way to Rio de Janeiro and you’re keen on somewhere to rest your weary head, you’re going to the wrong city. But when the time does come to catch some shut eye, I recommend Mellow Yellow Backpackers in Copacabana.
Brazil was the second country I ever ventured to after Argentina. And I couldn’t have asked for a better hostel. Aside from offering you a bed in a dorm room starting at 34 reais nowadays, the staff were super friendly, spoke English and were more than happy to let us know the must-sees of Rio, not just the tourist spots, but the local havens.
If you didn’t ever want to find your own food, you could buy meals from them every night of the week. Each night a different meal would be served and we would take a walk up the stairs to Bamboo and get served yummy food when we weren’t broke. The BBQ’s on the balcony beside the jacuzzi were the best, where you can hang out with fellow backpackers who you have never met, but you share a dorm room with. I’m sure these will always include Aussies, Brits with a few Germans and French thrown in for good measure.
The staff really go out of their way to make your stay pleasant and never leave you clueless as how to get somewhere or when to go. The hostel offered various tours daily such as a surf tour, party in a Favela ( including security), tours to Maracana soccer stadium and also to Christo Redentor statue ( The Christ). This was extremely convenient as we didn’t need to wonder around Rio in search of transport, tours etc.
The drawers in our room had the names of Brazilian soccer stars such as Ronaldo and Ronaldino. It is within walking distance of Copacabana beach where you can have a drink at any time of the day at a ‘kiosko’ lining the beach, catch some sweet rays of sunshine alongside many scantily-clad males and females or join the locals playing soccer 24/7. Big, small, tall, short, fat, skinny all show up in the least amount of material possible and are more than happy with their bodies. Invites for nighttime beach parties come around to the hostel too, so you’ll stay in the loop and have many places to choose from to give your samba skills a go.
Visit Mellow Yellow: http://www.mellowyellow.com.br/