Four Suites in Salvador

In Vista Elevador & Mar the bath stands on a low round plinth beside the windows. From it you look across a square of colonial buildings to the Bay of All Saints, where ships lie at anchor and, in the evening, the sun goes down over the water. The suite is one of four that Via Avantgarde lets in the Cidade Alta, the old upper town of Salvador da Bahia, all of them a few minutes’ walk from the Lacerda Elevator and all of them for two people. Three are single rooms and one is a small flat, and all four are furnished with more conviction than most hotel rooms: ceilings of bamboo poles hung with trailing greenery, antiques gathered around Bahia, emerald walls, gilt frames and a four-poster bed draped in gold cloth.

What follows is a guide to the four: how each one feels to stay in, who it suits, and how to spend a few days on foot around them. Every suite is booked on Airbnb, and questions go to the host through Airbnb’s messages; Via Avantgarde takes no bookings of its own. Three of the four can be booked now. The Suite Colonial had no open dates on its Airbnb calendar from October 2026 to August 2027 when we checked on 8 October, so we describe it without suggesting you book it, and say how to ask about it.

The upper town

Salvador was founded in 1549 on a small peninsula between the Bay of All Saints and the Atlantic, and it was the capital of Portuguese America until 1763. Its historic centre is the Cidade Alta, which UNESCO describes as “a defensive, administrative and residential neighbourhood perched atop an 85-m-high escarpment”, with the lower town and the port at its foot. The Historic Centre of Salvador de Bahia has been on the World Heritage List since 1985. The listing names the Catedral Basílica, the churches and convents of São Francisco, São Domingos, Carmo and Santo Antônio, sixteenth-century squares such as the Terreiro de Jesus, and streets of brightly coloured houses, often decorated with fine stucco-work. It also records that from 1558 Salvador was the first slave market in the New World, and that echoes of the city’s mixed European, African and Amerindian past survive in its heritage today.

Largo do Pelourinho Salvador 2019-9754 · Paul R. Burley · CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped

The two levels have been linked since 1873 by the Lacerda Elevator. Its present art deco form comes from a rebuilding inaugurated on 1 January 1930, and according to the history the city published for its 150th anniversary, it stands 72 metres high, with two towers and four cabins, and the ride takes thirty seconds. The national heritage institute, IPHAN, listed it in 2006. It reopened on 25 February 2025 after ten months of works. Reports of its fare and opening hours since then disagree, and we could not confirm either from an official source, so check both when you arrive.

All four suites are on the upper level. Airbnb shows the exact address only after a booking, but Via Avantgarde’s own guide sets out where they are: two on the square beside the lift, the Loft Histórico right next to the lift, and the Suite Colonial on the way from the lift to the Hotel Fasano, two to six minutes’ walk in all. The two on the square are the Penthouse Jacuzzi and Vista Elevador & Mar. The brand’s photographs and its guests’ reviews name the square as the Praça da Sé, and both listings carry the same warning: “this apartment is located in the main square and events such as concerts may cause noise levels that are not suitable for everyone.”

The Penthouse Jacuzzi

The Penthouse Jacuzzi is one open room under a ceiling of bamboo poles, which the listing says is hung with artificial plants and lit with plenty of LED lighting. Windows wrap around two sides, over tiled roofs and the city’s tower blocks, and the listing describes “many antiques that were acquired from all over Bahia, including some pieces over 100 years old”. The photographs show a gilt chair with a caned back, candelabra, a wooden coat stand, a block of white marble for a coffee table, a black and mustard chevron rug and red Persian runners. Michael, who stayed in October 2023, wrote: “We loved the decor, it’s eclectic and warm.” Daina, a guest in April 2025, found it “a bit shabby chic/ DIY with a moody theater vibe like in the photos”, which is a fair guide for anyone expecting a hotel finish.

