Cristalino Jungle Lodge

We arrived by boat on a very hot day, around 38C/100F. It was 2pm and, after a flight, a one hour car drive on a dirt road and 30min boat trip (with no roof) under the sun, I was yearning for a cold long shower in a fresh room. You won't believe this but when I entered the room, a bungalow in the rainforest, there was NO a/c at all, just two fans. The temperature inside the room was much higher than outside. I promise, it was like entering an oven!!! I just couldn't believe it! This is a place that charges $800/1.000 per night! I nearly had a claustrophobic breakdown thinking of being trapped in the place for days with no escape from the terrible heat. When I told the manager, with an interpreter because he only speaks Portuguese (...), he said it was a specially designed architecture with natural ventilation... I gave him a piece of my mind about that in no uncertain terms. The natural ventilation didn't seem to work very well as long as inside the room the temperature was at least 43C/110F. Of course any hotel can choose not to have a/c, but, being in a tropical country, they MUST advertise it in their website, so that people know what to expect. And that was not all: the following day, after a very poor sleep night, I discovered a communal room with a/c (switched off). They kept the information at the arrival briefing... Finally: the place has pretensions of fine dining, but you have to keep your dirty cutlery all the meal, in the bathroom there are just two towels per person, one middle size and one large, no hand towels, no tissues, no umbrellas in the room (this is the rainforest...), only at the restaurant, no phone to communicate with the communal areas quite far away, no fridge in the room. There is a floating deck, very different looking from the picture on the website, but no cushions on the wooden sun loungers, very hard and uncomfortable. In the evening, despite the very high temperatures, they lit a large smoky fire in the open restaurant, just to be a bit more cosier... Our guide, Francisco, a mine of informations about birds and all things about the Amazon, was by far the best thing of the lodge. Think twice before going to this place, unless you absolutely love birds and do not care about anything else. We had an early departure and I was glad to see the lodge fading away down the river...

Lovely lodge set on river. Accommodation - has lovely bungalow style houses. The food was amazing - 3 courses a day and the way they were presented with so much detail and flavour. Good guides with lots of knowledge and a range of trips on river and walking trials spotting wildlife. It is a bit of a trip to reach lodge but very much worth it!

We spent 4 nights, 3 full days at the lodge. Our guide tailored the excursions to our interests while providing insight into the Amazon biome. Caio was incredibly knowledgeable and our boatman Thio was overflowing with knowledge from 23 yrs of guiding. The sunrise tower experience was our favorite. We loved the river excursions and kayaking. Our room was very comfortable and we were blessed to be upgraded to the only unit with a/c. The food is excellent tho a bit too gourmet for my taste. Be prepared for the heat. Few bugs when we were there but bring a spray with DEET. The Pia type is useless. Saw lots of wildlife and beautiful birds but from a distance. Very nice setting to unwind.

This lodge is very special. Our family of four - parents and two adult children - spent a week here over Christmas and all had a fabulous time. Parents stayed in one of the junior bungalows and the children in superior rooms, all of which were nicely appointed, clean and well maintained. It was quite hot during our stay, so we quickly learned to cool off with multiple swims, showers and fruit juices at the bar each day. Our guide for the week, Rafa, and the boatman, Leandro, were fabulous, showing us way more wildlife than we ever thought possible. By the end we had more than 200 birds on our lists, together with multiple mammals, spiders, and frogs. The food at the restaurant was fresh tasting and delicious, much of it with Brazilian flavors and produce from their gardens. All in all, Cristolino was the perfect choice for us. The only downside was that our flight home from Alta Floresta was cancelled at the last minute due to weather. Our daughter texted the concierge (even though of course we had checked out). Lucas joined us after a few minutes, negotiated with the airline staff (who spoke limited English) and stayed with us until we had been rebooked. This all took several hours (since everyone else was rebooking as well!). He wouldn’t leave until we completely taken care of - way above and beyond in my view. So, thank you Cristolino for a wonderful week and to Lucas for getting us home!