TerryK

Great summary! ^

How about getting from ICU to Sheraton and back or going down town for dinner? Is it convenient without a car?

ajnaro

We rented a car at the airport on the Brazilian side and drove to the Sheraton on the Argentine side. You’re supposed to buy insurance before crossing the border, and we did so but we were never asked to show the receipt. A car is very convenient for travel between the falls sites in the two countries, for dining on one side or the other, and for sightseeing in the countryside. The car services offered at the Sheraton are expensive. You can drive into Paraguay for duty-free shopping and there is also a duty-free shop on the Brazil/Argentina border but we avoided shopping since there is a lot of counterfeit merchandise on sale and a lot of price haggling is required. However, it might be worth taking a look at the Itaipú dam. In general we were very glad to have the car while at the Sheraton.

MSPeconomist

Is the cash part of cash and points prepaid? Even if not and you pay cash at the blue rate, the points (and category) were presumably calculated using the official exchange rate so that I would think that it's generally a bad idea to use either points or cash and points in Argentina at this time. At the blue rate, hotel prices in dollars are cheap down there; just ignore the prices stated in dollars when you book and do the conversion at a *reasonable* blue rate--you probably can't realistically get the really good blue rates without risking counterfeit bills or other shady dealings.

TerryK

Which car rental company did you use?

ajnaro

Avis, but as I recall there are lots of car rental companies at the airport.

bdhaliwa

We are staying for 3 nights in Sheraton Iguazu on points + $, the reservation only allowed for 2 adults + 1 kid as option, we have 3 kids with us, in the past we have winged it at Starwood properties in Hawaii and mainland. Question, are the SPG properties in Argentina really picky about # of kids? Do they check all passports at checkin? I have requested a Platinum upgrade which looks good according my concierge.

red star

The rooms are very small. Even if they let you stay together in one room you need to have very tiny kids. Otherwise your least favorite one needs to sleep on the balcony.

Thunderroad

I can't speak from experience, but it seems that you're taking a chance and should be prepared to shell out for a second room if necessary. On an encouraging note, when my wife and stayed there a number of years ago the front desk staff seemed friendly and informal...but all it takes on the other hand is one desk clerk who's not in a good mood or simply is obligated to play it by the book. And a real stickler conceivably could say that you need a second room even if you're upgraded to a suite.

Whatever you do, make sure to request an room(s) facing the waterfalls (and preferably on an upper floor), as that is part of what makes staying there a special experience.

Hope it all works out.

TerryK

There is a good reason for allowing only 2+1. Rooms are rather small.@:-) Even Premier Suites, which is the standard Platinum upgrade, can barely accommodate 2+2. Terrace Suite may work for 2+3 but it still will be a tight squeeze. Note Terrace Suite is not a standard Platinum upgrade and they only have four of them. I would book two rooms if I were in your shoes.

mahasamatman

This hotel is one of the few where I've requested "best view" over "largest room" in my upgrade preferences.

Dieuwer

Where can you get pesos at the blue rate in Iguazu?

BonViveur

Stayed 4-6 Jan 2015. We had 2 rooms. One was a falls view booked on points (pref largest room) and one was a suite booked on points (pref best view).

The suite booked was offered on the top floor (3), right in the middle. Great view and long balcony facing the falls. TINY shower with poor flow, but otherwise, a great room to enjoy the falls. The room booked was upgraded to a terrace suite on the 1st floor. Great room and great upgrade.

Breakfast was offered as well as the 500 points. Great, large buffet with everything we wanted. Service and food offering is typically Sth American. I even received a gift ( I asked for it and offered to pay, but they said I should take it in return for my loyalty).

We had the churrasco buffet on the first night. Quite expensive but you are stuck in a national park. All things considered, better than expected for the location.

This is a perfect place to both enjoy the sight and sound of the falls and only a 5 min walk from the trails on the Argentine side.

There are many reasons for using a car service rather than renting, but the best are:

- the driver waits for you everywhere. We were collected from airport in Brazil, did the heli flight, the Brazil side and then were transferred to the hotel in Argentina, with our luggage looked after, in the car, all day.
- the driver is a guide and can save you hours of waiting in line by purchasing tickets from the guides' line. Two girls on our tour of the Argentine side waited over two hours. We waited two minutes.
- the driver goes to a different booth at the border so you don't have to line up.

It was $46 for transfer only or $120 for the transfer plus all the driving and waiting. A fantastic bargain to save all the time.

blindman

Probably a stupid question:

But if you stay here do you have to pay the entrance fee to get into the Park?

Will arrive early PM day one, then have a full day to look at Brazil falls then back for PM ARG falls.

Don't really want to pay for ARG twice

mahasamatman

I have to give kudos to this property, even though we never got a chance to stay there. LAN decided today was a good day for a strike, so they canceled all flights and in turn we had to cancel our trip to Iguazú. The hotel was generous enough to allow us to cancel tonight's reservation with no cancellation fee.

And they had already upgraded us to a falls-view, too...

TerryK

You only need to pay once, when you first enter the park before checking in. No need to pay for returns. Note payment at entrance gate is cash only. Be sure to have ARS ready for payment.