HotelChatter

Those unfamiliar with Latin America's most glamorous and exclusive resort might infer from the above that Punta del Este is a rather shallow kind of place -- a sort of Truman-Show-on-Sea where both the set and the supporting cast have been commandeered from a 1970s Martini ad.

You could be picturing young Latino jetsetters with luxurious designer mullets, trophy girlfriend on one arm and a dusting of last night's coke on the other. Or crowded beaches where cookie-cutter trance drones on, 24/7, and where respectable middle-aged deviates conceal their roving eyes beneath chrome trim sunglasses. (Gentlemen don't leer, of course, but it's worth making the point - and then trying not to labor it - that if the Beach Boys had met Argentinian girls, they might have come up with a different song.)

There's some truth in this caricature. But that's the good news. A beach town that can't be parodied is a beach town that shouldn't be visited. The trick that this kind of conurbation has to pull off is to be simultaneously pretentious and philistine -- and in this respect PDE settles the hash of most every coastal resort south of the equator. It's also (relatively) pretty, wonderfully tranquil in the off-season, surprisingly friendly, and effortlessly iconic.

The bad news? It's immorally expensive. Our tip? Screw your eyes tight shut when you see a bill coming, and slide over your credit card. Hotels in these climes are particularly skilled at separating guests from their hard-earned, but if you visit outside the (startlingly short) high season, which starts on New Year's Day and is usually history by 20 January, you'll get a significant discount on the ruinous rack rates. Then again, if you're the kind of loser who cares about 'value for money', or indeed have any other such proletarian affectations, you probably won't see the point of Punta.

Enough preamble. Over the next four days we'll be covering four of the key destinations in and around PDE -- Punta del Este proper, fashion mother lode La Barra, sophisticated José Ignacio, and tiny Garzón -- as well as highlighting the best (and worst) of the lodging alternatives.

And, of course, we'll be keeping you informed of progress in the race for Ms Firm-Yet-Tactile Buttocks. All the action as it unspreads.

[Photo: IgnacioErrico]

Tags: Punta Del Este Hotel Guide / Matt Chesterton / Uruguay Hotels

by MattyC