Contact

We are a small reserve run by a small team, and we answer our own messages. Whether you want to book a chalet, ask a question before you commit, plan a retreat or a wedding, or talk to us about conservation, this is the place to start. Tell us what you have in mind and we will write back like people, not a booking engine.

Send us a message

Fill in as much or as little as you like. The more you tell us about your dates, your group, and what you are hoping for, the more useful our first reply will be. Every message is read by a member of the reserve team.

What to include in your message

A good first message saves everyone a round of back-and-forth. If you already know some of these, tell us up front. If you do not, that is fine too, and we will ask.

• Your dates, or a rough window. Even “the first week of June, four or five nights” helps us check availability across the twenty-five chalets.
• Who is travelling. Number of adults and children, and their ages if they are young — it changes which chalet suits you and what we suggest doing.
• Why you are coming. A quiet week for two reads very differently from a family holiday, a birding trip, a yoga retreat, or a wedding.
• Anything that matters to you. Mobility needs, dietary requirements, an anniversary, a first trip to Brazil, a fear of insects — we would rather know.
• How you plan to arrive. Driving, flying into Rio or Sao Paulo, or arriving by bus into Paraty. It lets us advise on the last leg up the mountain.

How quickly we reply

We aim to answer every enquiry within two business days, and usually faster. If you write over a Brazilian public holiday or during our busiest weeks, it can take a little longer. If you have not heard from us within three days, please check your spam folder and then write again — email between countries is not perfect, and we would hate to miss you.

When you do hear back, it will be a real reply from a real person, with real availability and honest advice. If your dates are already full, we will say so and suggest the nearest windows that are open.

Planning your visit

Most people who stay here are combining the reserve with the wider Costa Verde, and we are happy to help you shape the whole trip, not just the nights you spend with us. We can point you to the right beaches, the best day to visit Paraty's historic center, a boat tour that is not a booze cruise, or a quiet waterfall you would never find alone.

If you would like to read up before you write, three pages do most of the work. Our stays and booking page explains how a stay works and what a night includes. Getting there covers the drive from Rio and Sao Paulo and the mountain road at the end. And best time to visit walks through the seasons, so you can pick your dates with your eyes open.

Travelling with children? Start with the family guide. Planning a longer trip? The trip planning page has three sample itineraries and a rainforest packing list.

How to find the reserve

The reserve sits in the mountains above Paraty, roughly two miles up from the Sete Quedas waterfalls, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Paraty itself lies on the BR-101 coast road — the Rio–Santos highway — about four hours from Rio de Janeiro and a little more from Sao Paulo, depending on traffic and weather.

The last stretch is a winding mountain road, and it is part of the experience. We send precise directions, a pin, and advice on the final climb once a stay is confirmed, and we can arrange a transfer if you would rather not drive the mountain yourself. Please do not rely on a map app for the final approach without talking to us first — the mountain confuses them.

Region

Paraty, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Setting

Serra do Mar, ~2 miles above the Sete Quedas

From Rio

~250 km, about 4 hours

From Sao Paulo

~300 km, 4 to 5 hours

Nearest town

Paraty

Email

stay@reservasetequedas.com

Weddings, retreats and private buyouts

Because the reserve is small, it makes an unusually private setting for a gathering. We host small weddings, wellness and yoga retreats, family reunions, and creative or corporate off-sites — always at a scale that keeps the forest first. For groups that want the whole place to themselves, a private buyout of all twenty-five chalets is possible, subject to the season.

These take more planning than a couple's stay, so the earlier you write, the better. Tell us your rough dates, your numbers, and what the gathering is for, and we will talk you through what is possible and what is not. Our weddings and retreats page has more detail to get you started.

Press, partnerships and filming

We welcome thoughtful press, and we are glad to talk to writers, photographers, and film-makers who want to tell the story of the Atlantic Forest well. We are more careful about commercial shoots and anything that would disturb wildlife or the farm, and we say no to requests that treat the reserve as a backdrop rather than a place. Use the form and choose “Press or a partnership,” and tell us what you are working on.

Conservation and volunteering

People often ask how they can help beyond a stay. The honest answer is that the most useful thing most visitors do is simply come, tread lightly, and let the chalets fund the forest. We do occasionally host researchers, students, and skilled volunteers, and we partner with conservation and education efforts in the region. If that is you, write to us and tell us what you do — we read every one of these, even when we cannot say yes.

