My s/o and I completed a three-night award stay at this hotel in late March, and I've been meaning to write a review ever since. We had a great time and ever since we left I've been wishing that we could go back.
We arrived into MVD airport at around 1PM (about four hours late due to a MX issue over Cuba which caused us to return to the airport) on the daily AA flight from MIA. The airport's lone gate was occupied by the Iberia flight, so we had to take a bus to the terminal; immigration and customs were truly a breeze, and we were through in no time. We bought two tickets on
COT from the airport to Punta del Este - for the two tickets, we paid 270 pesos (or about $11.50, so about $5.75 per person). The ride was less than two hours - it was pretty slow on the way out of the airport, but then things opened up and it was an easy ride. The bus was pretty old, but it was just fine - the ride to Punta seemed to be mostly highway, and there were almost no other cars on the road.
About twenty minutes out, ads for the various hotels and spas in PdE start to appear on the side of the road; the bus drives right by the Conrad about 1 minute before it hits the terminal. We walked back up the street to the Conrad and it took about 5-7 minutes. The hotel is located directly across the street from the beach and looks quite nice from the outside:
We had made our reservation approximately five days in advance; the hotel was sold out but we were able to use the
diamond force to get a room. At check-in, we were upgraded to an ocean-facing room on the fourteenth floor, and our room had a fruit plate and maybe some bottled water in it when we arrived. Our room had a balcony large enough for a table and two chairs and looked out over the water -- here's the view at sunset:
The beach across the street was very pleasant; it wasn't very crowded and the water was very, very calm. There are other beaches on the opposite side of Punta where the water is not nearly as calm. The hotel also has a large pool and a small pool which looks like a hot tub but is no warmer than the large pool. There is also an indoor pool with very warm water; in the complex with the indoor pool is a very large gym. There's a bar at the outdoor pool but it was pretty quiet most of the time that we were there, and the drinks were pretty expensive by Punta standards. The pool complex has great views of the beach and ocean, as it is surrounded by plexiglass rather than solid walls so it's easy to enjoy the view:
Breakfast appears to be included for free for everyone and is served in the restaurant off the lobby. It is buffet-style and includes all kinds of fresh fruit, breads and pastries, cereals, meats and cheeses, eggs, and breakfast meats. I believe omelets were also available on a made-to-order basis. Waiters brought around coffee, tea, and other beverages. There was plenty of seating and we never had to wait for a table.
Aside from the fantastic view, the hotel room wasn't really anything special -- it looks a little dated, and the toiletries looked like something that would've been in my grandmother's bathroom in the 1980s. Still, it was very clean and the view from the balcony absolutely could not be beat. There were a few maintenance problems with the room - the toilet broke on two separate days, and the in-room safe also broke on the second day. Relatively few employees at the hotel spoke English, so we did have a little extra trouble getting everything fixed, but everyone was friendly and ultimately the maintenance issues were not a problem at all. I've only stayed at one other Conrad - the Conrad Tokyo - and it would be a significant insult to that property to compare the quality of the room at the Conrad Punta del Este to the quality of the room there. As others have mentioned, there is a casino at the property but we didn't spend more than five minutes in it. Gloria Estefan was slated to be at the property shortly after we left, but I don't think there were any big acts scheduled during our stay.
The town itself is a short and easy walk from the hotel, and food and drinks are very reasonably priced there. We were able to sit outside and have dinner for two with a bottle of wine for just about $30, including tax and tip. We had a great time just walking around the town, dining outside, and enjoying the great weather. We had absolutely no complaints about the location of the hotel - right across from the beach, yet very easy to walk into town. While the room could use a little refreshing, we had a great stay at this property and would go back without hesitation.