Green Haven Hostel

I had a great time at the Green Haven hostel. Really friendly staff, especially the girls💔 Fully equipped gym, nice hot tub and sauna. Fun activities every night and a variety of activities during the day. I enjoyed the food and drinks and thought that they were all reasonably priced. The review complaining about bed bug bites was obviously unaware of the Brazilian sand flies that are very common on the beaches of Paraty and Ubatuba and leave some nasty bites! The staff did a good job keeping the bathrooms and dorms clean. I was sad to leave and will definitely return on my next trip to Ubatuba.

Got bedbugs while staying at the hostel. Instead of taking the situation seriously, the manager tried to convince me they were mosquito bites. I know the difference between mosquito and bedbug bites, as I currently have, and in the past have had, plenty of both. Please don’t try and gaslight me. I left a day early because of this issue, and the manager offered me a credit for a future stay. Although this may seem understanding, why would I want to come back, or in my right conscious send anybody else to a place where there is a bedbug problem that I know isn’t being taken seriously? To me, this is a shortsighted way of doing business. Another issue I had with the hostel, is that when it came to socializing, most of the volunteers very incredibly cliquey, and there was another guest who shared the same sentiment with me. On my first night, three of the Brazilian female volunteers continuously whispered and laughed back and forth to each other while everyone else was sitting there around the table. What is this, high school? There are also some positives to the hostel, and if I’m going to leave a review, then it’s only fair that I talk about both sides of my experience. The location right across from the beach is wonderful. The hostel overall was very clean (aside from the bedbugs) - it is important to note that bedbugs aren’t specifically attracted to dirty environments. Many of the volunteers and staff were very friendly and helpful, particularly Tomás from Buenos Aires. Emphasis on recycling and compost. The BBQ on my first night was delicious and there was plenty of food. Now, if you’re reading this you may be wondering why a review with both negatives and positives deserves a 1/5. My answer for that is that the attitude of the manager toward the bedbug situation trumps everything else. Quite unluckily, this is the second time on my trip getting bedbugs, and I am out of patience for hostel managers who don’t take the situation seriously. I know that it is a pain for the hostels to deal with, but it is also a great pain, both figuratively and literally, for the paying customers who contract them. And most important of all, it is a health concern and should be treated as such. It is not the fault of the hostel when they get an infestation, but it is certainly their responsibility to deal with it as soon as it is brought to their attention. Lastly, after reading through many others’ reviews, I am a bit taken aback to see how the owner has responded to those who have taken the time to give their honest feedback. The business may benefit from considering our words rather than mocking us for providing them. I don’t get pleasure out of leaving a place a poor review. If you look at my profile, you will see that I take the time to leave all types of reviews for places, as I believe it to be important to provide firsthand feedback to both the companies and to potential future guests. Edit in response to owner’s reply: I didn’t even speak to those three girls, and was never reprimanded by anyone at the hostel for anything. So you’re either confusing me with someone else, or are likely just making that up. Sure, bites can take awhile to appear, but I stopped getting new bites the night after leaving the hostel. My previous case was months ago and I hadn’t had an issue since then; this is clearly unrelated to that instance. Just because you haven’t had an infestation in 12 years doesn’t mean that you don’t now. First time for everything…