Hostel Casal São João

Helder and his mom were very nice and helpful. It’s definitely the cheapest place on the island you can find. There are 3 bathrooms, so one was always available. All rooms are for 2 people max.

The location is quite difficult to get to if you don’t have a car and are on a budget and avoid taxis. There is a very steep road up to the hostel from the main station where bus 7 from Funchal (Rodoeste company) stops but a few times day you can catch another bus 7 (direction Furna) that will take you to the hostel’s doorstep. Need to let the bus driver in Funchal know about it tho.

I met interesting people in this hostel. The host family who live on-site are really fun, funny, welcoming and helpful. The beds are good and its great to have only 2 people per room. Easily reachable by car. A good place to be able to travel from to many parts of the island. One morning driving down to Ribeira Brava I was lucky enough to see a huge pod of dolphins swimming past - magic.

This is not comfortable to write because the family who run this hostel are so cute and fun and well-tempered. This is only my opinion of course. All the bathrooms and toilets were unclean. There was black mold on the walls, floor and curtains of the showers which is very and for health to breathe in. Black mold also in the kitchen. The toilets smelled of old stale urine. I found the pillow very poor and didn't make it easy to sleep. The buses to reach Ribeira Brava (nearest town) are very infrequent 2 or 3 per day, and even less on weekends. And then for connections to Funchal there are not many direct buses which means about 2 hour trip to Funchal on the old roads (which is fun once to be with the locals). I wish I had found that info somewhere before. With a car its no trouble to get to the hostel!

Amazing kitchen, sleeping and bathroom. Everything was clean and everyone was incredibly friendly, especially Helder!!

the familie

de hygiene