Meza
116m
Slowly exerting their ever-growing influence (and love of the letter 'z') over the southernmost corner of Botafogo, the team behind Meza and doiZ come correct with their first hostel, Oztel. Opened in early 2012, it is laid-back and cool but buzzing with occasional art shows, cocktail classes and pop-up events, and there is a rich seam of tips and suggestions for more unusual sojourns around the city to call upon, from Viaduto Madureira's huge outdoor club night to the infamous Vila Mimosa.
The rooms are split between dorms and suites, the former bright, clean and basic, the latter small but each of the six comes with its own unique design, from parrot-filled trees painted above the bed to designer lampshades made from recycled plastic containers. Breakfast is included, the wi-fi is free and the rates are a lot more palatable than those just the other side of the tunnel in Copacabana and Ipanema.
- Featured in Time Out Rio's 15 Coolest Places to Stay
Beware of this hostel - staff stole my phone! I stayed at Oztel hostel in July for 5 nights. My first impressions of the hostel was that it was a very nice building with lovely common areas. Unfortunately the majority of the staff were not very helpful and the cleanliness could have been of a higher standard - toilet bins were not emptied on a daily basis, kitchen equipment was not washed and put away etc. However my biggest grievance was with an incident that took place on the last day of my stay. Me and my friend were due to leave and decided to go and get some lunch before leaving, as there was only one other person staying in the dorm and it was a secure building with cameras I left my phone charging while I popped out. Upon arriving back I went to get my phone and discovered that it had been stolen. I reported it to the receptionist which I will mention was as helpful as she could be and helped me to phone the tourist police. While I waited for them to arrive I tried to speak to the assistant manager and other staff but they were unhelpful and disinterested in the situation. I finally got hold of the Manager of the hostel and had to wait for her to arrive before looking at the camera footage. When she finally arrived I was able to look at the CTV footage of outside the room which showed that after I left the room only 2 people entered - the cleaner and the maintenance man both of which worked for the hostel. I was flabbergasted to discover that it was staff member that had stolen my phone and I later found out that a similar situation had happened there just a few weeks before. I filed a police report and asked the Manager to keep be updated with the situation with the hope of there would be a small chance I would be able to recover my photos I had taken over the 6 months. Despite my emails I have never heard back from her. My biggest regret is that I didn't pay attention to the other bad reviews on this page. If you want to stay in a secure and friendly hostel then please stay clear of this one.
Posted on Sat 23 Aug 2014 14:18:33