Accessibility and special requests

The reserve is a mountain, and we will not pretend otherwise: some of the terrain is steep, and some trails are not suitable for everyone. That said, we want as many people as possible to enjoy it, and several parts of the reserve are gentle and reachable. If you or someone in your party has mobility, sensory, or medical needs, tell us in your message and we will be straight with you about what will and will not work, and how we can adapt. The same goes for dietary needs — the kitchen is small and flexible, and it leans on the farm, so it handles most requirements well with a little notice.

A note on booking safely

We will only ever contact you from our own domain, and we will never ask you to send a password, a full card number, or a government ID by email or through this form. If you receive a message that claims to be from the reserve and asks for any of those, treat it as suspicious and write to us directly to check. Your privacy matters to us, and exactly how we handle your information is set out in full in our Privacy Policy.

Planning a couple's stay

Most people who come to the reserve for the first time come as a pair, and the place is built for it. A chalet two acres from its nearest neighbour, a forest that muffles everything but birdsong, cold pools to swim in, dark skies at night, and food that arrives without fuss: it adds up to the kind of quiet that is genuinely hard to find. If you are planning a honeymoon, an anniversary, or simply a week to disappear together, tell us when you write. We will not fill your days with activities you did not ask for, but we will make sure the small things are right — a good chalet, the walks worth doing, the best evening to be at the falls, and a table set where you want it. If there is an occasion, mention it, and we will do something kind about it without turning it into a production.

Planning a family trip

Families do unusually well here, and we love having them. Children who would be bored stiff in a hotel spend entire mornings turning over stream stones, following a trail of leafcutter ants, learning to tell a toucan's call from a trogon's, or helping carry bananas out of the grove. The streams are shallow and safe in the right places, the donkey roads are gentle enough for small legs, and a naturalist can turn an afternoon walk into the best science lesson a child ever gets. When you write, tell us the ages of your children and we will steer you to the right chalet, the right pace, and the day trips that work with young travellers — calm beaches, the sea-turtle project at Ubatuba, an easy boat tour. Our family guide goes into detail, but a message is the fastest way to get advice tailored to your family.

Planning a retreat or a group

The reserve makes a rare setting for a small retreat — yoga, wellness, writing, a family reunion, a quiet company off-site — precisely because it is small and private. Groups can take a cluster of chalets, or, for complete privacy, buy out all twenty-five. Because these stays involve more moving parts (numbers, meals, meeting or practice space, transfers up the mountain), the earlier you start the conversation, the better we can help. Send us your rough dates, your numbers, and what the gathering is for, and we will tell you honestly what is possible in that window and what is not. The weddings and retreats page is a good place to begin.

What a first reply looks like

When you write, you will not get an automated quote. You will get a note from a person who has looked at the calendar. If your dates are open, we will tell you which chalets suit your group, what a night includes, roughly what the stay involves, and how to hold the dates. If your dates are full, we will say so plainly and offer the nearest windows that are open. If you asked a question, we will answer it. And if we think a different time of year would serve you better — fuller waterfalls, quieter trails, better birding, fewer crowds — we will say that too, even if it means waiting. We would rather you had the right trip than a fast booking.

Questions people ask before they book

These come up a lot. Fuller answers live across the site, and our FAQ is the complete version, but here is a quick orientation.

Do you list your prices online?

We do not, and it is a deliberate choice rather than a coy one. Rates vary by chalet, by season, and by length of stay, and we would rather quote you honestly for your actual dates than post a number that is wrong for most people most of the time. Tell us when you want to come and we will be straightforward about cost in our reply.

How many nights should I stay?

Long enough to slow down. Two nights is possible but always feels short by the time the mountain has worked on you; three to five is the sweet spot for most people, and a week suits anyone combining the reserve with the wider coast. We will suggest a length based on what you tell us you want to do.

Can we come just for the day?

The reserve is a place to stay, not a day-attraction, and its whole model depends on keeping visitor numbers very low. We are not set up for day visitors, and we ask people to respect that so the forest and our overnight guests keep the quiet they came for.

Is it suitable if we do not speak Portuguese?

Entirely. We correspond and host in English as well as Portuguese, and plenty of our guests are visiting Brazil for the first time. Tell us if it is your first trip and we will make the practical side — arrival, money, getting around — as smooth as we can.

What about dietary needs and allergies?

