Tropical Das Cataratas Foz de Iguacu

This hotel had too many cramped rooms to be described even as comfortable. Our small room was miles away from reception and was not up to scratch in terms of cleanliness. The staff at reception, the bar, and in the restaurant treat guests as if they had trodden them in on their shoes. Service was slow if at all and had to be requested three or four times. If you have a choice don't go.

After reading all the other reviews I expected to find a run down hell hole. But what we actually found was a beautiful hotel in a fantastic location. So its a bit old, but it doesn't stink of damp and the rooms are clean and large. The pool is lovely ,food was great and the views are amazing!

If you want a brand new hotel with all the mod cons then this isn't it, but if you want a once in a lifetime location in a hotel with friendly staff then stay here.

Well, I must have stayed at a different hotel than the people who hated this place. My room and bath were totally renovated. Having read the other reviews I asked for a renovated room when I checked in, and the lady at the front desk assured me it was renovated. The only negative is that the air conditioning did not work, as other reviewers have also commented. All the staff were pleasant and helpful.

I don´t know how many rooms have a view of the Falls but mine did and it was awesome. The grounds around the hotel are beautiful, the hotel itself has very comfortable facilities to just sit and relax, both inside and outside, and the Falls are well worth the trip. Sorry folks, but this isn´t America or Australia, and people in other parts of the world smoke, especially Latin Americans, so if you don´t like cigarette smoke, don´t come.

I found the food quite good and the price of the dinner buffet was reasonable for a resort facility. It was about $23 USD per person and quite plentiful. The breakfast buffet was part of the package I had gotten from my travel agent and also quite good and comprehensive.

The Argentinian part of the park is much more developed for hiking and other activities, and takes the better part of a day. The Brazilian side is also beautiful and has great views, but you can easily cover it in about 1 - 2 hours.

I would come back again and stay at the Tropical.

During a three location trip to South America my family stayed at this hotel.

Whilst the exterior is impressive and the views of Iguassu Falls outstanding, the problems start after you get past reception.

We had a two deluxe rooms, but whilst there were well polished hardwood floorboards, the rooms were dark, with limited facilities and the air conditioning did not work properly.

Service, and the attitude of staff (with the notable exception of the waiting staff for the outside buffet) was poor, giving the distinct impression that they think they do not need to try too hard because of their perfect location, and quite possibly because travellers stay just one to two nights, thus negating the need to form a bond with guests.

Iguassu is wonderful, but try another hotel if you can.

If you like cigarette smoke for $240USD per night plus tax, then this is your place. Yes, it is in the park next to the Falls on the Brazilian side and the outside of the hotel is beautiful, the grounds are nice, and the common rooms are attractive, but you still have to pay the admission to the park, there are no eating possibilities for dinner within 10 miles (other than the hotel, and the hotel's food is REALLY bad and expensive... except for the hot croissants at breakfast, which is included), the rooms are circa 1970 and in need of extensive renovation in the bathrooms (those showers with a drain in the floor and a curtain around the watering zone so that water splashes from under the curtain all over the bathroom floor), and very few (I was told "4" by the registration staff) have an actual view of the Falls and those are $280 per night plus tax and up. Oh, and the view from the Shearton on the other side (Argentina) is WAY better, the hotel nicer (though not as attractive from the outside), the restaurants smelled better, the grounds just as nice, and the price is $10 more per night (so, if you're gonna pop the money, and it's a lot, you might as well spend a few more bucks and get what you came for). The crowd at the Hotel Cataratas is a primarily German, French, British, American (us), Japanese one (we heard no Portuguese spoken by any guests) and they smoke everywhere except one small area in part of the restaurant. We checked out one day early and moved to a better and much cheaper place. FYI: The hotels outside the park are better and at least 80% cheaper! Check out Hotel San Martin right next to the entrance to the park, great grounds, pool, restaurant, walking/jogging trail, brand new, birds and animals on the grounds, and only $50 per night for a triple with breakfast! We hired a taxi for 150reis (about $60) to drive us to the Argentine side for the day, wait, then bring us back (if you have the money, this is the best way since you cut through the border crossing easier, and you are not locked into a group excursion, so you can experience the fantastic Argentine side at your own pace.. the trail system is wonderful, which is not a knock on the Brazilian side which is also really nice). He helped us check out of the Cataratas and make arrangements at the other hotel (we stopped at several and looked at rooms and did a bit of shopping around). He finally came clean with us and said, "Yes, the Tropical is a gringo hotel. It probably won't last another 6 months. There are 55 hotels on the Brazilian side and the competition is too high, and people want the hotel out of the park so that it is more natural." There is not even an outside chance that we would stay at the Tropical Hotel Cataratas again, and I bet if you are used to spending $240 per night for hotel rooms, you wouldn't either.

