Mabu Thermas Grand Resort

Not all Iguacu’s hotels are intimate and in the rainforest. Brazil’s Mabu Grand is as discreet as Disney. And almost as fun. As much water park as hotel, it has artificial beaches (with bars serving icy caipirinhas), big wave pools, water slides and rides. The grounds also have their own small patch of forest – with trails for the kids and an artificial lake with waterbirds and capybara.

Rooms are package hotel plain and functional – cubes with laminate floors, cream walls and en suites. But they are excellent value.

The resort sits on the eastern edge of Foz do Iguaçu town opposite the Catuaí Palladium shopping mall (with a cinema and food court). It’s a five-minute taxi ride from the restaurants of the town centre and ten minutes from the national park and Falls.

It’s immensely popular with Brazilian families who flock here at weekends over Carnival and in the July school holidays.