Deep in the rainforest of Brazil's Iguaçu National Park hides a secret only its guests know: Hotel das Cataratas is the only hotel inside the entire park. It is a two-minute walk from the door to the world-famous Iguassu Falls, and its greatest privilege is having them almost to yourself, before the park opens and after the crowds leave. Some 275 cascades pour over a cliff face over three kilometres wide, dropping eighty metres, along the border of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Coatis, toucans, howler monkeys, and butterflies are the rainforest's true residents. The hotel itself is a pink Portuguese colonial landmark, restored to its original 1950s grandeur. Its 187 rooms and suites are dressed in Portuguese style, with paintings of local flora and fauna by Brazilian artist Ludmilla de Montes and floors of hand-painted tiles and polished hardwood. Windows look onto rainforest or the orchid-filled central garden, and a select few face the falls directly.
The dining brings the flavours of Brazil to the table. The signature Y Restaurant goes cutting-edge, plating bold, precise creations amid gardens and the distant sound of the falls; poolside, Ipê is a proper Brazilian churrascaria, its meats slow-smoked over coals and served with local produce. After dark, Bar Tarobá pours its signature Devil's Throat cocktail, named for the falls' most spectacular stretch, sweet with a little heat. The Cataratas Spa channels the rainforest into its treatments, with a large central pool, heated in winter, where the water presses pause for you. A tennis court, a 24-hour gym, a wine cellar, and guided rainforest explorations turn the whole national park into your back garden. Wake to birdsong, walk the trail to the falls, and for a moment the world holds nothing but you and the roar of the water. To stay at Hotel das Cataratas is not to visit the Iguassu Falls; it is to live beside them.
