Paraguay is not the first country that comes to mind for Carnival, and that is a good part of why Encarnación is worth the trip. Across five Saturday nights in January and February, this small riverside city throws the biggest Carnival in the country, in the middle of a beach season that already has it full. Which means the room is the part you sort first. Here is what to book, and what each one actually gets you.
Encarnación Carnival happens in one place, which makes planning easier here than almost anywhere else.
Every parade night takes place inside the Centro Cívico Sambódromo, listed on maps in English as the Civic Center Sambadrome. It is the third largest sambadrome in the world after Rio and São Paulo, and it was expanded to hold 17,000 people for the 2026 season.
The Sambódromo sits on Avenida Costanera República del Paraguay, the riverfront road that runs along the Paraná. The Costanera Shopping complex and Playa San José sit along the same stretch of waterfront. Base yourself there and everything is within walking distance.
What this is not is a street carnival. There is no parade route winding through town and no road party to stumble into. You buy a ticket, you go to the venue, you take a seat.
You cannot bring your own food or drink into the Sambódromo, but there is plenty of both inside. Parking is available near the venue if you are driving down from Asunción.
Encarnación Carnival is a competition, and that changes which night you want.
Seven clubs take part across two categories. The comparsas are the dance troupes, and the carrozas are the float builders, judged on the floats themselves and on the queen who rides them. Each club presents an alegoría, a single theme it builds the entire performance around, from the costumes to the music to the backpieces.
Here is the part that decides your booking. The clubs revise their staging between rounds to win over the judges, so what you see on a later Saturday is a more developed version of what opened the season. Scores accumulate across every round, with a different three-judge panel each night whose names are released only hours before the show, and the scores go up live on the big screens. The final round settles the standings.
One more quirk: a club sits out each round, so every night fields four comparsas rather than five.
The crowds follow the same curve. In 2026, the fourth round drew over 16,000 people, the biggest night of that season before the final. In 2025, the last two Saturdays sold out before the gates opened, which is why the venue was expanded the year after.
So the later Saturdays are the stronger pick, for the show and for the drama. Which is exactly why they go first.
Encarnación Carnival does not run as a continuous week. It runs across five separate Saturday nights, with ordinary summer days in between. For 2027, those nights are January 16, 23 and 30, and February 6 and 13.
Friday, the day before whichever Saturday you have chosen. That gives you a clear day to sort tickets, find the venue, and see the Costanera in daylight before the crowds arrive.
Two nights, Friday to Sunday, covers one parade night comfortably. If you want more carnival than that, book two separate Saturdays rather than one long stay.
Listed by how close they sit to the venue, because that is the thing that decides your night here.
Carnival nights open at nine and run into the early hours of Sunday, and the snow foam battles inside the Sambódromo pull in the whole stadium rather than a front row. You will walk out wet and late, so the distance between the gate and your bed is worth more than anything else on a booking page.
Alula is inside the Costanera Shopping complex on the riverfront, and it is the closest hotel on this list to the Sambódromo.
It is also the newest of the six and the smallest, which makes it the first to disappear. What you are booking is a boutique stay rather than a resort one, and a rooftop that turns the morning after into the best part of the trip. Walk back soaked in the early hours, wake up to a view over the river, and never leave the building until you want to.
Best for: Travelers who want the shortest possible walk home and a pool to recover beside
Le Club is not a hotel with a pool attached. It is a hotel inside a sports and social club, and that is the whole reason to book it.
Staying here makes you a member of Club Radioparque for the length of your trip, so the facilities are the club’s rather than the hotel’s, on a scale no rooftop can match. Add a river-facing building a hundred meters off the Costanera and rooms big enough to put a family in, and this becomes the easy answer for anyone traveling with people who need somewhere to go during the day.
Best for: Families and groups who want space, a proper pool, and somewhere for the kids during the day
De La Costa has the position everyone pictures when they imagine this trip: beach on one side, Costanera on the other, and the Sambódromo twelve minutes up the waterfront. Open since 2005, it is one of the longest-running hotels in the city.
