My s/o and I squeezed in a one-night stay here in between the
Conrad Punta del Este and the
Hilton Buenos Aires. We took the bus from Punta to Montevideo and then connected to another bus to Colonia. 5 hours of bus riding in one day was not the best day of vacation I've ever had, but it was all good in the end.
The hotel is roughly 3 miles from the downtown area; we took a cab there and the ride was probably $5. The hotel is set next to a golf course and, based on the signs, what will in the future be a large development of houses. The signs (and diorama in the lobby) portrayed the development as having about 200-300 houses when complete, but we only saw about 10 and did not see any construction at all going on -- so perhaps someone has given up on building all those houses for now. The area where the hotel is located is very quiet and peaceful.
At check-in, we were given a minor upgrade from a golf-view room to a river-view room. The view out to the river was nice, and the room was also quite nice and very comfortable - much nicer than the domestic Sheratons that I have been in. There is no lounge, and no offer of complimentary breakfast was made. There was also no mention of a platinum amenity (I forgot to ask), but about four hours after we checked in a very large plate of cheese and bread showed up in the room, along with a bottle of (IIRC) Champagne. The hotel has a full-service restaurant and a bar, though the listed prices at each were high for the area. The lobby was bright and airy and had sort of a lodge-like feel:
The property had a pool complex outside with an outdoor bar, a number of seating areas, and a couple of pools - all of which had views out to the water. The hotel had a very relaxing feel, and I think it'd be a great stopover for someone who wanted to just chill out for a while. There was also a spa, but we did not investigate that.
In the morning, we walked into downtown Colonia - this took about an hour. There were generally taxis available outside the hotel, and electric golf carts could also be rented for the ride into town - I think the price was $15/hr. We spent some time going around the downtown, ate, and explored the historic area. It was a nice place to check out, and I think that one day is about the right amount of time for Colonia -- but like I said, I think that more time could be spent at this hotel by someone who was looking for a nice, relaxing stay.