17 Best Hotels in Side Trips from São Paulo, Brazil

In the middle of a 300,000-square-meter (3.2 million-square-foot) park with more than 1 million trees and local wildlife, this hotel is in a beautiful art deco building that was a casino during the 1940s. Now it's a teaching hotel—many of the friendly staff members are students—and restaurant with all the comforts of a full-service spa.

The choice of wealthy paulistanos, the Firenze is the smartest hotel in Serra Negra; its location, a stone's throw from the shopping area and the town's main square, is the primary draw. Rooms are comfortable and amenities include a fitness room, a swimming pool surrounded by hammocks, a games room with pool and card games tables, and massage services, which are charged separately. The hotel also offers a range of activities for children.

This hotel, resembling a large ranch house, has an arcaded veranda and well-maintained, but rather dated, rooms. The pool area is large and a perfect place to relax. The restaurant serves home-style Brazilian fare like filé à cubana (steak with fried bananas) and has live music on weekends in the high season.

Past guests of this exclusive hotel at the top of the Cantagalo Hill range from kings of Sweden to the Rolling Stones. Each of the rooms has distinctive furnishings that are part of its theme, such as a piano, a billiard table, or a telescope—and all have balconies facing the sea.

North of the ferry dock, this red house has midsize rooms, all at ground level. Each room has its own unique decoration, but all have hardwood furnishings, and either tile or stone floors.

A stay at this cozy guesthouse puts you in the gastronomic and commercial center of Campos. Most rooms have balconies, and five of them have whirlpool baths.