Botanique Hotel & SPA

Botanique Hotel & SPA

Botanique Hotel & SPA sits nine kilometers outside Campos do Jordão, on a private stretch of forest and lakes in the Serra da Mantiqueira, the same range that runs between São Bento do Sapucaí and Santo Antônio do Pinhal. The twenty rooms are built from reclaimed wood with natural light filling the space, and the bathrooms are lined in chocolate-toned slate; the suites in the main building open onto private balconies facing the mountains, while the villas add fireplaces, private gardens and hammocks for guests who want their own patch of forest rather than a shared terrace. There is a spa with sauna, steam room and massage treatments, an outdoor pool, a gym, a tennis court and trails for hiking or cycling, plus a library and picnic area for slower afternoons. A restaurant and bar serve food built around Brazilian cooking, and breakfast can be taken in the room. What separates it from other retreats scattered across these hills is a plain house rule: guests eighteen years old and younger are not permitted to stay, at any time of year, which keeps the pool deck and the sauna quiet in a way few properties this size can promise. That rule tells you who it is for: couples, solo travelers after real quiet, small groups on a work retreat using the conference hall, people who hike in the morning and want a massage by afternoon. It is not for family trips with children, though staff fluent in English, Spanish, German and French mean it does not stumble over international guests otherwise. Pets are not permitted either. The forest around it does most of the talking. Twenty rooms in a private forest reserve above Campos do Jordão, where guests eighteen and under are not permitted, so the pool and sauna stay quiet. It suits couples and solo travelers after real quiet, not family trips.