Uruguay Travel Guide
Brazil Hotel Guide / Hotel Openings / Fasano Hotels / Punta del Este Hotels / Scott Mitchem / → All Tags
Brazil's Fasano Hotel to Open in Punta Del Este This December (and It's Already Sold-Out)
Brazil is hot and its going to get hotter in the next decade, thanks to the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. That's why we're having journalist Scott Mitchem, who has been traveling to Brazil for years, give us the lowdown on the country’s evolving hotel scene as well as its top players. This week he’s highlighting some of the market’s more interesting developments, starting with what’s new from the country’s premier luxury hospitality company, which is actually expanding outside of Brazil.
If you are familiar with the existing Fasano Hotels - the flagship in São Paulo and the follow-up in Rio de Janeiro – you understand the excitement surrounding the group’s first international property. The family’s century-old reputation as Brazil’s finest restaurateurs, and now one of the world’s top luxury hotel brands is well established among South America’s tastemakers, which made Punta del Este the obvious place to begin the brand’s international expansion.
HotelChatter Questions / New Year's Eve Hotels / Punta Del Este Hotels / → All Tags
Who Knew Punta Del Este Hotels Are All Full Up for New Year's Eve?
This sea lion waited too long to book a hotel room for New Year's Eve.
Got a hotel question? HotelChatter wants to answer it. Send us your questions and we'll put our team of contributors to the task. Today, Eric Rosen fields a question about hotels in Punta Del Ester, Uruguay.
Last week, we got a question from one of our readers about how to get a hotel reservation in Uruguay’s Riviera-like beach party town, Punta Del Este, for New Year’s. It went a little like this:
I was reading a 2008 article by Matt Chesterton on hotels in La Barra. We are looking to book hotels over the upcoming New Year holiday but every places seems to be booked. Do you have any tips or suggestions on getting a place for this time period? We are two adults so we don’t need a huge space. Also, what is the likelihood that there are hotels available that don’t show up in a Google search?
First things first: Though I have been to Uruguay, I have not been to Punta del Este. Still, I already knew that it is probably the most popular New Year’s destination in South America, and that it would be practically impossible to find something for our reader at this point. It's sort of like the Cancun and/or Vegas for South America--where people come from other (more conservative) South American countries to have fun and let loose. There are tons of hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, casinos, and miles and miles of beautiful beaches, but it's not dangerous like Rio.
Yet like the sea lion picture above, you may be sleeping on the beach if you've got your heart set on celebrating New Year's Eve in Punta Del Este and you haven't booked a hotel room.
But I do have a few suggestions for our reader.
33rd-Parallel-South-Hotels-Map / 33rd Parallel South Hotels / Buenos Aires Hotels / → All Tags
Where to Stay in Montevideo
All this week, Eric Rosen will be bringing us his hotel recommendations for an interesting trip down in South America. He explains it all in our latest hotel guide--Budget Boutique Hotels of the 33rd Parallel South.
Ever since I first found Montevideo on a map as a kid, I’ve wanted to visit the strangely named city, not least of all because it was in an odd-shaped little country called Uruguay that I somehow thought was Paraguay’s little brother. Ah, the logic of kids. Little did I know that the city was only named Montevideo because someone read a map wrong. The name derives from cartographer shorthand, where the site it was founded was listed as Monte VI, E. Oe., meaning “Mountain #6 oriented east-west” in Spanish. Still, I thought it was worth a quick visit.
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Where to Stay in Colonia del Sacramento
All this week, Eric Rosen will be bringing us his hotel recommendations for an interesting trip down in South America. He explains it all in our latest hotel guide--Budget Boutique Hotels of the 33rd Parallel South.
I’m going to be honest. There is not a huge amount to see in Colonia Del Sacramento. Most people just zip in and out in a day. The main draw is the fact that the ferry from Buenos Aires takes barely an hour to get there, and you get a cool stamp and some more fun, colorful money to play around with for the day.
The flip side is that if you do decide to spend the night here, either as a getaway from hectic B.A. or as a stopover on your way to Montevideo or Punta del Este, Colonia does provide a charming, quirky setting in which to unwind after the rigors of South American travel, and once the droves of day-trippers go home, you practically have the place to yourself.
