We arrived very late at night and we appreciate that we did not pay very much so our expectations were not high but even these were not reached. We were given a room on the fifth floor. Check-in was very relatively smooth. When we reached the room it smelled like someone has urinated the bed and it had not been cleaned properly. The facilities are very basic. We had been travelling for the best part of 16 hours and really just wanted to get our head downs and could not be bothered with the hassle of moving rooms - we should just never have been allocated in the first place.

The breakfast is across the car park at the Novotel and this was very nice and very good value for money.

Check-out was a total hassle. We had paid upfront using Booking.com but the hotel tried to make us pay again (alongside paying for the breakfast). If I had not been alert they would have done so. There was no apology for this.

My recommendation would be, even if it is just for a few hours, pay the little extra and stay in the Novotel.

We arrived on a late flight, so the Ibis was the obvious choice for us, since we knew what to expect from this hotel chain. Everything was fine, the bed was comfortable and the bathroom clean with a strong, hot shower. WiFi worked a treat. The taxi ride from the airport was a fixed BRL20, check-in was quick, and we liked the fact that ckeck-out was not until midday, which gave us plenty of time to recover from our long journey, acquaint ourselves with the city's infernal heat, and shortened the waiting time for our cruise check-in. Breakfast cost around BRL22 p.p. and was plentiful. Reception staff spoke English and called us a white, metered taxi to the port. The ride took about 25 minutes and cost BRL63. We couldn't have wished for a less complicated start to our Amazon cruise. Later on we spent one night in a hotel close to the Amazon Theatre at three times the price of the Ibis, but while it was an experience we would not have wanted to miss it was not worth three times the value.