My huband and I and our 5 year old daughter stayed at the Bon Bini Pousada for 3 days in January. I chose this pousada based on reviews from Trip Advisor. We booked a triple room and the price was R$480/night for a triple. Before the Bon Bini, we stayed at Pousada de Azeda at the other end of Buzios.
We arrived by car and the parking is at the bottom of a large flight of stairs. There was no one to help us with our luggage, so if you have issues walking or carrying your bags, I would not recommend staying here. The pousada is a couple of blocks from Geriba beach, which is huge and gorgeous, shallow with hard packed sand. It is a short drive to the Buzios town centre, and if you drive you need to pay for parking everywhere (we paid R$4 each time) basically for some guy to watch your car! Be warned that traffic is Buzios is chaotic at all times of the day, so if you can walk you will save a lot of time and frustration.
The woman on reception did not speak English or Spanish (we could speak basic Portuguese) when we arrived and seemed very confused, even though I had a printed copy of our reservation. At the check-in, there is also a list on display of prices for replacing the bedding or towels if they were ruined or stolen, which I found kind of cheesy.
We had Room #1, which had a high ceiling and a large bed and twin bed. There was a minifridge and a bathroom with shower (no tub). There was a small tv.The room had a balcony overlooking the pool which was quite nice. It was very spacious, clean and simply decorated, which was fine.
The central point of the pousada is the lovely pool, which is not that deep so my daughter could swim in it. We spent a lot of time in the pool. There is an airy open lounge area, where breakfast is also served, which had a larger tv. There were some signs that it was also a restaurant, which is mentioned on the web site as well, but while we were there I did not see anyone dining there at all other than breakfast.
The breakfast buffet is nice and there is a large selection of fruit, cheese, cold meats, buns and cakes. One day they had a dulce de leche cake that was amazing!
Overall, I'm on the fence about the Bon Bini. It was fine but for the price I expected better service and a litte bit more for my money. For example, we got a triple room but they only gave us 2 towels, there was no hairdryer in the room. I felt like there was never any staff around and no one was really friendly or welcoming to us. Whenever the non-English-and-Spanish-speaking receptionist was working, she seemed to flee whenever she saw us coming!
Perhaps I would have had a different view if we had not gone to the Pousada da Azeda first, because the staff there was so welcoming and friendly, that we had the bar set high for us. It was a drag driving into town, but Geriba is a fantastic beach so I guess it's really a trade-off of what you want for your stay. If you want to do your own thing, service doesn't matter that much, and you have a car, it is fine. But if I went again, I would pay R$20 more per night and stay directly on the beach.
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