The town was founded by the Portuguese in 1680, and if you spend any time in Uruguay, you will definitely be able to hear the Portuguese influence in the language. I’m sorry, but your Spanish 101 conversational skills just will not cut it here, what with odd slang, interesting (to say the least) grammar, and an accent so strong, the Uruguayans might as well be speaking Dutch. Most people in Uruguay don’t seem to have very strong English skills, so try to brush up on your español.
Hotel Video Tours / Uruguay Hotels / Punta del Este Hotels / → All Tags
Hotel Video Tours: La Posta del Cangrejo
The only hitch we encountered on our recent romp through Uruguay was a lack of English-language info on the country. Now, that's sorta our fault; if we knew more Spanish, there wouldn't have been an issue.
Luckily, friend-of-HotelChatter Matt Gross had visited Punta del Este before us and scouted out the hotel scene. His verdict? Avoid it. You're better off staying in La Barra, just outside the madness of downtown Punta.
He stayed at La Posta del Cangrejo, a sprawling hotel whose (only?) claim to fame is a visit by George Bush, Sr. years ago. Easy to see that, too: The place definitely appeals to the old white guy demographic.
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Hotel Video Tours: Posada Plaza Mayor
Our first stop in Uruguay during our recent field trip was Colonia, a Unesco World Heritage Site and tourist town par excellence. As it's just a short ferry ride from bustling Buenos Aires, it's a popular spot for stressed out Argentines to mellow out.
Playing a big role in that is the sleepy Posada Plaza Mayor, a smallish guesthouse in the heart of the old quarter. Most rooms surround a leafy courtyard and have that old-hotel-in-a-historic-place vibe. Our room was one of two upstairs that was super quiet and outfitted with slightly more modern furnishings.
Hotel Video Tours / Uruguay Hotels / Hostels / → All Tags
Hotel Video Tours: El Diablo Tranquilo
We don't normally talk about hostels here because, well, the site's not called HostelChatter. Still, even we've been known to stay in a place or two with bunk beds--just not in the dorm rooms.
During our Uruguay Field Trip for Jaunted, we stopped at a sleepy beach town called Punta del Diablo. Pretty much everything in town is a week-or-longer vacation rental, so since we were only staying for a couple nights, El Diablo Tranquilo was basically our only option.
Fortunately, the property has two suites that are plenty nice and come with a private bathroom and balcony. And before you say, "I'd never stay at a hostel," know that our ocean-view suite was just $40 a night.
Punta Del Este Hotel Guide / Matt Chesterton / Uruguay Hotels / Francis Mallmann / → All Tags
Punta del Este Hotel Scene: Garzón
Once again Matt Chesterton has returned to HotelChatter. All week long he will be schooling us on the hot hotel scene in Punta del Este, Uruguay. Any tips, suggestion or questions? Send 'em our way and we'll have Matt answer them for ya. For now, sit back and enjoy.
We end our seagull's-eye swoop along the Uruguayan coast by going a few kilometers inland, to the wee town of Garzón.
Garzón doesn't look like a vacation resort. It doesn't even look like a town. If it had a Wikipedia entry, we would link to it. But, like all communities in Latin America that can be placed somewhere on the spectrum between hamlet and city, Garzón has a town square, a church, a general store, and a thriving stray dog scene.
It has also has a police station which must be doing a pretty good job, because there is no crime. Oh, and one more thing. Garzón is home to one of the best and most exclusive lodgings in Uruguay.
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Punta del Este Hotel Scene: José Ignacio
Once again Matt Chesterton has returned to HotelChatter. All week long he will be schooling us on the hot hotel scene in Punta del Este, Uruguay. Any tips, suggestion or questions? Send 'em our way and we'll have Matt answer them for ya. For now, sit back and enjoy.
With our customary zeal for persnickety research, we've unearthed a draft (never published) of a tourist brochure for José Ignacio, the fishing village turned chi-chi resort located 25 km or so east of Punta del Este city. Here's an excerpt:
José Ignacio is the perfect spot to hunker down in during a nuclear holocaust. It's remote enough to ensure no belligerent would waste a missile leveling it but easily reachable from Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and other international hubs.
