Name: Pousada Alto Astral
Address: 305 Rua 13 de Maio, Olinda, Olinda, Olinda, 53020-170, Brazil
Rating: 7

Air conditioning

24-hour reception

Garden

Terrace

General

Family room

Rooms

Laundry

Safe-deposit box

Luggage storage

Services and amenities

Internet access

Internet

Airport transportation

Car rental

Transfer services

Transfer

Library

Sun Deck

Recreation

No parking

Parking

Swimming pool

Outdoor pool

Beach facilities

Pool and beach

Playroom

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Location

At the hotel

Milagres Beach

Chifre Beach

Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport

Pousada Alto Astral

Olinda

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

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limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

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not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

park access

We stayed in this Pousada for 10 days last December. Originally we made a reservation for Pousada Praia dos Milagres, but we didn't like the location of that one and Patricia (the owner of both Pousadas) suggested that we move to Alto Astral, which is just in the center of Olinda. 
We choose one of the rooms on the top floor. The room is wonderful, it has one private balcony, from where one can see part of Olinda and Recife. This balcony also has a disco ball light in case you want to have a party there :-).
The Pousada is just about 50 meters to the famous quatro cantos, where the carnival parties always meet. From here everything in historic Olinda is at walking distance,  
We often made the severe uphill walk on Rua da Mericórdia. On the top there are many shops, churches, an outside market. and great veiws of Olinda and Recife.
Olinda doesn't have great beaches, so we rent a car (Patricia called a person and after a few minutes he was on the pousada to give us the car) and drove to Itamaracá  island and the very nice Coroa do Avião, to Igarassu, to Recife and Boa Viagem beach, to Porto de Galinhas and to Praia dos Carneiros. 
We walked a lot alone around Olinda and felt very safe. On the Pousada we met several persons (which are now our friends), from Santos, Mineiros, Santa Catarina and from California. and spent the New Year's Eve with them. 
The Pousada has a pool, and many places to relax. There are a few (giant) trees (the mango are lovely).. The breakfast had lots of things, but unfortunately we missed it a few times because we wanted to leave early to avoid the traffic jams and they started the breakfast a bit late for us. There are Saguis on the trees and sometimes they come close to you, when you are having breakfast or in the pool. All the employees were always very helpful and nice.

Beautiful place

Olinda is one of Brazil's historical tourist spots, visited my many. This Pousada is clearly one of the best, if not the best location in town. It is well positioned at the key crossroads for street activity and entertainment and a short, but sometimes severe uphill walk to see the main square, churches and monasteries with the spectacular view of Recife across the bay.

The rooms vary, this room was with a balcony overlooking the pool deck area with a view of the city and across to Recife. It was comfortable but slightly cramped as this is a historical building with small rooms, but nothing to complain about. Olinda is tropical, take a good mosquito spray, especially with dengue prevalent.

The extensive breakfast was good, sometimes with a slight shortage of eggs, but good value. It would have been nice to have coffee available all day though. The wifi is excellent and rarely dropped out, which can often happen in Brazilian resorts. The staff helpful and friendly and the pick-up driver was punctual, friendly and helpful in every way.

One drawback, Olinda is expensive in relative terms, even though the Reais has dropped against many currencies, prices were on par or above a typical European Guest House.

Most of the restaurants in town were also expensive, most adding 10% service. The best bar is the famous Bodega on the same street as this Pousada and 5 minutes walk away. Happy hour is fun, beers, wine, Cachaça and the speciality cheese plate all in.

A week is too long in Olinda and 2 nights probably too short, 3/4 nights maximum because there is little else to do, once you have seen the sights and this is not a beach resort.

Overall, for those visiting, this location is the ideal stopover place, you'll find it hard to better for service, location, cleanliness. But, don't expect a cheap vacation anywhere in Brazil, especially if your are from North America or Europe and want to eat well or go shopping. Some prices for goods, especially electrical goods, are absurd, compared to other countries.

An insight into historical Olinda

We arrived there following the recommendation of a tour guide from the city. We were surprised by such a lovely, well-decorated and comfortable place with affordable price. We stayed in a top-floor suite with a great view to the pool area and the garden. The room is big, with a comfortable bed, but it could be better well-lit and the shower is so low that I had to shower kind of squatting. The service is great and breakfast is well served and varied. I couldn't recommend it highly enough! It's definitely a place to stay and experience Olinda at its best!

Very cozy and charming place

This colorful pousada is located in the center of olinda, carnival theme is predominant and the atmosphere looks very typical. The room, although small, was comfortable e the wifi working well; but we noticed not all the bedrooms had windows facing outside. Breakfast should be improved: mainly fried and heavy food and the choice quite limited. Nobody at the reception could speak english. Before going to bed we spotted a huge cockroach in the room which fortunately promptly disappeared behind a painting and never showed up again, but this obviously didn't help our sleeping. Overall good value for money.

Fair compromise!

I arrived here with no high expectations and got exactly what I was hoping to. Rooms are ok, small bathroom, narrow corridors. Staff is friendly and helpful. Wifi doesn't work at all. I stayed in a first floor room and just couldn't sleep because of the noise from the street and from downstairs - clients are sometimes not friendly and do not respect shared spaces. Breakfast has the essential for this type of accommodation but you must hurry if you want to eat otherwise there won't be much left for you.
They have airport transfer service for 70 reals. It is reliable and worthy.

Pousada Alto Astral

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