Aguativa Golf Resort

We were lucky to have access to the Privilege section of this popular Brazilian resort. This isn't widely available and came about because of friends with swapping privileges in the Registry Collection of properties. If you can get it, this is the only way to go. Nice three-bedroom stand-alone houses, with full cooking and laundry facilities on a beautiful property. The general facilities are heavy on water sports (10 pools and three water slides!), but also have a golf course, tennis courts and other activities. Downsides include very small regular accommodations akin to small motel rooms, mediocre cuisine, and few English speakers (though those who do try very hard). The overall rating is for the Privilege section. If you stay in the regular section it would be two notches lower. You probably have to rent a car at the nearest airport in Londrina, about 45 minutes away, as we didn't see other good options. You can go to the nearest town, Cornelio Procopio, in about 20 minutes for groceries and a few restaurants. Special commendation to Carlos at the front desk who used his work-in-progress English to assist us in many ways. The staff actually parted with him to ride with me into town to find a pharmacy for sunburn cream. They try very hard to help at all times.