The kitchen is the best equipped of the four. The listing calls it a gourmet kitchen, recently renovated, with Brazilian granite counters, a custom sink, a large refrigerator, a five-burner gas hob, a microwave, a toaster, a blender and a coffee machine, and in the photographs it runs along a black wall with open shelves of pans and plates. There is no oven on the list. “The kitchen is well-equipped, so we enjoyed cooking here,” wrote Faifoo in August 2025. The dining table doubles as a full-size desk, the listing says, the internet is quoted at 100 megabits, and this is the only one of the four whose Airbnb amenities include a dedicated workspace.

The tub gives the suite its name, and it needs a word of explanation. Airbnb’s amenity list includes a private hot tub, but the host’s own description calls it a soaking tub, and that is what the photographs show: a deep, white, freestanding oval bath on a raised platform by the windows, filled from a floor-standing tap. Expect a long hot bath for two with the city outside, rather than jets. Ian, who stayed in April 2026, called it “a spectacular bathtub”. There is a shower in the bathroom as well.

Check-in is self-service with a smart lock, from 3 pm. The building has a lift, and parking is in a paid lot off the premises. With a desk and a kitchen for real cooking, this is the suite for a couple staying a week or longer, or for anyone who has to work for part of the trip.

Vista Elevador & Mar

Vista Elevador & Mar, which the brand’s English pages call Elevator & Sea View, is built around its windows. They run from floor to ceiling on two sides of the room. Below is the square, with a large white colonial building, a church and a row of market stalls, and beyond it lies the bay. “Looks just like the photos and overlooks the main square,” wrote Tiana in April 2026, and Helen, who came for Carnival in February 2026, wrote: “Great views especially at sunset.”

Inside are the same bamboo-pole ceiling and trailing greenery as in the Penthouse, with woven lantern lamps, red patterned rugs on a tiled floor, a carved wooden chair upholstered in black and yellow, a round wooden table with two stools at the glass, and a rattan chair hung from the ceiling on ropes, which guests call the swing. The round white tub sits on its plinth between linen curtains. As with the Penthouse, Airbnb lists it as a private hot tub, and Martin, who stayed in April 2026, put the difference plainly: “Aint a jacuzzi without the bubbles, but otherwise all good. Cool place”. Ronan, in November 2023, wrote: “The bath with the lighting in the evening was pure bliss.”

The kitchen is a corner in red: a retro mini fridge, a microwave and a blender in matching red on a wooden shelf unit, with white cupboards, a mosaic splashback and a gas hob. There is a TV, and a projector with a screen for films, which Airbnb lists as a movie theatre and several guests single out. Check-in is by keypad, from 3 pm, and there is paid parking on the premises.

The square is also loud, and guests who loved the suite say so. Mahalia, who called the apartment “an absolute dream” in February 2025, wrote that “due to it being located on a square, it is very loud”, and added: “the constant music coming from the plaza could be heard morning day and night. Warning to sensitive sleepers.” Others came for exactly that. Emma and her fiancé found the São João festival taking place “right outside the apartment” in June 2025, and wrote: “Very cool experience.” Two guests in 2024 reported that the building’s lifts were out of order during their stays, one of them carrying suitcases up four floors, so anyone who cannot manage stairs should ask the host about the lift before booking.

It suits a couple who want the view and their evenings in, and travellers who come for Carnival or the June festivals and want to be in the middle of them. Light sleepers should choose another suite, or another week.

The Loft Histórico

The Loft Histórico is the most theatrical of the four; Airbnb lists it as a studio. The walls are deep emerald green, with gold moulding along the top and a dark blue ceiling hung with a small crystal chandelier. Two large paintings in heavy gilt frames fill the walls: a waterfall scene above the bed, and a crowded party in eighteenth-century dress, framed as an oval, above the bath. The bed is a four-poster hung with mustard-gold cloth, knotted at each post, under a red throw, and the white freestanding tub stands in the room itself, beside the bed.