The kitchen is small, flexible, and built around the farm, so it handles vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and most allergies well with a little notice. Put your requirements in your message and we will confirm what we can do before you commit.

Do you take pets?

Because this is a working conservation reserve with sensitive wildlife, we are not able to host pets, with the usual exception for recognised service animals. Please ask us in advance if that affects you and we will talk it through.

What is your cancellation policy?

The specifics depend on the season and the type of stay, and we will set them out clearly in writing before you pay anything, so there are no surprises. If your plans change, talk to us early — we are people, and we would always rather help you move a trip than lose you altogether.

A longer word on getting here

Because the final approach trips up so many first-time visitors, it is worth saying twice. From Rio de Janeiro, the drive is roughly two hundred and fifty kilometres along the BR-101 coast road and takes about four hours in normal conditions. From Sao Paulo it is a little farther, either down to the coast and along the same road, or over the mountains through Cunha, which is slower but spectacular. Long-distance buses run to Paraty from both cities. However you reach the town, the last leg is a climb on a winding mountain road, and it is not one to attempt for the first time after dark or in heavy rain without talking to us. Once your stay is confirmed we send a precise pin, written directions, and honest advice about the road, and we can arrange a transfer if you would prefer to leave the driving to someone who knows every bend. Full route detail, with drive times, is on the getting there page.

Travel advisors and agencies

We are glad to work with travel advisors and agencies who understand what this place is and describe it honestly to their clients. If you are planning a trip on someone's behalf, write to us with the same detail you would send for your own stay — dates, guests, and what the traveller is hoping for — and mention that you are an advisor so we can set things up properly on both sides.

The footprint of your visit

One last thing worth saying on a contact page, because people increasingly ask. A stay here is designed to do more good than harm: the chalets are few and low-impact, the money funds the protection of five hundred acres of Atlantic Forest, and much of what you eat is grown on the mountain. The largest single impact of most visits is the travel to reach Brazil, which is worth being honest with yourself about and, if you can, offsetting thoughtfully. Once you are here, treading lightly is easy, and our reserve code makes it simple to follow.

Booking and payment, step by step

Booking here is a short conversation, not a checkout. It usually goes like this. You write to us with your dates and details. We reply with availability, the chalets that suit you, what a night includes, and a clear price for your actual stay. If you would like to go ahead, we confirm the dates and explain how to secure them — typically a deposit to hold the booking, with the balance due closer to arrival. Payment is handled securely, and we will set out the exact method in writing. We will never ask you to send a full card number or a password by email or through the form on this site. Once your deposit is received, the dates are yours, and we send everything you need for the trip.

After you book: what we send you

A confirmed booking is the start of the useful part. We send a precise location pin and written directions, honest advice on the final mountain road, and the option of a transfer. We send a short, practical guide to arriving — what time to aim for, what the drive is like, where to stop. And we ask a few questions so your stay is right: dietary needs, an occasion to mark, whether you want a full guided programme or to be left largely alone, and what you are hoping to see and do. The more you tell us, the better we can prepare. Everything after that is designed to be simple, so that by the time you reach the gate the planning is behind you and the forest is in front of you.

Health, safety, and the mountain

A reserve on a rainforest mountain is a wonderful place and a real one, and a little preparation makes it safer and more comfortable. Bring any personal medication you need, because the nearest pharmacy is down in Paraty. Tell us in advance about any medical condition that could matter on a trail or far from a road, so we can plan sensibly and advise you honestly about what to attempt. Trails can be steep and rocks near water are slippery; we will point you to the routes that match your group, and we ask everyone to respect the water, especially after rain. Paraty has medical services, and in a genuine emergency we know how to reach them quickly. None of this should worry you — thousands of people enjoy these mountains safely — but we would rather you arrive well informed than surprised.

Group and event logistics

If you are organising a retreat, a family gathering, or a wedding, the logistics deserve a proper conversation. Getting a group up the mountain, feeding everyone from a small farm kitchen, arranging space to gather or practise, and coordinating arrivals across different flights all take planning, and we are good at it precisely because we keep numbers small. Write to us early — months ahead for a wedding — with your dates, your numbers, and what the gathering is for. We will tell you honestly what the reserve can and cannot do for a group of your size in that season, and we will build a plan around the answer. For the full picture, start with the weddings and retreats page and the stays and booking page.

