Rebirth of the Hotel Tropical Manaus?
On our first two trips to the Amazon, we stayed at the historic Hotel Tropical in Manaus for one night on our way into the jungle. To be honest, even back in 2011 it was pretty run down. Several of the shops ringing the exterior parking circle were closed, the pool was uninviting and the hallways were not airconditioned. It seemed like it took forever to get from one end of the expansive building to the other, which might have been charming in its earliest days, but with the goal of just relaxing before a week of fishing, it was instead a pain in the ass. The rooms were clean but spartan, and most importantly temperature-controlled.
I do recall there was a small zoo representing Amazonia on premises, a nice touch but not worth a trip by itself. The buffet breakfast was excellent. Besides it’s history, the other thing that the Tropical had going for it was its proximity to the airport. Indeed, it had been developed by Varig airlines, which for a long time was Brazil’s leading carrier and primary international option. Indeed, in its post-1976 opening heyday the Tropical was a hotspot for movers and shakers and visiting celebrities, but as the airline effectively went belly-up in 2006, the hotel’s stature went down with it.
Indeed, by the time the hotel’s power was cut in 2019, they were millions of dollars in debt and could not afford the severance pay for the now unemployed employees.
When I visited Manaus for a wolf fishing trip in 2019, a few months after the hotel was closed, we stayed downtown. Our very comfortable but very corporate hotel lacked the Amazonian feel of the Tropical (but for the signs in Portuguese it could have been a Days Inn in Des Moines), but had some other advantages – including a great pool and a location closer to the downtown area and other attractions like the fish market. Indeed, I was won over when I learned that I could walk to the Sucuri Pesca tackle shop.
Still, while I wasn’t itching to stay at the Tropical as I knew it again, I’m glad that I got to stay there when I did. It was a rite of passage for anglers of a certain vintage passing through and I got to experience that. Future generations might now have that option as well. Recently, Marriott International announced that they will convert the property into a Tribute Portfolio hotel, a collection brand within the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio known for providing hotels that are designed to reflect the character and community of their surrounding locations. They expect to start the phased reopening later this year, retaining the original architectural flavor while upgrading the infrastructure and adding a host of modernized amenities. I hope that it proves to be a great option for future hordes of visiting peacock bass anglers, who should consider it a must-see along with the opera house, fish market and other important historical markers of the Capital of Amazonas. You’ll need to take a ride to the tackle store, but it’s worth it.
