Clearly there are two 5 Star rated hotels near the famous waterfalls that might deserve their ratings but San Martin Hotel is not amongst them. Although self-rated in a 5 star category it does not by far meet the fullfilments of a 5 star resort. This is nevertheless an OK place to stay for a couple of nights under the circumstances given that there is a lot to see outside of the resort and one does not have to necessarily spend much time within the hotel area. Rooms were described to be poor in the lower categories as we have read on several pages in advance so we booked a "junior suite" , however due to all negative comments on the net, we checked in at arrival being prepared to see the worst room ever. The airport transfer we ordered in advance was arranged and a nice driver picked us up. Once we drove up to the hotel the first impression of this gated area and the large drive way seemed fine. The second impression is quickly made after you entrance the house. You can tell this hotel has been one of the first in Iguazu- the house is old, its interieur appearance lacks of charme of an 70ies Moevenpick hotel, the lobby is dark woodened and there is a certain funky smell to it - probably the same as in elderly people homes. The receptionist though was very nice, he was clearly delighted to check in people who chose a Junior suite. Also we were greeted with two coupons for a welcome drink at the bar. He treated us very nicely and was polite - on the whole everyone of the staff seemed very nice even if we could not speak proper portuguese, efforts were being made. Of course there were some exceptions- not all staff members were well trained and at the pool area one could wait for at least 5 minutes until being noticed and asked for what one needs. Also it might be a disadvantage for the hotel that they do not train their staff in english since the hotel accomodates a lot foreign people from everywhere. However we cannot confirm certain comments on tripadvisor that say you will not be treated nicely if you can t speak the language- that is not true at all. It s just missing the training and a certain finishing in service. Also it appears the staff members are not very well paid and therefore appear not satisfied. Be sure to give the tip to the right one especially at dinner time - there are some staff members of overriding importance who order others around and cash in the tip although they do not serve you.
Rooms: The junior suite was a very small room- the word "suite" cannot describe this room rather than the word "junior". It contained a surprisingly short kingsize bed (for tall people there is only one option: hang your ten & feet outside the bed during sleep) a little table and two chairs as well as a fridge, a tv an an AC. We estimate the room at 14 square meters not including the bathroom. The bathroom might be of 6 square meters size displaying an average shower with a glass wall, an older toilet and a sink. On its whole the room incl the bathroom was average clean and you could see the whole wing was renovated some time ago- basically the room s colors were white and gray and our feet were glad to discover there was no old carpeting but nice looking darker lamination. The toilet drainage is very bad- we had to experience the leaverage of former guests coming up during flushing three pieces of toilet paper. But ultimately after having called the reception a maid came in to solve this problem. The shower worked just fine- you have to remember where you are- of course water pressure and consistency of temperatures cannot be measured with western standards.
Food:
Well unfortunately this did not at all fulfill our expectations from a 5 star hotel. The food was exceptionally bad- it was the kind of food you would not even find in a 2 star US highway motel or a youth hostel in France. Breakfast and Dinner is served on a buffet. Prices not included in room rate. If so it would have nearly been ok but the things they offer insult even the most unpretentious gourmets. At breakfast: Do not expect strong or well made coffee, they serve you a brown liquid out of a huge warming kettle that tastes like anything but coffee. Milk shows flaky stuff, juices are from tetra pack cartons, and tea we did not even touch. There are 3 kinds of cereal other than that the scenario remained the same for all 3 mornings we spent there: one kind of ham, salami and cheese. Some butter, honey and other spreads and two different kinds of melon and papaya as well as pears, bananas and apples. Nothing special. Luckily they also serve scrambled egg that comes out of the tetra pack (egg yolks) too, sausages and chicken nuggets. Alongside some sweet, not sweet and milk bread and toast.
Dinner was nearly similar - inadequately bad. It always featured a salad bar buffet displaying partly whithered salads or mayo-salads out of the bucket. Hot meals are fried rice, noodles, fried polenta or extremely mashed potatoes (declared as swiss potato), some undefined meat in sauce, vegetables in cheese sauce, and one night a really fat fried fish which was so bad it even beat Mc Donalds McFish in its taste.
Desserts came in all kind of mousses- chocolat, strawberry (really odd pink fluff), caramel pudding, white pudding (which was definitely not pudding but marshmellowy fluff), and some cakes that came out of the freezer.
Pool bar menu was not better and unfortunately the other restaurant s menue did not top the rest. If you feel adventurous order a Salad du Chef at the Pool bar - it costs 19 real and comes with one slice of cheese, ham and turkey as well as two tomatoes one pickle and some green salad which was clearly a leftover from last night s buffet. The tomatoes tasted pretty old.
Of course you can also choose the a la carte menue at dinner which we did not even dare because expectations were lowered to the lowest point due to the buffet.
Dinner room is not nice to stay in - it resembles the comfort of a factory canteen and is very noisy. The welcome drink was a slap in the face- you could either choose between batida de maracuja or batida de coco or a fruit juice that was served in a miniature glass.
Other amenities:
Pool = dirty and amazingly crowded pee hole- one should think the guests spend their days out but most do not do .
Outside area = they offer an eco trail around the house which is more or less just a walking trail with some info about the plants and trees along. There also is a soccer field as well as a beachball ground and a basketball court.
Game room= ok for pool billiards, table tennis and cards.
They offer karaoke, bingo and other programmes on different nights.
The tourist desk in the lobby is very good- they offer all kinds of tours and arrange nearly everything.
On the whole we can recommend this place for people who like to be outside a hotel and experience the waterfalls. Once you stay in do not expect 5 stars.

It´s about a great base location for seeing the brazilian side of the "cataratas" !! Rooms are clean and great but not roomy. Food is good too! People are great. Only minutes from airport and steps away from entrance gate to falls park. There´s a "bird" park next door but we didn´t get to see it. We went to the city one afternoon for lunch and returned by local bus without a problem. We recommend it!

The hotel is perfect for one or two nights whilst you explore the Brazilian side of the falls. The park entrance is only 300m from the hotel so there is no need to get a taxi and its also only 5 minutes from the airport. The hotel itself is rather characterless and the rooms are very small but as it's just a base for exploring the falls it's location outweighs that.
We ate in the Coffee shop both nights we were there and the food wasn't too expensive and was fine.
The hotel has a 2km nature trail in the grounds which is a nice touch.

My boyfriend and I stayed for 1 night in October 2011. We were supossed to stay for 2 nights but had to cancel the second night due to flight changes.

We arrived into Foz do Iguazu airport at lunch time. The hotel was a 5 minute drive away. We checked in, dumped the bags and headed straight to the Brazilan side of the falls. It was literally less than a 5 minute walk to the falls entrance which is fantastic if you are short on time. The bird park is right next door too if that is of interest to you. We spent the afternoon at the falls (amazing!!). One afternoon is plenty of time to see all of the Brazilian side. When we returned to the hotel that evening we took a walk through the forest at the back of the hotel which brings you down to the Iguazu river. We then chilled by the lovely pool area for a while supping on beers from the pool bar before heading into the hotel restaurant for dinner.

Overall I found the standard of accommodation very good especially considering the price we paid. The bedroom looked like it had been recently renovated. Based on previous reviews I read here I had asked for a superior room so I can't comment on the standard room. The pool area was lovely to chill out after a busy day and the restaurant was more than adequate for 1 night. The following day we did the argentinian side of the falls and flew out of Iguazu that night.

I would recommend 2 nights in Iguazu Falls. San Martin is perfect base for exploring the brazil side and you can organise a transfer through the hotel to bring you to the Argentinian side. There is nothing close to the hotel so anymore time than 2 nights and you may get cabin fever.