Hotel Review: Hotel das Cataratas by Belmond, Iguassu Falls, Brazil

In the late 1990s, I visited Iguassu Falls in Brazil for the first time, and I stayed at Hotel das Cataratas – a sprawling, bright pink, 1950s hacienda-style property right across the street from the Falls. I got a deal back then and paid about $100 a night.

Since then, the hotel has been renovated and taken over by Belmond, making it even fancier with a price tag eight times as high as in the late 1990s. But I have to say it’s worth it. Not only is this the only hotel within the national park where you find the Falls, but it goes beyond five-star service for a luxury-plus experience.

First of all, staying within the national park means you don’t have to travel 15-30 minutes from your hotel to the Falls. You just cross the street! You also don’t have to pay to enter the park because you’re already there, and you can beat the crowds, visiting the Falls before the park officially opens and after it closes (although they suggest you not walk on the trails after dark).

I arranged with the hotel to have a private car transfer from the airport to the property, which took only about 20 minutes. Once you enter the park, the speed limit is quite low to prevent collisions with animals. I didn’t see any coatimundis (raccoon-like animals) during this visit, but in the 1990s, they were everywhere. So back then, I saw a couple of dead ones that had been hit by cars. Hopefully, this low speed limit makes that less likely to happen.

My bags were delivered to my traditionally decorated room with a queen-sized bed. I was upgraded to a Deluxe room in the “Garden Wing,” which meant my windows opened to a section of the hotel’s substantial gardens. This also meant my room was occasionally a little buggy (even though I kept the windows closed).

But this is a rainforest, so if you absolutely hate bugs, don’t go. (I mean, you might even hear howler monkeys in the distance.) The hotel provided a small bottle of natural repellent spray, which did come in handy, and I managed to avoid even one mosquito bite.

The gardens on the hotel grounds, by the way, are gorgeous. Some of the birds have become quite used to people, including the Southern Lapwing and colorful Plush-crested Jay.

While I didn’t get a Deluxe room with a view of the Falls, those rooms are available at a higher price if you prefer. I had no complaints about my room, however, which had a large bureau, free minibar, free wifi, table and chairs, television, bathrobe, and slippers. The spacious bathroom was filled with lovely blue and white Portuguese tiles called azulejos.

Other hotel services include a pillow menu, ATM, babysitting, business center, concierge, shoeshine, laundry, dry cleaning, adapters and converters, and a free shuttle van that runs every 20 minutes to and from the hotel and the entrance to the national park.

I was also impressed by the daycare center on site with all sorts of guided activities for kids. And next to the doors, there were umbrellas available to borrow. These little touches do much to make a hotel stay extra comfortable and special.

Hotel das Cataratas has a heated outdoor pool with a bar as well, where you can have a drink and a nosh, and there’s a restaurant called IPÊ that’s just a few stairs up from the pool and with indoor and outdoor seating. The breakfast there is generous with just about everything you could possibly want, and it also serves lunch and dinner.

For fine dining at dinner time, there’s Itaipu Restaurant, serving top-notch Brazilian cuisine such as Amazonian pirarucu fish in beurre blanc sauce with banana crumbs and grilled vegetables with a cherry reduction.

During a hard rain one day (it’s a rainforest, after all), I sat on the terrace of the hotel at Bar Tarobá with a view of the Falls. I ordered bruschetta with parma ham and figs with an apricot bellini made with Moët & Chandon, and they provided a bowl of mixed nuts. My delightful waiter asked my first name and remembered me by name the next day when I ordered a drink at the pool bar.

The hotel has 187 rooms and suites, a children’s pool, tennis courts, a gym, a spa, luxury shops, meeting rooms, conference facilities, and room service. It also provides guided excursions and adventure sports for guests. Experiences like wine tasting, cachaça tasting (cachaça is a popular liquor in Brazil), sunset with cocktails in the hotel’s tower, afternoon tea, and a garden picnic are all available. It has also received certifications for environmental management and social responsibility.

You can’t go wrong with this grand hotel, which has hosted the Princess of Wales, David Rockefeller, Anthony Hopkins, and Jackie Chan, among others. They say location is everything, and this one has a location like no other. But it goes far beyond its location to provide stellar service and food.

Read my separate article on the town of Iguassu Falls itself, what it’s like to visit this miraculous site, and what else you can do there.