Lovely B&B/hotel with friendly staff and good food for the price. It's rated as a 2* on a lot of websites/brochures but really it's at least at 3*. The rooms are comfortable & well air conditioned. The pool is quite small, but nicely designed and fine for a quick dip & for relaxing in. A quick nod to the barman and he puts on the jacuzzi for you and if you're lucky, you might just catch a glimpse of a humming bird in the flowers right next to you - fantastic!

Praia do Forte itself is a rather quaint touristy resort, but not in a bad way. The good thing about it is that there are lots of Brazilians there too - either up for the weekend from Salvador or just generally chilling out. The hotel is a little off the beaten track (about 5-10 mins to the main strip & a bit further to the beach) - but that's fine. You get to walk through the backstreets and see the locals going about their business. It's all perfectly safe and welcoming - so makes for a very relaxing easy-going holiday with the only stress of deciding which restaurant you want to sample next - on the whole, they were all good (especially if you like steak!) but we reckon the best was "Bamboo" & highly recommend.

We were content to fill our two weeks just pottering around the town, beach & market stalls most days, but for the more active there are plenty of organised activities available. The receptionist at the hotel, Amir - has a lot of local knowledge and does guided tours around the nearby Sapiranga Forest, which was interesting. He's no longer working at the hotel but his contact details are: [--] (Amir Higashi) and worth contacting if you want a more personal tour of the forest or any advice about travelling further afield.

All in all, we had a thoroughly enjoyable, relaxing holiday and definitely recommend it for one to two week break. It's a good base for day-tripping into Salvador or heading into the mountains for a few days. The National Park, Chapada di Diamantina, is supposed to be incredible, and you can get an overnight bus from Salvador for at relatively little cost.

What a holiday we have had! All I can do is repeat the comments given above - I will try to add some more......

The hotel is small and centrally located. Although given three stars I would say that it is worth much more. I would describe it as a boutique hotel. It has none of the facilities of a large all inclusive hotel - but if all you want to do is relax by the pool and eat in lovely restauraunts every night it fits the bill. The rooms are excellent and impecably clean. The staff themselves are all smiles (especially Isael) and extremely helpful - yes, some speak very little english, but we got by fine.

The village is great. Many, many places to eat -our favourites being Bambu, Beach House and O Europeu. All the restauraunts look quite expensive but there not - often a price on the menu will be for two people. There are many shops selling really nice clothes, jewellry etc. Not your usual tacky holiday gift shops.

The village comes alive at the weekends with locals spending their time there. We spent a Saturday night at a bar called Da Souza - you have to pay about £1 to get in but it is certainly an experience watching the locals dancing samba and enjoying themselves! We got up and had a dance ourselves - what a great night.

Finally I would recommend a trip that goes to Salvador on a Tuesday night. We enjoyed it so much we went twice! You walk the streets in Pelhourinho visiting various live stages with bands playing music- also you get to see the famous drummers who perform on carnival nights. Fantastic!

All in all it was excellent. I would recommend Brazil to anyone. Others who had been to the nearby all inclusives said they were a bit 'out of it' and would have enjoyed it much more if they had stayed in the village on a B & B like us. Our Aitrours rep commented that Brazil was not getting the kind of take up they would have liked and that they may stop offering it as a destination soon. Please don't let that happen - it would be a real shame.

Just returned from the Vila dos Corais, Praia do Forte, Brazil. I see a very thorough review has just be posted ahead of me. Lets see what I can add.

This is a lovely character hotel for people who want to feel that they are in Brazil (rather then one of the faceless mega all inclusive numbers). A lot of local materials are used in the decoration which is all rather charming and rustic. The hotel is located about a slow five minute stroll from the main pedestrian street in the village, through a residential area. It was completely safe to walk to at night.

The pool is ample for a cooling dip - with lots of different levels and little parts to sit on in the water. There is a jacuzzi bubble section. It's not really a pool to have a proper swim in but in the heat you probably won't have the energy to do much but dip anyway.