The thing to understand before you book is that the room grade decides your view. Standard rooms look onto the garden and pool or the street, while the Executive and Master Suite give you a balcony over the river. Pick accordingly, because the river is the reason people come back.
Best for: Travelers who want the beach on one side, a pool in the garden on the other, and food without leaving
Savoy Hotel is the big one. Seven thousand square meters on the bank of the Paraná, set among native trees, and the most reviewed hotel in Encarnación by a wide margin.
Scale is the selling point. When the properties nearer the Sambódromo are gone, Savoy is the one most likely to still have a room, and that is not a consolation prize. It is a full-service hotel where everything you might want after a late Saturday is already on the premises, and the only thing you give up is the walk.
Best for: Late bookers, and anyone who wants a full-scale hotel and will trade a longer walk or taxi for it
This is the one you book when comfort outranks proximity. Carnaval Hotel Casino sits away from the Costanera, and it is the most complete hotel in the city.
After a night that starts at nine and ends in the small hours, a heated pool and a massage is a genuinely different kind of Sunday to the one you get elsewhere on this list. The casino earns its place too, because carnival only runs on Saturdays, and a nightclub and a bar that never closes give you somewhere to go on the other nights.
Best for: Travelers who want the most complete hotel in the city and don’t mind arranging a ride on carnival nights
Not everyone wants a hotel, and Encarnación is one of the cheapest carnival destinations on the continent. La Casa de Pedro is the one hostel here that backpackers consistently rate, and the reason is the shared space. You arrive alone and you leave for the Sambódromo with people you met that morning over the kitchen table.
The trade-off is the walk. At twenty-five minutes on foot you are the furthest out on this list, though it is only a couple of minutes by car. Budget for a ride home on the Sunday morning and the savings still hold up comfortably.
Best for: Solo travelers, backpackers, and anyone keeping the trip cheap
The closer you are to the Sambódromo, the easier the end of the night is. Everywhere else is a trade, and it is always the same trade: comfort for distance. Alula and Le Club Resort Hotel put you minutes from the gate, Savoy Hotel Encarnación gives you more hotel for a longer walk, and Carnaval Hotel Casino is worth the taxi if a heated pool and a massage is how you want to spend the Sunday.
Before you book, confirm the night-by-night program on the organizers’ official site, Carnaval Encarnaceno, or check our Encarnación Carnival guide for the latest dates and schedule.
Then take your pick. The map below has every property in this guide on it, along with everything else near the Sambódromo.
Use the map to explore hotels in Encarnación and lock in a stay that keeps you close to the Sambódromo.
The Costanera, Encarnación’s riverfront avenue. The Sambódromo, Playa San José, and the Costanera Shopping complex are all on that stretch, so you can walk to the venue and walk home again afterward.
As early as your dates are set. Encarnación has 5,122 hotel beds in total, the city runs close to 90% occupancy through the summer, and the hotel trade reports it filling completely over Carnival. The Saturday night itself is the scarce thing, so book that first and add the nights around it afterward.
Alula is the closest at a seven-minute walk, inside the Costanera Shopping complex. Le Club Resort Hotel is ten minutes and De La Costa Hotel twelve. Savoy Hotel Encarnación is twenty-one minutes along the Costanera.
Not if you stay on the Costanera, where everything is walkable. The Sambódromo does have parking nearby if you are driving down from Asunción. A car is worth having if you are based inland at Carnaval Hotel Casino, or if you want to explore beyond the city during the day.
Yes, and many people do. Encarnación Carnival runs on five separate Saturday nights rather than as a continuous festival, so a Friday-to-Sunday weekend covers one parade night comfortably. If you want two nights of carnival, book two different Saturdays rather than a longer single stay.
La Casa de Pedro Hostel is the budget pick, with dorm beds, a shared kitchen, and a garden, about twenty-five minutes on foot from the Sambódromo or a couple of minutes by car. Encarnación is one of the most affordable carnival destinations in South America, so your money goes further here than at the bigger sambadrome carnivals.
