Argentina - Montevideo hotel - air - car

We are tying up some loose ends on a 3 week Argentina trip departing mid-Nov. We are working with a great TA in BA who has been very helpful for most of the arrangements and she was the one who suggested we add Punta del Este to the end of our trip. We do have 3 nights reserved in Punta del Este but now we need 1 night hotel Montevideo, 3 days car rental, and air AEP-MVD-AEP.

We are flying in from IGR (Iguazzu) and have that flight confirmed on AR.
Our TA was waiting to book our conx to MVD because she says times tend to change and she wants us to allow about 6 hours at AEP in case of delays coming from IGR.

Originally we had hoped to take the Buquebus back to BA (after our Punta del Este stay)because we will already have taken 4 domestic flights in Argentina and thought that would be a nice change. But we need to drop our car on a Sunday and downtown Montevideo car rental agencies seem to be closed and we need to drop car at airport.

Our BA TA suggested the Radisson Victoria Plaza Hotel in Montevideo but it was going to cost about USD$270 if she could even get it and would be nonrefundable. I told her I would try to find something else.

Since we are only in Montevideo for one night I would like a good location near fun restaurants.

It seems like I should check Expedia or such for a package air (AEP-MVD-AEP), car rental and one night hotel.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

I did a solo trip to MVD, Punta del Este, Colonia del Sacramento and Buenos Aires earlier this year.
In MVD I stayed in Pocitos, which is a really nice neighborhood close to the beach. I can recommend the "Punta Trouville", it's a low-key apartment hotel. Clean, quiet, fairly new, good breakfast, around $100/night. It might not be the most convenient choice regarding transportation though.

Regarding Punta del Este: I was disappointed. Expensive, full of families on vacation, and the city is ugly. Filled with high-rise condo buildings and tourist traps. I regretted staying for two nights. But I had bad weather, strong winds and some rain. I might have had a better impression if it had been typical beach weather. This time of the year your experience will certainly be different.

Flying MVD-AEP seems like a waste, given that it's only a 250 mile distance. But I guess when you're restricted by ferry schedules, the overland trip might take a while. There's a direct bus from Punta del Este to Colonia del Sacramento (takes about 4 hours IIRC), and from there it's only a short ferry ride to BA.

Oh gosh, we live at the beach (northern California) so I hope we don't find Punta del Este disappointing. As I mentioned, this all came about because our Buenos Aires Travel Agent highly recommended it! Early December temps hopefully okay?

The town of Punta is not much - but if you have a car you can explore the sights and beaches beyond (Punta Ballena, La Barra, Jose Ignacio) which are all fantastic. What Hotel are you staying at?

On our BA TA's recommendation we are staying at the Posada Kryon in La Barra.

Going to Punta del Este in November will be almost like visiting a ghost town..... nobody is there until later in December....

We were told it would be too crazy and expensive later in December so this was the perfect opportunity to go. Well, should be interesting I guess.

Gaucho100K, any chance you have a Montevideo hotel recommendation?

I would say Montevideo deserves more of your time while in Uruguay. Very nice city for walking about in. You can take a bus to Colonia for a day out and Punta del Este as well for that matter.

At least the posers will not yet have arrived in Punta del Este....and the beach will be quiet.

We were told it be too crazy and expensive later in December so this was the perfect opportunity to go. Well, should be interesting I guess.

Gaucho100K, any chance you have a Montevideo hotel recommendation?

Yes, Punta del Este is a high-end resort and if you go when you are supposed to, take your high limit plastic because its prices are very similar to what you will pay at places like The Hamptons, Aspen, Lech (Austria) or Porto Cervo (North Cerdeña, Italy) - during their respective peak seasons. Punta is the top beach resort in South America, nothing comes close. It was my summer playground when I was still in the market.... now with a family, they need to pay me a Rafael Nadal contract to get me to go there during the 'proper' season.

Its one of those places that you must visit at least once during your lifetime, just make sure that you go (at least once) in January.

We had been so consumed with booking the Argentina portion of our trip that we are just now really looking at the Uruguay portion and have decided that maybe 3 nights in La Barra is too much and need to add a visit to Colonia.

We are limited to 4 nights total in Uruguay - flying in from Iguazzu Nov 30.
Assuming and hoping our BA travel agent can cancel one of the nights in La Barra this is what we are thinking now:

Nov 30 - arrive MVD early evening -pu car
one night Montevideo at the Tryp hotel - they have free parking

Dec 1 - explore Montevideo and leave late afternoon for Punta del Este

Dec 3 - drop car at Punta del Este airport (Thrifty shows it is possible to do one way rental MVD-PDP)
take Buquebus Punta del Este to Colonia
overnight Colonia

Dec 4 - Buquebus ferry to BA

When I was on the Buquebus website it is not clear how to book bus
Punta del Este to Colonia one day and ferry the next day.
Should I book hotel with them too?
I quickly grabbed a hotel thru booking.com because we are there Saturday night and I wanted to be sure to have a bed somewhere!

Thanks for any tips - we are scrambling now since we dept US Nov 15!

You are trying to do too much and I'd cut out Colonia.

Maybe do 2 nights MVD and 2 in PDP? Also look into flying back from PDP to AEP - sometimes it's quite cheap. In PDP, I'd visit Jose Igancio and have lunch at la Huella if the weather is good (it can rain/be chilly in early December). Also visit Casa Pueblo.

Well, this has all gotten complicated because our BA travel agent had to prepay our 3 nights in La Barra and they are nonrefundable so we are committed. They will let us change the dates and due to unavailability of flights now we are looking at the following plan:

arrive MVD - pickup car - drive to Punta del Este for 3 nights

then one night Montevideo

then to Colonia for day touring and Buquebus ferry back to BA

I thought we would drop the car back at MVD airport before spending night in Montevideo and take bus to Colonia but the problem is where to store our luggage while touring Colonia.
Our BA travel agent is suggesting keeping the car and drop Colonia but I can't seem to get the rental car websites to accept that.

Any suggestions?

You are trying to do too much and I'd cut out Colonia.

Maybe do 2 nights MVD and 2 in PDP? Also look into flying back from PDP to AEP - sometimes it's quite cheap. In PDP, I'd visit Jose Igancio and have lunch at la Huella if the weather is good (it can rain/be chilly in early December). Also visit Casa Pueblo.

That is a very interesting suggestion and then we would skip Colonia but I don't see any flights Sunday Dec 4.

That is a very interesting suggestion and then we would skip Colonia but I don't see any flights Sunday Dec 4.

Pluna flies several times a day in season.