You'll have access to several well-stocked supermarkets in JI, as well as the world's second largest ocean, so you'll be able to feast on cod and canned sweet corn whenever you fancy! The famous faro (lighthouse) offers panoramic views of the coastline, enabling you and your fellow citizens to keep tabs on the movements of those inevitable gangs of radioactive mutants. And here's the best part. Jose Ignacio is home to an ever-swelling community of writers, artists, new-media tycoons, fashion designers, and beach bums - all the components needed to reboot western civilization from scratch!
Sign up today! Our H-Bomb holiday package starts at 50 million euros for 40 years bed and breakfast -- tax free!
The threat of a thermonuclear freak-out has of course receded since this brochure was penned; the attractions of José Ignacio, on the other hand, have never loomed larger: Latin America's 'best-kept secret' has gone viral.
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Punta del Este Hotel Scene: La Barra
Once again Matt Chesterton has returned to HotelChatter. All week long he will be schooling us on the hot hotel scene in Punta del Este, Uruguay. Any tips, suggestion or questions? Send 'em our way and we'll have Matt answer them for ya. For now, sit back and enjoy.
Bikini Beach: The Taliban's and Susan Sarandon's worst nightmare and every frat boy's soggiest wet dream; less a fleshpot than a fleshcauldron. It's not, however, an elitist scene. Anyone, blonde or brunette, very rich or slightly rich, is encouraged to declare their assets on this sand stage. The only prerequisites are a) enormous fake breasts; b) a wasp waist; c) a bikini. (Interestingly, going topless is a no-no in Punta. No one knows why.)
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Punta del Este Hotel Scene: Staying in The City
Once again Matt Chesterton has returned to HotelChatter. All week long he will be schooling us on the hot hotel scene in Punta del Este, Uruguay. Any tips, suggestion or questions? Send 'em our way and we'll have Matt answer them for ya. For now, sit back and enjoy.
A Martian sends a postcard home from Punta del Este:
Even by Earth standards, this is a strange place. Person A will pay person B to put lumps of plastic underneath her skin. This is so person A becomes bigger. At the same time, person A will pay person C to wake them up in the morning and compel them to do an hour's vigorous exercise. This is so person A becomes smaller. Strangest of all is this: the less time a person spends in his hotel room, the more he pays for it. Apparently if you screw someone just a little bit, they will complain; but if you screw someone really hard, they will brag about it. Wish you were here. PS Please wire more money. PPS Preferably the money known as euros; the currency known as dollars is worth shit.
But at least he didn't write: Punta del Este is the Hamptons of South America. We're getting sick of reading this. [Ed. Note: Oops.] There may even come a point when we get sick of writing it. If only travel journalists would go on strike and Leno's writers go back to work. Does the Hamptons have a hand in the sand? Or anything like this? Case dismissed.
Punta Del Este Hotel Guide / Matt Chesterton / Uruguay Hotels / → All Tags
An Introduction to the Punta del Este Hotel Scene
Once again Matt Chesterton has returned to HotelChatter. All week long he will be schooling us on the hot hotel scene in Punta del Este, Uruguay. Any tips, suggestion or questions? Send 'em our way and we'll have Matt answer them for ya. For now, sit back and enjoy.
In case you hadn't noticed, a crucial, not to mention fiercely fought contest is currently underway. The outcome is uncertain, the stakes sky-high. Candidates? There are many; and all of them have to strut, fret, smirk, and when all else fails, beg. There are friends to placate, enemies to crush, thousands of hands to shake, and a seemingly infinite number of babies to kiss. (Fatigue will take its toll: somewhere along the line a hand will be kissed and a baby shaken.)
Yup, it's mid January in Punta del Este. And before the month is out the glossies will have anointed this season's most coveted awards -- Top Blonde, Rack of the Year and, most hankered-after of all, This Summer's Firm-Yet-Tactile Buttocks. In these competitions, everyone wants the booby prize.
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