Name: Pousada Casa dos Contos
Address: R. Santo Agostinho, 300 - São Francisco (Colônia do Marçal), São João Del Rei - MG, 36302-538, Brazil, Sao Joao del Rei, Sao Joao del Rei, Sao Joao del Rei, 36302-538, Brazil
Rating: 8

Location

Pousada Casa dos Contos

I had a great stay here over Easter weekend! Perfect location! Helpful staff (if you speak Portuguese... But I'm sure they'd find a way to help even if you didn't).  Comfortable bed. Balcony overlooking the city. Nothing fancy, but really a quiet, restful retreat that served as the perfect base for exploring the city!

Only stayed one night, as it was full for carnaval. Nice clean room.
Great view! Close to the center. But very steep streets.
Nice breakfast with plenty to choose from. Try the carrot cake!
The receptionist even spoke a bit of dutch.

This is not as much of a hike from the centre as I thought.  Views from your room are spectacular.  The bed linen and towels could be of better quality.  There is also no heating in the room and at night it can get chilly but there were blankets provided.  Excellent Wifi throughout. The big negative for us was absolutely no one at the hotel spoke any English which makes booking a cab to the bus terminal challenging thank goodness for Goggle.  Breakfast was a little disappointing little savoury and lots of cakes.

Pousada Casa dos Contos always delivers. I have been there a few times and the service is always consistent. The rooms are clean, breakfast is good, and the pousada is close to several attractions. There is a restaurant right next to it that is excellent, and we always have a nice lunch and go back to the pousada for a nap. :) I wish it had more options for breakfast and more amenities, but overall a solid choice and I will be back for sure.

Sao Joao del Rei

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

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

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

park access

Excellent view over Ouro Preto from your balcony 

Good option if you are in Ouro Preto for a few days

Perfect location!

Friendly hotel

You probably wouldn't be visiting Ouro Preto at all if you have any sort of mobility issues, as it's just not a town that's very accessible or user friendly to the less than fully able bodied. But if you are coming, the Casa Dos Contos is most definitely not right for you. It's such a dilapidated property that indeed it might not be even right for anyone.

Most of the reviews I found were fairly positive, yet despite generally being listed as a 3* property, I found out (after I'd made a non refundable booking) that in fact it's only 2.5*. And certainly it's a 2* experience. At 3* rates.

The hotel is just around the corner from the main plaza, so it's close to the centre, but it's perched about 100 metres down a sloping street that is very, very nearly vertical. There are steps, but even they are hard to navigate. It's best to take a taxi from the bus station to get here (at BR15.00), but when you're out and about exploring, you will have to negotiate this really quite scary stretch of street.

Once inside the ugly metal garage gates (you have to be buzzed in every time and the staff always seem irritated they have to do it) and once inside, you just get a sense of bland, colourless, run down space. The rooms are all on the 1st and 2nd floor and there's no elevator, so again, not ideal for anyone with stair issues. There are only about 10 rooms in total and they are all quite large, with double doors opening onto good views of the city. I was apparently "upgraded" to a room with a view, but they all have the same view, so this was just a nonsense. The room had a comfortable enough double bed, but there was also a crib in the room, taking up a lot of space. The linens were clean enough, as were the towels. At least when I arrived. Getting the maid to service the room was near enough impossible.

The bathroom is spacious, with a very large, walk in shower, with soap, shampoo & conditioner. Plus there's a hair dryer. The water pressure is good and there's plenty of hot water. 

However, in my three day stay, the room was only serviced once. On my first day, I asked four times for the maid and I was even told at 5PM that she was on her way. Needless to say, she never came, so the bin for the used toilet paper stayed there, as did the used towels. The night manager was at least a bit embarrassed and did find clean towels. 

The room is quiet enough, but there are dogs in the neighbourhood that barked regularly throughout the day and night, which was very annoying. The doors opening onto the view have wooden shutters, but no glass, so if you open them, every bug in the area is essentially invited inside. There's an empty fridge and oddly, an ironing board, but no iron. 

The WIFI is a joke. It never works. If it does come on, it's only for a few minutes. It's the same wherever you are in the property. Eventually, they suggested a local cafe and sure enough, the cafe had no WIFI issues, so it's the property, not the area.

The breakfast however is very impressive. A LOT of hot items, including eggs, sausage and a full range of savoury pastries, breads, cheese, ham, as well as fresh fruit, cereals, yogurt, jello, tea, coffee, chocolate, fresh juices and a plethora of cakes and pastries. This is probably were the extra half star comes from as it's astonishingly good. The dining room however isn't pleasant, with dirty linens, very old, heavy metal chairs and they don't clean the tables at all after each guest. 

The staff are very unfriendly. It would clearly kill them to crack a smile. The two girls who handle the day shifts just spend the entire day listening to loud music and watching videos. Clearly no WIFI issues for them. They really couldn't care less and seem annoyed when you ask them for anything. There's hardly any English at all spoken by any of the staff. 

All in all, you get a 2.5* experience for sure. But you expect more for 3 star rates. The location is everything here, but there are nicer looking, real 3* properties just as close to the sights that I'd check out first.

Pousada Casa dos Contos

Available rooms

Location

Description of the hotel

Conditions of accommodation

Conditions of accommodation

Additional information

Payment

Payment

For corporate clients