Hotel Residencial Juliz

Worst experience of my life. Awful price and owner just don't care about anything except money. Also requested I give my keys when I wanted to go to another city. Very difficult place. Stay away. Toilets was dirty and you could be electric shocked. This is basically a very small room with two bunk bed so you will be sharing with total strangers and the space is very small. You will struggle to see a place to put your legs. Will never ever recommend this place to my worst enemy

I had the great displeasure of staying at Hotel Juliz during the World Cup in the summer of 2014, and I am only now recovered enough to write this review. When my friends and I booked our stay, we realized that we were signing up for some less than amazing accommodation, and we were perfectly ok with that. However, what we encountered at Hotel Juliz fell way below our low expectations, and took the prize for worst accommodation on our three month trip across South America. The common area for socializing was incredibly small, and equipped with a sanity testing timer on the lights. If there was a lack of rapid motion for a span of longer than five seconds (ie. people sitting at the table) the lights would cut out and leave the occupants of the room enveloped by a darkness that could only be matched by the one in the heart of this establishment's owner. The owner took full advantage of the World Cup frenzy and charged my party an astronomical amount for accommodation in a room that would make most hostel rooms look like a entire wing of the Palace of Versailles. I will also note that the members of my group received electric shocks from the showers no less than three times. All that being said, it was relatively clean, and the the restaurant down the street served cheeseburgers with peas and corn on them, which is surprisingly really good. So there's that.

I had the pleasure of staying in the Hotel Residential Juliz for a couple of nights in May 2012. The owner, Julio, is a very intelligent, thoughtful man and this is reflected in his hotel. The Hotel Residential Juliz is pretty basic accommodation, with a generally unpainted appearance. However everything works and is in good repair. It has free wi-fi and adequate bedding. The showers and locks work and the lights are bright enough to be able to do things in your room at night. Julio and his team are helpful, obliging and considerate. At one stage Julio was off site and he called me specially to answer a question and give me some advice about my proposed activities. There is evidence of continual improvement with ladders and things, so you may arrive to find the place beautifully painted. Above all of this, the price is right. The location is in the old part of Porto Alegre, with interesting winding streets and a variety of simple places to eat. It is very much a residential area, which, in Australia or America, would be well and truly gentrified by now. It is about 1 km walk to the Gasometro and a shorter walk to the Centro Historico. It is not that far to walk to most places of interest like the Public Market (shorter if you go over the hills). There is a good supermarket about 5 minutes walk away Since I speak Portuguese, I did not establish how well English is spoken here, but Julio responds promptly to email, so you can find that out easily. This place is not the Hilton Hotel, but I was comfortable and happy and my ratings are addressed fellow budget travellers.