Well, WE enjoyed our 3 night stay the end of July, beginning of August. Like many readers, after seeing so many bad reviews about this hotel, I was not sure whether we wanted to stay there for 3 nights. I did find another view on the Internet which was much more positive. Since we enjoy watching birds, I decided to stay IN the park. It was the right decision for us. Staying in the park means that you can use the trails earlier and later than everyone else. It is also a long way from the other hotels--not walkable at all. Driving from the airport, we saw several deer in the park. Early one morning, we saw 5 toucans fly into the large tree in front of the hotel all at once. Our last night, the park ranger was sending everyone back in the late afternoon except those who were staying at the hotel. On our walk back to the hotel that night from viewing the falls at dusk, we saw a piping guan (rare bird in that area). And the stars are unbelievable at night. It is hard to believe that the hotel was built in the 50's--with the marble stairs and heavy dark wood throughout--it looks and feels that it is much older. It is a very pretty pink and white outside. Nice pool in the back (though it was shut down for maintenance the last day of our stay). We found the staff to be extremely nice and helpful. Perhaps it is because we tried our Spanish and limited Portugues, smiled and were polite? They confirmed our domestic flights without a problem. My lost luggage finally arrived late at night and--per our instructions--they held it to be delivered in the morning when we woke up. We were so tired the first night that we ordered salads and Brazilian chicken soup through room service which were delicious. I just love how Brazilians serve dessert for breakfast--try the little powdered donuts with dulce de leche inside?! The ample buffet dinner (a la carte is also available) is accompanied by live music which we enjoyed. One night Brazilian, another night Paraguayan. The bar also had live music (our last night we were the couple dancing in the large empty room next to the bar). I agree that the air conditioning doesn't work as you expect and the rooms aren't large. But, we did have a view of the top of the Falls. We didn't buy any souvenirs at the hotel (H Stern is a very expensive jewelry store anywhere you go and frankly we have enough T shirts). When we visited the Argentine side we bought wonderful caramels from Argentina, and stopped at a Brazilian chocolate store. In summary, if you want a place with atmosphere, and want to be IN the park--then this is a good place to be.

My girlfriend and I stayed at the tropical two nights. It is beutiful from the outside and the view is nice. The food was way over priced but very good, particularly the breakfast and dinner buffets. Now the problems: the air conditioning did not work, the whole place had a musty or moldy smell, all the staff except the people at the front desk were fairly rude, they never cleaned our room, you have to pay to get into the park to stay at the hotel and pay entrance each time you leave and return. I stayed the first three nights in the city of Foz do Iguacu at the Rafain Centro Hotel. I paid $ 46 US there verses $170 US at the Tropical. It was the superior hotel. There were large, clean rooms and facilities, good food at reasonable prices, and a fairly friendly staff. You also are not limited to the hotel food, there are many resturants around. The only other suggestion would be try the Sheraton on the Argentinian side of the falls. Its easy to get across the border. The park is much nicer on that side and things seemed a little cheaper in general. Good luck and resist the urge to stay at the sub-par Tropical.

Very extraordinary hotel with an awesome location at teh falls. It seems like an early turn of the century type resort. However, despite it's initial appearance from outside and location, there were many problems. Air conditioning in rooms is not useful. They work more like a fan and dont' remove any of the high humidity. At $200/night, I don't think that was acceptable. They initially lost our reservation. It took an hour for them to find it, with no apology. OUr phone in our room did not work, but they did replace it right away. Both our key and our friend's key to the room stopped working after the second day. They fixed that right away though too. Prices for food and gift shops were outrageous. Other than the falls, there is really nothing else around, so they are able to really price gouge on everything, and they do. Bottles of water, snack in room, everything was lethally expensive. THe food at restaurant was not good and very expensive for buffet. Front desk staff was mediocre in friendliness. Hotel smelled like a moist basement, worse in teh rooms. The rooms were small with poor lighting. Views are awesome, and the hotel as a whole appearance from outside looks great. I would not stay here more than one night if at all. We stayed three nights, and that was a big mistake.

I stayed at the Tropical in March for one night. The setting ot the hotel in the Iguassu Park is fabulous and cannot be faulted at all with fantastic views of Waterfalls from the front of the hotel.

However, the hotel itself has probably fallen into a lit bit of complatentcy, given that it is situated into such a wondefrul place.

The part of the hotel I stayed in was being painted, which it clearly needed, as the whole place looked a little tired, especially the furniture in the bedrooms. The wing also had a bit of a damp, mouldy smell (nothing to do with the paint) which was a bit off putting.

The food in the restaurant was awful. I had fabulous food in Brazil, but this was the one place that was a real let down, and was also quite expensive for Brazilian standards.

The hotel itself is nice, has a certain charm and character and has the potential to be extremely good, but in it's current state would not give it the 5 stars it claims. I think that it is probably worth paying the extra and staying there if you only have one night, as everything is right on the doorstep, but otherwise there are some nice places on the road to the park or in Foz itself which are much cheaper.

The Cataratas are amazing ... and would recommend the Macucu safari ... just remember to put your bathing suit on .. as you will get very wet !