The owners of Heliconia Amazon River Lodge provide a very reasonable and comfortable jungle experience.
The ride to the lodge, 1.5 hours downriver from Iquitos, goes by quickly and the remoteness starts to sink in. There are still people living everywhere in the area, but at night the surroundings are DARK.
When we arrived, the bar was open and the beer was cold. The pool was warm and inviting and our daughters were in it before I could practically turn around.
Lunch and dinner is sometimes served buffet style. There are always at least two selections, chicken or beef and fish. The food is very good, especially the fish dishes. If you catch any fish, they will cook it to order. The catfish is excellent, especially with lime sauce. The yucca (manioc) and plantains are a bit dry and need some work, but they're healthy and worth a try. Breakfast is a full breakfast, with cold cuts, cheese, eggs fixed how you like them and fresh fruits and juices. The coffee is freshly brewed.
There were MANY activities. I don't know where the heck Balap was. We ALWAYS were doing something, whether it was going on a canoe paddle up a tributary, fishing for piranha and seeing pink dolphins, hiking through the jungle of an Amazonian island to see giant Victoria regia water lilies, visiting a local sugar cane distillery, visiting a local village and dancing with them. We were busy from before breakfast to dinner.
Electricity is on for 3 times per day, which was way more than ample to charge our camera batteries and for the refrigerators to chill the beer.
Our guide, Victor, was excellent. He was knowledgeable about the plants, animals and fishes. He was concerned about our well being and whether we were having fun and he was simply amazing at finding the local fauna.
I highly recommend this lodge. It is not as plush as some others and their advertising makes that clear. It is affordable and the activities were interesting and enjoyable. My kids didn't want to leave (and neither did I).

I went here in 2006, not 2010, after a week and half of travelling between Lima, Iquitos and Mazan...it was great after being in a hut for a week, having hot water, decent food and fun bar/lounge to hang out in. It was very rustic in a fun way, rooms were sufficient, bathrooms as well. There were safes in the room, which was great, with fun pirate looking keys. The lounge/bar had hammocks and was in the center of the spider-like layout. Very neat observation tower also. The back of our room was partially screened for a window and you could hear the sounds of the jungle loud at night...very cool.

I've traveled in over 75 countries and done a number of trips to the Amazon in Peru & Ecuador. This, by far, was the worst and most over-priced place I've ever stayed in.

The fact that the place is super-basic ("rustic" would be a severe exaggeration) without electricity is a fact you can live with. And the food is awful but hey, you're in the middle of a jungle and that's okay too.

But what really got me was the fact that the "jungle walks" were very, very lame and you basically have NOTHING to do. Yes, you go to the nearby lake for fishing and caiman watching but they were both SUPER-LAME.

On the way back, our boat (very reckless driver) broke down in the middle of the river and we had to get towed by a small fishing boat - there were no apologies from the owner or refunds or anything - lucky we didn't miss a flight.

All this is fine if we didn't have to pay a ridiculous 3M COP for 3 nights. We left after 2 nights because there was NOTHING to do.

So, if you want a "jungle" experience, do day trips from Leticia or go to Puerto Narino or avoid Colombia altogether. There are plenty of options from Iquitos which are far superior.

One positive thing I'll say about the owner - he was flexible as I changed the trip dates several times. But we were practically the only ones staying there and this is the peak season. Tells you something about the place!

Owned by the same family who owns the Victoria Regia in Iquitos, this lodge does everything possible to provide a customer service oriented experience. The 1.5 hour boat ride from Iquitos to the lodge goes by quick as you take in the surroundings. Upon arrival, lunch is served in a buffet style format, incorporating local fruits and juices, as well as traditional beef/chicken. Rooms are what you'd expect from a lodge in the Amazon - no electricity (except for a few hours a day), no TV, no A/C. But you don't go to the Amazon to watch CNN. Besides, with all of the excursions, you reallly don't spend much time in the room other than to sleep. The beds were comfortable, however, and there was plenty of hot water in the morning to shower with.

You come to Heliconia to experience nature and the local culture - and the staff certainly makes sure you do. Whether it's a hike through the jungle, fishing for piranha or playing with sloths with children from a local community, the tour guides do everything possible to make the adventure an enjoyable one.

Pedro, the lodge's macaw, makes for a lot of fun and he even played soccer with me and some of the village kids!

Everything is included except drinks, but they are moderately priced and the lodge does not gouge you. Tea and coffee and water are available 24/7. Overall, an incredible experience and something worth doing again if I ever make it back.