Cuiabá

Italian.

Classified by the magazine 4 Rodas as the best Arab restaurant in Brazil.

Chef Hans has an alpine-style restaurant with a great area outdoors. Besides plates of Swiss cookery, it serves some adaptations as well as petiscos and draft beer.

Arab food.

French restaurant neoclassical style. The atmosphere is elegant and the service excels.

Innovation is the word best describes Garage. The club has become a reference in the central western part of Brazil when the subject is electronic music. Some of the Top International DJs have shaken the dance floor of Garage Club in Cuiaba such as Vitalic, Phonique, Layo & Bushwacka!, Funk Dvoid, Terry Lee Brown Jr, Joris Voorn, Oliver Huntemann, along many others.

A public space located in the popular neighborhood of the city of Cuiaba, which has many restaurants and bars concentrated around it.

The most entertaining gay club/ bar in Cuiaba, with drag-queen performances, live music and go-go boys. Usually open from Thursdays till Saturdays.

Likely the best spot for exploring the Pantanal. The location by the Transpantaneira is excellent, and lodge owner Andre Thuronyi has done extensive work to improve the local wildlife habitat. With only 14 rooms, the lodge is pleasantly small and rustic. No fancy rooms or amenities; each guest room comes with a private bathroom and a hammock on the veranda.

It's the only luxury hotel in Cuiabá, but rooms are fairly standard. They're comfortably furnished with a desk, armchair, and table; the colors and decor are slightly dated, but the bathrooms are modern and come with bathtubs. It's the amenities that you really get what you pay for: it's the only hotel in town with a business center, room service, spacious swimming pool, and sun deck.

In the center of Cuiabá, just a few blocks from the Praça da República. The hotel has just completed renovating the hallways and rooms. The rooms have had the carpets replaced by tiles, making for a much cleaner and brighter look. Rooms are either standard or deluxe; standard rooms are a bit small and dark (they look out the side of the building). The more spacious deluxe rooms overlook the front of the hotel and come with a queen-size bed. There are deluxe rooms on the quieter upper floors. The suites aren't worth it -- they're really just two adjoined bedrooms. The eighth and ninth floor are nonsmoking.

One of the better bets for affordable accommodations in Cuiabá. Because of its location on a busy road, a 10-minute walk from the Praça de República stands, the Veneza tries harder, including goodies like free airport transfer, free Internet access, and a very steep discount during at least half the year. Rooms are pleasant, with a good-size queen bed, table, writing desk, and standard-size bathroom.

Rua Pedro Celestino 301, Centro. M-F 08:00 - 11:30 and 13:30 - 17:00. Run by Funai, the Brazilian federal Indian department, to promote indigenous arts and crafts.

A bit further out of downtown, towards the river. Located in a lovely tile-covered colonial building, the Casa's collection is very large.

Expensive but the quality is high.