Iguazu falls is the world’s largest set of waterfalls and a genuine wonder of the natural world.  We chose to go there during our April 2022 Brazilian holiday, and we decided to stay at the Belmond Hotel das Cataratas because a) it has an unequalled location right by the falls, b)we like Belmond hotels and c)it’s the only luxury grade hotel within a few hundred miles!  I checked out the hotel’s website to choose my room, and then booked a Terrace Suite through my travel club PK’s List at BRL4644/night B&B (c£748).  The hotel is reached via Foz do Iguazu airport, where we landed one Saturday afternoon.  We were met by a friendly Belmond chap in the arrivals hall, who drove us to the hotel.  Less than 5 minutes from the airport is the entrance to the National Park, then it’s a further 15 minutes (driving at a controlled 40kph, to protect wildlife) to the hotel entrance.   The hotel runs a free shuttle bus to and from the park entrance, so anyone wanting to save a little cash could just get a taxi from the airport to the park, and then hop on the free shuttle.

The hotel reminded me of a colonial era hacienda, set over only two floors.  Being the only hotel within the National Park, the hotel is quite a celebrity itself, and when we arrived a wedding was taking place on the lawns, and during our stay we saw numerous passing tourists taking snaps of the charming candy floss pink building.

Check in was smooth,  but I didn’t get an upgrade because we already had the 2nd best room and the best one was being used by the bride and groom from the wedding.  The vast majority of the staff spoke English, which came as a pleasant surprise, given the language issues we’d had in metropolitan Rio.

Our suite was at the far left of the building, as one looks at it, and was very spacious and comfortable, with a superking bed, sofa and armchairs in the bedroom, as well as a writing desk, TV, coffee machine and minibar. There was a hard wood floor and a vaulted ceiling.

We opened the curtains and doors to our ‘terrace’ to find that it was another indoor space, with table and chairs and a sun lounger.  It seemed really odd having a terrace indoors, and while we could have opened all the windows to make it more airy, we were advised not to, because of insects.  Saying that though, we didn’t have any mosquito issues at the hotel, but other critters such as spiders, scorpions or snakes might also enter your room if you leave the windows open!  From the terrace we could actually see a small part of the waterfalls.

Our bathroom had twin washbasins, a fitted bath tub, a reasonably sized shower cubicle, toilet and two wardrobes.  And we had scales: I like hotel suites with scales, so I can keep an eye on my weight.  Toiletries were by the same Brazilian brand used at the Belmond Copacabana Palace.  All in all I was pleased with our suite, and with the little ‘gifts’ left for us on arrival (sweet treats and a basket of bath amenities).  We both slept well in air conditioned comfort; the only thing that woke us was thunder from a couple of storms.

After we’d unpacked we went for a wander, past the billiards room, into the bar for a negroni, and out of the front entrance, down to where we caught our first proper view of the falls, as the sun was setting.

I’ll write about the falls in a separate post, but just to quickly note here that the image above shows only a fraction of the falls, and that hotel guests have exclusive access to the National Park in the mornings before tourist busses arrive, in the evenings after they’ve left and all day Mondays, when the park is closed to the general public (at least during covid times).

On our first evening we went for dinner in Ipe restaurant, near the swimming pool, because the other (higher end) restaurant Itaipu was being used for the wedding party.  We arrived early and got a table outside, which turned out to be a God-send once the noisy crowds arrived a little later and filled the interior space.  I had an interesting and tasty green salad with crispy ham and figs, which came looking like a whole lettuce.

Then I had mushroom ravioli which was terribly over-salted. But they took it off my bill, without me asking.  Ipe restaurant is open for lunch and in the evenings they have an a la carte menu, plus on some days there might be a special buffet.  Ipe is also where we took breakfast every morning, when they have a large cold buffet, a smaller warm buffet, plus an omelette station and also some a la carte hot dishes which came with an extra charge.

The images above make it look quite spacious and calm, but at peak service times the place was packed and very noisy.  It was during a very busy period that they made me an omelette, which was not the best.

The pool bar serves lunch and light food throughout the day. The image above shows a delicious Caesar salad with a side of fries.  During our stay though we found a lot of flies appeared when the food came out.   But on a more pleasant note, if you eat breakfast or lunch outside you can admire some beautiful small birds which come looking for crumbs, and throughout the day there are some magnificent specimens of birdlife to spot.

On the subject of wildlife, we didn’t see any monkeys during our stay, though a lady we met who had been on the Argentina side said there were lots there.  And although there are jaguars in the park, the chances of seeing one are very small.  But one interesting mammal we did see was the coati, which is a relative of the raccoon.  When I came out of the hotel spa one day I came across a troop foraging for worms in the gardens.  They didn’t seem disturbed by the presence of a human, but they were in no way aggressive towards me.  They are very keen on humans giving them extra food – I touched a plastic pack of paper tissues in my pocket and three coatis made a beeline for me, thinking I had a bag of treats.

You will also see turkey vultures during your stay, but they fly around by the waterfalls and don’t come onto the hotel grounds.

On our final night we ate in Itaipu, the hotel’s premium restaurant, though it’s pricing is still very reasonable compared with UK/Europe.

My starter of beef carpaccio with a tangy tuna mayo was delicious.

My main curse was a large duck breast served with a mushroom risotto and a rich Demi-glace jus. It was pretty enjoyable, but also pretty rich and heavy.

Belmond Hoel das Cataratas is a perfect place to stay if you would like to visit the Iguazu Falls.  It’s the only hotel inside the Brazilian National Park, though there is also a hotel on the Argentinian side, and both describe themselves as “the only hotel in the park”.  The hotel is of a charming Neo-colonial style and is in very good condition inside and out.  Staff are friendly and English-speaking and service standards are what you would expect from a Belmond property.  F&B is reasonably priced and generally of a good quality.

8.5/10