HI Castelo Branco - Pousada de Juventude

Its location meant I could walk to all my meetings as a future resident of the district, it includes breakfast and priced right

Very clean

Nothing

From outside, it underwhelms. Yet, it is the clean and spacious rooms and bathroom, together with the breakfast room, that surprised me for modernity and comfort. Bruno was the pick of helpful and bilingual staff

None

The price for what is basically an en-suite spacious upstairs room, and the relative quite of the neighbourhood on the edge of Hericourt

For one, the upstairs location of both rooms on offer, means that summer months are really hot. This discomfort is somewhat setoff by ceiling windows that let in night time cool air and a bedside fan. The toilet is on ground floor making nighttime visits awkward for the ground-floor living host and other tenant upstairs (the wooden staircase is real creaky). Most importantly, and in the course of 3 stays, the owner host is inconsistent. The 2nd stay was completely in contrast to the first; pleasant compared to abrupt. The 3rd intended stay, culminated in the host requesting I cancel my booking, due to his unavailability!? This when the dates were open on Booking.com and still available after I cancelled.