UN-BE-LIEVABLE
Want…read morea vacation of a lifetime? Let me plan it for you. Basically this pousada is all you need. What's that? A pousada (in Brazil) is like a roadhouse, guesthouse or inn. But more than that, they're typically all inclusive. You can visit a pousada for lunch or dinner, or you can stay there as a guest and have meals included or excluded depending on your specific plans.
I came here through a recommendation of a friend and stayed with a large traveling group of couples. It worked perfectly because this pousada is comprised of 7 little private cabanas, plus some public spaces like an outdoor chapel, a swimming pool, a BBQ patio, a restaurant, and a breakfast bar/common meeting house.
We had wifi in our rooms and on the grounds. Though spotty at times, I was almost relieved it didn't work perfectly because I was trying to be on vacation in the jungle. In fact, that was another major draw of this specific location. Located in Morretes, Parana - we were about 30 mins from Curitiba, the capital of the state. So we weren't far from a big city, but Morretes was sleepy, quaint, and cute. The pousada was up on a hill in a clearing and was totally surrounded by the actual jungle.
The grounds were breathtaking and lush, the place was extremely clean and I even learned that the entire pousada was relatively new. So each cabana was outfitted with brand new everything. New beds, new linens, new flatscreen TVs, etc. Even the art in the cabanas was absolutely awesome. Since we were in a group with friends, I got to pop into the other cabanas on our trip and each one was unique in its own way. Different art, different accent pillows - it was really precious to see the attention to detail and feel like we had our own unique space among the different cabanas.
The owners have a small staff on-site but are essentially doing almost all the work. At night you let them know roughly when you'd like to eat breakfast and they prepare the most incredible breakfast buffet you've ever seen. Complete with fresh fruit, breads, coffee, yogurt, oatmeal, fresh juice, and more. It was the absolute best breakfast I've had and I was thrilled to stay there 10 days because I got my fill of that breakfast every single morning.
If you want to eat there in the evenings you let them know or you pop down to the restaurant for dinner. Sometimes there are people coming in from town or elsewhere to have dinner but it's a relatively private and secluded place otherwise. Very safe, very clean, and very well run. There's an outside laundry service if you want your clothes cleaned and they accept credit cards for payment.
Emilio and Denise are the owners and when we finally packed up and left after 10 days with them, I teared up. You become a family member here and they're so appreciative of your visit that it makes it hard to leave. I will absolutely be back and will forever recommend that if anyone goes to Brazil, especially southern Brazil, they have to visit beautiful Morretes and stay here. We came for the World Cup and even though the game and the arena was in Curitiba 30 miles away, the real Brazilian experience was staying out in the jungle and making friends with hardworking, loving, small town people. It was better than any hotel I've stayed in, in any big city.
Fair warning: Because of the proximity of the jungle (about 30 ft from the cabanas) you will find large spiders and frogs and various bugs on the grounds. We did find a spider in our cabana but well... I won't say how that ended for the spider. Absolutely petrified of spiders, my boyfriend was nervous at first but the place is so spotless and so well taken care of that it's actually not a common occurrence. And definitely not an issue big enough to worry about that it would keep you from staying here. Just part of the fun of the jungle experience!