The breakfast was lovely. Aside from cold meats and cheese the fruits are fab and fresh. There is also a selection of dishes which change around like a truly wonderful breakfast flan, little cakes, scrambled eggs, fried banana dusted in cinnamon. There is plenty to chose from.

The rooms were ample in size and colourful. I didn't have a balcony room but this didn't bother me. I was offered to change to one but I was quite happy where I was! The balconies have hammocks on them. Rooms have satellite tv (CNN and Universal are in English plus some others that have random programmes in English if you're having a siesta). There is a small fridge which is ample for your own bits and bobs.

The bathrooms are big enough. Shower only, no bath, but the shower is nice and large. I wasn't too keen on the fact that the small window opening simply has bamboo at it rather then a window so anyone walking past can hear you on the toilet! Apart from that little niggle it was nicely tiled and met our needs.

The standard of cleaning was excellent. The grounds and reception were equally spotless.

I didn't try the massage but I saw someone else on the receiving end and they seemed to get an incredibly long massage for the money! It looked good.

There is a tele room which also gets used for business conferences that has a cabinet with some English books where you can exchange your holiday reads.

The nice thing with this hotel is that you can mix with Brazilians on holiday. This is where the locals go. There are only around 50 rooms so if you're looking to escape you're fellow countrymen then this is a good choice.

I did wonder if there would be enough sun loungers but it never seemed to be a problem to get one. The sun moves away from the grounds at around 3:00 to 3:30. The sun is so strong here that you'll appreciate the shade anyway.

The staff speak varying degrees of English but you can get by enough to get what you need and a smile goes a long way. When I felt a bit rough one day they were happy to prepare a breakfast tray for myself and my partner and bring it to our room.

If you ask at reception - the lady with the long hair - they can run trips. These are much better value then the Thomas Cook trips (or you can book the same trips at the little tourist office).

All in all I think this was an excellent choice of hotel and have no qualms in recommending this place.

Have just come back from spending two weeks at this hotel and had a great time. It only has 3 stars but deserves more. It is a small hotel 50 rooms and is maintained well. Not all the rooms have balconies which is a shame otherwise we had no criticisms. The rooms are clean and cleaned on a daily basis with clean linen. The rooms have shampoo, conditioner and shower cap replaced as needed. You have a mini bar and a small amount of space in fridge for your own drinks. Breakfast is from 8am till 10am but this is flexible usually started about 7.30 and is a good buffett breakfast. Freshly squeezed local juices cold meats and cheeses, hot and cold dishes homemade cakes and very attentive waiters who were pleasant.
It has its own restaurant where you can have snacks or a proper meal and prices no different from the village. Pool is ample size for hotel with jacuzi. there is a small gym and massages are available.
The staff are all friendly their english is limited but they are learning this and the man on reception in the afternoon has a good understanding of english.
The hotel is about 5min walk from the centre of the village which is delightful it has been enlarged from a small fishing village into an ecofriendly resort. The bulidings can't go any taller than 2 storeys and the main street is pedestranised. There are numerous restaurants to choose from and we did not have a bad meal the whole time we were there. The ones I would recommend are Beach House, Bambu, Sabour da vila, Taverna Paridiso, O European,
There are numerous boutique style shops selling clothes and accessories, local art and jewelery.
There are several places to change money using your card its based on the us dollar so rate is good, though the weekend they do seem to run out of money but the ATM by the Youth Hostel seems to be kept well supplied. You need to put your card in then take it out and follow instructions.
There is a laundry, go right out of hotel then right at end of road 5 min walk.
The beach is lovely with local fishing vessels in the bay and when the tide goes out there are rock pools and snorkling available to see the reef area with the local marine life.
There is a local tourist information place just up from the bustop, which have some good trips to offer for reasonable prices they do speak English, and Thomas Cook plan to use them and said there insurance was good along with health and safety.