The kitchen side is blush pink, with white marble counters and splashback, wooden shelves of pans, wire pendant lamps and a breakfast bar with turned wooden stools, and a gilt chair with a caned back stands beside it. A wide mirror next to the counter makes the room look larger in the photographs than it is, as one guest pointed out, and the listing’s photographs also show a hammock slung in a small open-air corner with a tiled floor. The amenity list is short: air conditioning, Wi-Fi, a TV, hot water, a hair dryer, an iron, bed linen, the kitchen and the bath. No lift is listed.

The Loft is beside the lift rather than on the square, and Sebastian, who stayed in November 2024, found it “tucked away in a quiet area”. Carnival is the exception. Tsz wrote in February 2026: “because of the location, the carnival happens literally 2 minutes away, so it’s extremely loud at night.” Belle, who arrived late at night the same month, liked the street: “Açaí right in front of the house, easy to walk into the old center.” This is a room for a night or two away as a couple, which is how Carl saw it in October 2025: “Leave the kids with grandma and have fun with your sweetheart.”

The Suite Colonial

The Suite Colonial is the brand’s fourth suite and the only one laid out as a small flat, with a sitting room and a separate bedroom. It is also the only one without a bath. Its Airbnb title places it close to the Lacerda Elevator and the Hotel Fasano. The sitting room has plum walls, two dark sofas heaped with cushions and throws, geometric rugs on a wood-block floor and a striped ceiling crossed with bamboo poles and trailing flowers. One wall is modelled in deep navy plaster into lit, arched niches that hold books, a framed print and candlesticks. Along the window runs a bar counter of mint-green plaster, with wooden stools and lit arches beneath it, which serves as the dining table.

The bedroom is quieter, with a lilac patterned cover on the bed, coral and navy cushions, woven lamps and a wall of foliage behind the headboard. The kitchen is small and white-tiled, with a two-burner hob, a black retro mini fridge, a microwave and a drip coffee maker, and the bathroom has a shower. The building has a lift and the suite has split air conditioning; Airbnb’s list does not include Wi-Fi or a TV, so ask if you need either. Neil, who stayed in March 2025, wrote: “Spacious and comfortable with a kitsch, unique style. Great independent cinema next door.” Benjy, in February 2026, wrote: “Nice little spot in a great location for exploring Pelourinho and the heart of the city - perfect for Carnaval.”

When we checked its Airbnb calendar on 8 October, the Suite Colonial had no open nights from October 2026 to August 2027. Via Avantgarde’s own guide notes the same gap, adding that “cancellations happen, so the calendar is worth a look.” To ask about dates, open the Suite Colonial’s listing on Airbnb and send the host a message there; the host is the same as for the other three.

Choosing between them

For the view and the sunset, choose Vista Elevador & Mar. For cooking, working and a longer stay, the Penthouse Jacuzzi. For a night or two of theatre as a couple, the Loft Histórico. For a sitting room of your own, the Suite Colonial, once it has dates again. All four take two guests at most, and none is set up for small children. Asked whether children are welcome, Via Avantgarde answers: “Yes, with responsible adults. The suites contain antiques and delicate pieces — parents should weigh the fit.” There is no breakfast and no daily housekeeping, the brand’s guide says, so breakfast is out in the town or in your own kitchen.

Light sleepers have the hardest choice. The two suites on the square warn about concerts in their own listings, and their guests describe music late into the night, at weekends and during festivals; the Loft is quieter except at Carnival. Anyone who finds stairs or slopes difficult should know that the upper town sits on a steep escarpment, that its squares and lanes are paved with cobbles, and that only the Penthouse and the Suite Colonial list a lift.

A few days on foot

The upper town is small enough to walk. Start at the Terreiro de Jesus, one of the sixteenth-century squares named by UNESCO, with the Catedral Basílica on one side and an ornate fountain in the middle, then walk downhill to the Largo do Pelourinho, the sloping cobbled square of painted houses that the brand’s guide puts five to ten minutes from its suites. A short walk from the Terreiro de Jesus, the church and convent of São Francisco is closed. Part of its ceiling collapsed on 5 February 2025, and its vicar expects it to reopen by 2029, Bahia Notícias reported in July, so plan your church visits without it.

