Hotel Pousada Esmeralda

We rented a car and drove to this hotel from Rio. It is well located just outside the entrance to the park. The 2 km road to get to the hotel is a muddy dirt road that can be hard on a car. This hotel offers quaint little chalets that have fireplaces (that they will start for you) and a lot of charm. They are clean and well maintained. The main house/reception area is adorable with amazing plants and they have darts, ping pong, a pool table, and fuzz ball. The property features a pool and a pond with ducks. All meals are included in the price of the room and are served in a cozy dinning room buffet style. The food is very good. It is all fresh and homemade and delicious. The staff are very friendly and helpful. Because you are nestled up against the park, the wildlife is wonderful - we saw wild parrots on our roof, an incredible large moth and the sounds of the animals/bugs at night is incredible. We also witnessed the most spectracular thunder and lightening storm I have ever seen. We did have an issue with mosquitos at night - never saw them but got attacked badly. It may have been made worse by the fact that I was 6 months pregnant but even with repellant on, they attacked my eyelids!! They should have mosquito nets on the beds. The owner/manager speaks pretty good English but the rest of the staff do not.