Kosher on the Trip
How meals work at each of the three hotels
Kosher Food at Belmond Iguazu
Belmond Hotel das Cataratas is the only hotel inside the Iguazu national park on the Brazilian side. Standard hotel service there doesn't include kosher meals — but ours does.
Our kosher catering partner is supervised by a Brazilian Chabad rabbi I studied with in yeshiva — someone I've known personally for over twenty years. We bring a dedicated mashgiach and ingredients sourced from São Paulo into the hotel for the duration of your stay. Before you arrive, we work out a menu with you. Meals are prepared fresh on-site, to the highest standard of kashrut, in coordination with the Belmond kitchen staff.
This is what allows our clients to stay at the only hotel inside the park and eat at that level.
A note on Belmond
In case it's new to you: Belmond is the luxury hotel and travel brand owned by LVMH — the group behind Louis Vuitton. What sets Belmond apart is where it builds. Its hotels sit in the most extraordinary places on earth, often as the only property there: the single hotel at the entrance to Machu Picchu, the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, Hotel Cipriani in Venice. Hotel das Cataratas is the only hotel inside Iguazu National Park. Step outside and the Brazilian side of the falls is right there — yours early in the morning and late in the day, before and after the park opens to everyone else.
We're grateful to the team at Belmond Hotel das Cataratas. They go out of their way for our guests — preparing special dishes, working directly with our mashgiach, and keeping everything to the world-class standard the hotel is known for. Bringing a full kosher operation into a property at this level takes real trust from their side, and they've given it every time. It's a privilege to host our guests here.
Rio — Fairmont Copacabana
Through our kosher chef in Rio, Shabbat meals and kosher catering are arranged directly at the Fairmont Rio Copacabana — Friday night, Shabbat lunch, and Saturday evening, prepared on-site and ready when you arrive. The Fairmont sits at the southern end of Copacabana beach; Chabad Beit Lubavitch (Rua Maracanaú 11, Rabbi Ilan Stiefelmann) is at the northern end — about a 30-minute walk along the beachfront. Many of our guests walk to Chabad for Friday night davening and return to the Fairmont for Shabbat dinner.
Buenos Aires — Alvear Icon
Buenos Aires has the largest Jewish community in Latin America and the strongest kosher infrastructure of the trip. Our guests stay at the Alvear Icon Hotel & Residences in Puerto Madero — the only hotel in Argentina with two in-house kosher restaurants: Glitter (certified by Rav Yosef Chehebar) and Milk & Co (kosher dairy and sushi bar). Kosher breakfast available at the hotel. The Once and Abasto kosher restaurant cluster is a short ride away. For a community shul, Chabad-Lubavitch Puerto Madero (Blvd. Azucena Villaflor 770, C1107 CABA) is a 2-minute walk from the hotel.