Getting married at the reserve — first steps

A wedding here is necessarily intimate, which is exactly why couples choose it. The setting does most of the work — a ceremony by a waterfall or on a canopy deck, dinner from the farm, and the whole reserve given over to the people who matter most. Because we host only a few weddings and keep them small, dates go early and planning starts early. Your first step is simply to write and tell us the season you have in mind and roughly how many guests. From there we will talk through what is possible, how a private buyout of the twenty-five chalets works, and how to hold a date. We will be honest at every stage about what suits the forest and what does not.

Languages, time zones, and how we reply

We correspond in English and Portuguese, and we are used to helping visitors for whom Brazil is a first, and sometimes a nervous, trip. The reserve keeps Brasília time, which is generally three hours behind London and ahead of most of the Americas, so if you write from another continent, please allow for the gap before you worry that we have gone quiet. We check messages through the working day and reply as ourselves, not with a template. If your question is urgent — you are already travelling, or your plans are changing fast — say so at the top of your message and we will treat it that way.

What we can help arrange

Beyond the stay itself, a good part of our job is smoothing the edges of your trip. Depending on the season and a little notice, we can usually help with:

• Transfers up the mountain, and advice on the drive if you would rather do it yourself.
• Guided walks — birding at dawn, a waterfall hike, a slow forest-bathing session, or a walk on the old gold trail.
• Farm experiences — joining a banana harvest in season, or a cooking session with the kitchen team.
• Day trips to Paraty's historic center, a bay boat tour, or farther afield to Cunha, Ubatuba, or Ilha Grande.
• Special occasions handled quietly and well — a birthday, an anniversary, a proposal.
• Dietary and access needs, planned in advance so they are simply taken care of when you arrive.

Tell us what you are hoping for and we will tell you honestly what fits your dates. We would rather do a few things well than promise everything.

Accessibility, in more detail

We want to be genuinely useful here rather than reassuring in a vague way. The reserve is a mountain, and parts of it are steep, unpaved, and some distance from a road; other parts are gentle, close to the chalets, and reachable by most visitors. We cannot honestly call the whole property step-free, and we will not pretend a rainforest trail is something it is not. What we can do is be specific: if you tell us about mobility, sensory, or medical needs, we will describe exactly which chalets, paths, and experiences will work for you, what support we can offer, and where the real limits are. Many guests with reduced mobility have had a wonderful time here by focusing on the accessible parts of the reserve, and we are always glad to plan that with you.

Press images and media

If you are writing about the reserve or the Atlantic Forest and need images, background, or an interview, get in touch through the form and choose “Press or a partnership.” Tell us your outlet, your deadline, and what you need. We are happy to help thoughtful coverage, and we can usually provide suitable photography and factual background on the reserve, the farm, and our conservation work.

Your privacy when you contact us

When you use the form above or email us, you are trusting us with your details, and we take that seriously. We use what you send only to reply to you and to help plan your visit. We do not sell it, we do not share it with advertisers, and we keep it only as long as we need it. The form asks you to confirm you have read our Privacy Policy, which explains in full what we collect, why, how long we keep it, and the rights you have to see, correct, or delete your information under the GDPR, Brazil's LGPD, and California's CCPA. If you would ever like us to delete an enquiry, just ask, and we will.

We would love to hear from you

Whatever brings you to this page — a honeymoon, a family holiday, a retreat, a story, or just curiosity about a forest above Paraty — send us a note. The mountain is quiet, the water is clean, the farm is three hundred years old, and there is a chalet with your name on it somewhere up in the trees. Tell us when you would like to come, and we will help you with the rest.

And if you are not ready to plan anything yet, that is completely fine too. Plenty of people write to us a year or more before they visit, simply to ask a question or to start imagining the trip. We are glad to be the beginning of that daydream, with no expectation attached. Ask us what the forest sounds like at night, whether your children will be bored, how hard the walk to the falls really is, or what the road up is like in the rain. We will tell you the truth, because the truth about this place is already good enough to bring people up the mountain. When you are ready, we will be here, and so will the reserve.

One practical note to close on: because we are a small team on a mountain, the fastest and most reliable way to reach us is the form above or a direct email to stay@reservasetequedas.com. Put your dates in the subject line if you have them, tell us a little about who is travelling and what you are hoping for, and give us a couple of days to reply properly. A thoughtful answer is worth the short wait, and you will get one from a person who knows every trail, every chalet, and every bend in the road home.