Vila Dos Corais Reviews

Spent a great 2 weeks at this hotel. It is small which I liked well maintained and friendly. It was rated a 3 star but felt more of a four star. The rooms were a good size cleaned on a daily basis with fresh linen. There was a mini bar and room to put extra items in the fridge. They provided shampoo and conditioner also. The only thing not all the rooms had balconys. The pool was a nice size with jacuzzi. The breakfast was a great buffet, plenty of fresh food in the form of juices and fruits. Then there were hot and cold food choices which changed. They had some lovelly cakes too.
There was a small selection of books that people had left and also free internet use. The staff were friendly and helpful though there english is limited but they are learning and the guy on reception in the afternoon does have a good understanding.
So I would recommend this hotel even its location is good, 5 min walk into the main pedestrian street where the many restaurants and shops are. There is also a local launderette turn right out of the hotel and then left at the end of the road.

The resort is also recommended its a small fishing village which has been symphathetically improved for tourism. It has a main pedestrainesed main street where there is a variety of restaurants and shops. Restaurants I would recommend are Sabor da Villa, Taverna Paradiso, Terra Brasil,where I had tropical shrimp served in coconut beautiful. O Europeu, Made in Bahia, Bambu, Beach House, and for sandwich in the day time and coffee Tango Cafe, these are on the main street I would also say we never had a bad meal the whole time and there are resaurants on the beach and in the Tamar Project which had lovely views and served good food. We had fish which we watched been caught thats how fresh the food was. I would also say that a lot of the restaurants the meals were for two so just need to be aware, portions were large and prices cheap between £12 and £20 for two with drinks.
The beach is lovely and when the tide went out you were left with a beautiful reef with some colourful marine life, water was warm. Lot of people went snorkling and there was some surfing.

We did My Travel trips into Salvador the night one to see local bands playing in the old quarter with a lovely meal then the day time one which took you around the historic sights of Salvador and had a beautiful meal on the beach front and both were very good with knowledgeable guides.
We were advised not to use the local buses or rent a car by the rep. So most people used taxis to get around taking them to Salvador and local areas but they weren't cheap. We did meet a couple who had hired a car and had no trouble. We used a local tourist information centre at the top of the main street near the bus stop who offered a variety of trips, canoeing, horse riding, boat trips, quad biking. They did have some English speaking people and the Thomas cook guide told us they they were going to start using them for their trips and said there health and safety and insurances were good.

We also walked to the local rain forest Reserva Sapiranga, which took about 45 minutes go past the Eco resort complex across the airfield then when you get to the red road go straight across. If you turned left here you would get to the Castle which is also worth going to see, great views. You could also go by Tutu or taxi. In the rain forest we had a guide take us round explaining explaining about the wildlife and flora, didn't see much wild life because it was daytime but very interesting and for a small amount of reals.

I would also say we took some reals with us then withdrew more using our cards from the cash points which there were several of. Rate was good about 4 reals to the pound because it was based on the US dollar. The only thing is they do seem to run out of money at the weekends so be careful the ATM by the Youth Hostel did have money though but they charge a small fee to use.

Although officially only a 2* hotel, the small Vila dos Corais (50 rooms) is more like a 4* boutique hotel. Furnishings are of a rustic theme with much use of local materials (";driftwood"; used for door handles etc).
The variety of food available for the breakfast buffet was truly amazing, and was continually being checked and replaced by the waiters. As this part of Brazil is relatively new to foreign tourism the knowledge of English by the hotel staff was rather hit and miss - virtually none by the waiters, but this didn't seem to matter as you could usually make yourself understood quite easily with sign language and a smile.

The hotel is situated about 2 minutes away from the main street of the village where there is a good selection of restaurants and shops selling seemingly almost nothing but T-shirts and flip-flops.
Good restaurants include the Terra Brazil, O Europeu and The Beach House, the latter two being situated opposite each other on the busiest stretch of the street (which is pedestrianised), so you can sit at your table and watch the world go by.A local speciality is a moqueca -a coconut-based ";stew"; containing prawns, crab, fish or chicken; the best prawn moqueca can be found at the Terra Brazil.
The beaches are good and relatively quiet, although at high tide can virtually disappear. Parts of the beach are particularly popular with surf-boarders.

It would, however, be a pity to come all this way and not take advantage of some of the excursions available. Not to be missed is a trip to the local capital of Salvador with a walking tour of the historical old centre and visit to a market.