Where to stay in Manaus, Brazil: complete guide

Looking for a good cost-effective place to stay in Manaus? As a Brazilian who loves my country’s culture, I’ve been there twice and can’t wait to go back. In this article, I will explain where to stay in Manaus to make the most of your trip, from the best locations to recommendations of hotels, inns, and hostels for different budgets.

Depending on your travel style, it may be better to stay in the Historic Center or in the Adrianópolis or Ponta Negra neighborhoods. You can take a river cruise or go stay in the jungle for a few days. Check out the options below!

You might also like to read:

Best things to do in Manaus
Where to stay in Rio de Janeiro
Where to stay in Florianópolis

Where to stay in Manaus: the best locations

Historic center

If you are wondering where to stay in Manaus and you’re traveling there for leisure, the best value for money is the city center. After all, most of the capital’s tourist attractions are there.

However, as in many large Latin cities, this region is more commercial than residential. Therefore, at night some areas are a bit deserted and may be unsafe.

To solve that issue, stay as close as possible to Largo São Sebastião, where you’ll find the Amazonas Theater, one of the city’s highlights. This is the historic part of the city center, which is both more charming and safer than other areas.

If you stay around there, you will be able to quickly reach the Theater, which is definitely worth a visit and is also located in a square surrounded by good restaurants and shops. Nearby you’ll also find some other great attractions, such as art galleries, the Igreja Matriz (main church) and the Adolpho Lisboa Municipal Market.

This is also the area where you’ll find most of the travel agencies, which is handy if you want to book tours in the city or its surroundings. You will also be relatively close to the port, where boat trips depart from (and I highly recommend going on one).

I chose to stay in Manaus historical center on my two visits to the city, and I would stay there again on my next trip. I was there both alone and with friends and didn’t feel unsafe walking during the day or night.

Both times I stayed at Local Hostel, which is located a five-minute walk from Amazonas Theater, and I really liked it. This is the best-known hostel in Manaus and has shared and private rooms, as well as a good common area, including a kitchen and a small swimming pool. A great choice if you’re on a budget.

If you are not the hostel type and would rather stay in a nice hotel in the historic center of Manaus, check out Seringal Hotel, 50 meters from the Theater. Breakfast is one of the highlights of the place, which has comfortable rooms and excellent value for money.

Are you looking for something of a higher level? Then stay at the beautiful Juma Ópera. The hotel is owned by the same company as the Juma Amazon Lodge, where I stayed for a few days in the jungle, and is a great 5 star hotel. It has very comfortable suites, swimming pool, gym, restaurant, and perfect location, right next to the Theater.

The boutique hotel Villa Amazônia, also a 5 stars hotel, is another amazing choice of stay in Manaus. It has a gym, highly praised restaurant (open to the outside public), swimming pool and a super nice atmosphere. The location is also great and it has an average rating of 9,4/10 based on guests’ reviews.

Haven’t made up your mind yet? See all accommodation options near Amazonas Theater.

Adrianópolis and Vieiralves

If you want to know where to stay in Manaus for a business trip or are looking for more choices of medium or high standard hotels in the city, a good option could be the Adrianópolis district.

This is a “noble area” of Manaus. There you won’t be so close to the tourist attractions, but it’s a nice part of the city. The neighborhood is home to the Manauara mall, considered the best shopping mall in the city, and good restaurants.

Highly recommended options of accommodation in Adrianópolis are Quality Hotel Manaus, Blue Tree Premium Manaus and Mercure Manaus.

An alternative of where to stay in Manaus with a similar profile is the neighboring district, Vieiralves. The highlight of Vieiralves is the great range of bars and restaurants.

There you can find good hotels like Manaus Hotéis Millennium and Ibis Budget. There’s also Express Vieralves, a good option for those wondering where to stay in Manaus on a budget.

To reach tourist attractions, a short Uber ride will do the trick.

Ponta Negra

In case you want to stay close to the river beach or if you feel like cooling off from the Manaus heat in a beautiful swimming pool, it is also worth looking at the accommodation in Ponta Negra.

This residential neighborhood is 15 km away from the Historic Center, but nearby it you can find some other attractions, such as the Seringal Museum, Praia da Lua (Moon Beach) and Praia Dourada (Golden Beach).

In addition, the waterfront was renovated for the 2014 World Cup and has kiosks and restaurants. This region is also closer to the airport, in case that’s convenient to you.

Ponta Negra isn’t my preferred area to stay in Manaus, but if it makes sense for the purposes of your trip, there are a couple hotels with a good reputation there, like Tropical Executive, which has a beautiful view of the river and pool, and the Uiara Amazon Resort.

If you want to do some more research, see all the accommodation in Manaus available for online booking.

River cruise, jungle hotels and indigenous communities

By staying in Manaus and enjoying the city for a few days you will already be experiencing much of the Amazonian culture. But if you want a more immersive experience, you can stay in a jungle hotel or take a river cruise down the Amazon River.

As you might imagine, these aren’t the most economical choices. But packages usually include transfers, meals, and tours, so it’s worth checking out. Besides being a different experience, you don’t have to worry about almost anything. And if you get paid in a stronger currency than Brazilian Real, it might turn out cheap.

A well-known river cruise departing from Manaus is the Iberostar Heritage Gran Amazon, which is all-inclusive. The quality of the rooms, meals and tours are highly praised.

The jungle hotel where I stayed for a few days in my last visit to Manaus, after spending a couple of nights in the city center, was the Juma Amazon Lodge. I loved my experience there and would surely recommend it. In case you want to see more pictures, check out the article I wrote in Portuguese about my stay.

It is also worth checking out Uakari Lodge, which operates in the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve. It’s further away and harder to reach, but it’s an amazing project.

They do a lot of research and promote community-based tourism, allowing guests to experience the culture of traditional communities while contributing to the conservation of local biodiversity.

Other options for accommodation in the jungle are Anavilhanas Jungle Lodge, Mirante do Gavião Amazon Lodge and Manati Lodge.

And if you want to contribute directly to the local community and experience the day-to-day life of Amazonian peoples, I highly recommend it too. You can look for indigenous communities that receive overnight tourists through community-based tourism projects.

On my first time in Amazonas, I spent a few days with an indigenous family in the community of Nova Esperança, in the Lower Rio Negro region, a few hours by boat from Manaus, and loved it! I spoke about my experience in another article about this trip to the Amazon.

Best things to do in Manaus

Now that you know where to stay in Manaus, you can also check out my blog post about what to do in the city. Before you book your accommodation, you can see which attractions you most want to see and check the distance from them to the hotels on Google Maps. Here’s a quick round-up of the places and activities I recommend on the other article:

• Perreché Downtown Tour with Uika
• Amazonas Theater Tour (and see a free concert there if you can)
• Visit the Manaus Moderna Market
• Have a beer at Bar do Armando
• Go on a boat trip to the meeting of the waters and the Janauari reserve
• Watch the sunset at the Abaré floating bar
• Explore the Botanical Garden MUSA – Museum of the Amazon
• Visit the Casarão de Ideias
• Check out the free exhibitions at Galeria do Largo
• See the shows at Tacacá na Bossa, every Wednesday night at Largo São Sebastião

I hope that these tips on where to stay in Manaus, Brazil, were useful. If you have questions, ask me in the comments section!

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