Starwood Lurker IV

Hello 3rdworldresident

For paid reservation you have to contact the hotel directly to cancel. Depending on the rate plan you have booked as well. Care to PM us your stay details for us to confirm this?


Best regards,

Lin Naseem | Social Media Specialist
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd
[email protected]

MSPeconomist

I stayed in both last year. The Belmond is clearly a higher category property, but most of their rooms are small. The restaurant is *much* better at the Belmond, in terms of food, atmosphere, service, wine list, etc., although note that the Belmond has a wider selection for F&B outlets at the property, plus (like the former Sheraton) some additional informal places within walking distance. The Belmond is also a classic building (climb the clock tower at sunset for a great view of the falls as the light changes) versus the ugly modern concrete and glass of the former Sheraton. To me, it seemed that the Belmond was closer to the falls in terms of interesting walks, but this is somewhat subjective as the boats that go under the falls seem to be an activity undertaken from the Argentina side. OTOH, I highly recommend the bird park which is within walking distance of the park entrance (regular free shuttles to/from the Belmond) on gate Brazil side.

My bottom line is that the Belmond is much better (with some pros and cons) but (1) it tends to be more expensive, including F&B at the property, and (2) many nationalities require a visa ($160 plus visa service agency fees, etc. for USA citizens) to go to Brazil.

3rdworldresident

Thank you for very useful info.

BTW, Im now holding Thai passport so no need to pay for visa fee in most south america countries.

3rdworldresident

anyone has stayed there after the reflag yet? As of now i still have no idea how to contact hotel. does anyone has their email address?

recently i found the lower rate on the expedia. however it is non-refundable and the 21% tax is charged too.

im curious if i book with expedia, will i get a refund for the 21% tax portion at check out?

Starwood Lurker

Their phone number is (54) (3757) 491800. They are probably not using the same email address as they had before deactivation since it ended in sheraton.com.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts LLC

[email protected]

iahphx

The Belmond is also EXTREMELY expensive. For my nights, they want well over US$500 for 2 adults and 1 child. A good alternative would appear to be the San Martin hotel, which seems to have some affiliation with Accor. It's just outside the Brazilian entrance to the Falls (walking distance to the Falls), and charges about US$105 for 3 people, breakfast included. It's not a fantastic hotel, and certainly no Belmond, but it seems to be a vastly better value. Free shuttle to the very nearby IGU (Brazilian side) airport.

If the rebranded Sheraton is now expensive (as I'm sure it will be) and has no good point redemption option, I don't yet know of a good alternative on the Argentine side. I'm glad I'll still be able to get my visit in on points!

MSPeconomist

Your San Martin hotel may be very close to the entrance to the park on the Brazil side, but I doubt that it's within walking distance of the falls themselves as it's a long distance from the park entrance to where the pathways down to the falls start across from the Belmond Hotel. I'm guessing that it would take almost half a day to walk along the road (boring walk too) from the park entrance to the falls, plus there's the heat and humidity. OTOH, the park provides free shuttle buses for the trip, so why would one want to walk?

iahphx

On the hotel's tripadvisor page, guests imply that they're walking to the falls from the hotel, but I guess from your comment that they're actually taking the shuttle busses!

nadir576

I need to cancel points reservation at this property. I got an email from the sPG rep and were told to email the property and asked them to cancel the reservation. After waiting for a couple of days, I haven't heard anything. I am little worried that I will be getting close to my award stay.
Can I email [email protected] and ask them to facilitate canceling my award reservation?

Starwood Lurker

That was my advice earlier in the thread.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts LLC

[email protected]

nadir576

Thanks for the advice. Reservations were already cancelled after emailing within 2 hours.

iahphx

Yeah, I'm wondering, too. They wrote me and said they're honoring my points reservation, so I'm assuming that will go fine. I hope they're still throwing in the free breakfast, because that would undoubtedly be a considerable expense otherwise.

Before the reflagging, the hotel told me in an email that a taxi from the Iguazu, Argentina airport would cost ARS$450, which translates to about US$25. I assume that's the only practical way to the hotel from the airport? We're 3 people, so I doubt anything else would make sense, anyway. Is it a fixed fare? I did this once almost 20 years ago, but my memory is very faded!

aviationwiz

I stayed there last month and am pretty sure I paid ARS$450 for a taxi from the airport. There was a stand for a taxi company right when walking out of baggage claim with fixed fare pricing clearly notated for different destinations - that's what I did. For 3 people, that's the only practical solution (other than renting a car, which, why would you want to?)

iahphx

Thanks. Good -- I prefer to just go to a booth and prepay for my taxi ride. I think it minimizes the risk of taxi drivers trying to rip you off.

BTW, does anyone remember if there's an ATM at or near the former Sheraton? I'm headed across the border and on to Brazil, so I want to keep my stash of Argentine currency low. But I'd like to be able to get more if I need it. Like if I take a taxi across the border to my Brazilian hotel (before I leave for Rio), do I need to pay the driver in pesos?

If there's any currency you don't want to hold onto these days, it's the Argentine peso.

MSPeconomist

When I was there, I think I saw some sort of ATM in the hotel, one floor down from the main lobby with the front desk and near the souvenir stand and tour desks. In addition, there's a cluster of tourist restaurants within easy walking distance of the hotel in the park, in the general direction of the trails, essentially at the next tourist/park bus stop; I would expect to find an ATM there. Finally, you should be able to take the tourist/park bus to the park entrance, which would seem to have ATMs available for the purchase of tickets and souvenir items in their shops. However, the Sheraton was a full service hotel, so the front desk might be able to change limited amounts of money.

When I did the reverse, starting in Brazil and visiting the park on both sides before continuing to Argentina, I seemed to get shockingly bad exchanges rates at official places in Buenos Aires to convert Brazilian to Argentinian cash.