Chafariz do Terreiro de Jesus Salvador Bahia 2019-0286 · Paul R. Burley · CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped

Give another morning to the lower town. The Lacerda Elevator drops you to the Comércio, the old commercial district by the port, where the Mercado Modelo has sold Bahian crafts and souvenirs from the old customs house on the waterfront since 1971, with two traditional Bahian restaurants inside. Ride back up and look out from the edge of the upper town over the market, the port and the bay; the city’s own history of the elevator says thousands of visitors a year come for that view.

Webysther 20150907165153 - Mercado modelo e baia de todos os… · Webysther · CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped

Beyond the Pelourinho, the Carmo and Santo Antônio districts are also part of the World Heritage site, and a longer walk. Jennifer, a guest at the Loft in January 2025, wrote: “Superbly located for Pelourinho and Santo Antonio and a very comfortable bed.” The beaches are a ride rather than a walk away; guests at Vista Elevador & Mar put the nearest at ten to twenty minutes by car or app. In the evenings there is music in the squares, which guests at the two square-side suites describe in their reviews, and one of them mentions the Balé Folclórico da Bahia. “We were also a 10-minute walk from the Balé Folklorico, which was amazing,” wrote Amanda in July 2024.

Getting there

Salvador’s airport is at Stella Maris, on the Atlantic side of the city. Via Avantgarde’s own guide puts it 28 kilometres from the Cidade Alta, and the airport names the Avenida Paralela as the main road into the centre. A metro line also serves the airport: the Aeroporto station is about two kilometres from the terminal, with a free shuttle between them. With luggage, and cobbles at the far end, most visitors will want a car to the door. The UK government’s travel advice says there are authorised taxi booths at most Brazilian airports and that ride-hailing apps such as Uber are widely available, and it warns travellers to be wary of unregulated drivers posing as app drivers, especially at airports. Via Avantgarde’s guide also offers a private transfer from the airport to the suite door, asked for at least 24 hours ahead; request it in Airbnb’s messages.

Check-in is from 3 pm and check-out by 11 am; for other times, the brand says, ask on Airbnb when you book and it will accommodate you when it can. Most dates carry a two-night minimum, and for arrivals over the Carnival days, 4 to 9 February 2027, the calendars ask for five.

When to go

Salvador is warm all year. On the averages of INMET, Brazil’s national weather service, the mean daily maximum is about 31°C in January and about 27°C in August. The rain decides the season. On INMET’s averages for 1991 to 2020 the wettest months are April to July, with May the wettest of all at about 302 millimetres, while December, at about 63 millimetres, and January are the driest. From September to February the city gets around 100 millimetres a month or less.

Carnival in 2027 officially begins on Thursday 4 February, with street events from Friday 29 January and the festival of Iemanjá on 2 February, A Tarde reported when the city announced the dates; Ash Wednesday falls on 10 February. When we checked in October, the Penthouse and Vista Elevador & Mar already showed no availability for the opening night. June brings the São João festival to the old town as well.

Safety advice

We quote the official advice here rather than give our own. The U.S. State Department’s advisory for Brazil, updated on 30 August 2026, is at Level 2: “Exercise increased caution in Brazil due to crime and kidnapping.” It notes that “Violent crime occurs in urban areas, day and night,” and advises travellers to “Use ATMs in secure locations such as shopping malls or major hotels.” The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, in advice updated on 29 September 2026, says that “Thieves target mobile phones, particularly between 4pm and 9pm”, advises travellers to “avoid using a mobile phone in the street” and to “leave your passport and valuables in a safe place”, and adds: “Do not resist attackers.” It warns that “Criminals target large-scale celebrations in Brazil, such as the Carnival in major cities,” and its advice on the beach is plain: “Do not go on to city beaches after dark.” On getting around it says: “Do not hail taxis on the street.”

Via Avantgarde’s four suites each take two guests and are booked on Airbnb, from the listings above or from the brand’s own site; three of them have open dates now.