For September, 1700 pesos per person may be reasonable for a destination like Bariloche. What services are included?

Ive never been to Catamarca, so Im afraid I cannot help you with that destination.

Mendoza will be less expensive if you select budget accomodations. You could save more by traveling by bus instead of flying.

Malbec recommendation
 

I am returning to Mendoza late in the summer. Some time ago a Mendocino recommended the Salentein Malbec and I have been quite happy with it. Are there other Malbec's that you would recommend that would be worth schlepping back to the US? The Malbec was also memorable as one of the times that I purchased it was during the time that the peso fell from 1.3 to 3 to the dollar in about 2 days. While this was a terrible misfortune for the Argentines, it was an accidental good fortune of timing for me.

Wine prices have re-settled after the havoc caused by the banking & currency crisis that you mention above. The Salentein Mablec Roble you mention is a good wine, albeit IMO not great. There are currently a good number of wines in the AR$25 to AR$60 range that have excellent QPR. A short teaser list includes:

Benegas - Juan Benegas Malbec
Escorihuela Gascon Malbec
Tikal - Tahuan Malbec
Benegas - Benegas Malbec
Terrazas Reserva Malbec

For more detailed Recs. and other related information, please PM me and I will be happy to assist you.

Disclaimer: I am a EZE based wine merchant.

Then there's Salta - NY Times
 

If you're intersted in Mendoza, you might also be interested in this article from the New York Times on "neighboring" Salta, an up and coming wine/tourist region. Seems to attract more Argentinians and Europeans right now, but may be worth a look. Enjoy.

nor4-- You make an excellent point. Salta is (after Mendoza) the next most important destination for the serious wine aficionado. Other regions to consider are Patagonia, and San Juan.

Mendoza - Apartments Park Suites?
 

Greetings:

First trip to Argentina.
I'll be spending 5 nights in Mendoza Sept 21-26, 2006.
Any comments about the Apartments Park Suites
on Avd. Mitre?

Any suggestions about tour of Mendoza, Winerys, and the
surrounding mountains?

Thx.

Richard

Im afraid I dont know the apartments you mention. You will be there during late Spring, so skiing will most probably be out of the question, still, the weather should be quite nice to go up to Las Leñas and perhaps do some riding or hiking.

As for wine country, I suggest you check out the following bodegas:

La Rural - Rutini
Bodega Benegas
Terrazas de los Andes
Escorihuela Gascon
Chandon Argentina
Catena Zapata

Have a great trip.

Mendoza
 

I will be traveling to Mendoza in October and would like recommendations on where to stay. My wife and I thought it would be nice to stay at a small winery but I've also read great things about chacra de coria. Can anyone recommend lodging at a small winery - not interested in the large ones - or have any comments on staying in chacra de coria and taking day trips from there??

Gracias,

I suggest you stay in the area of Chacras de Coria. Please feel free to email me and I will put you in contact with the owner of a place which offers great service and reasonable rates.

I'm headed to MDZ next week and looking forward to it. I had read somewhere that there was once daily non-stop to EZE rather than AEP but can't seem to find it (and assume it is incorrect info). Any idea? Thanks

Uh....where are you coming FROM?

If you are asking about flights from EZE to MDZ, there are two flights that connect through SCL:

LA 460 EZE - SCL 02:15PM 03:30PM 320
LA 932 SCL - MDZ 04:25PM 06:25PM 320

and,

LA 402 EZE - SCL 06:45AM 08:00AM 320
LA 930 SCL - MDZ 08:45AM 10:45AM 737

**Note really tight connection!

That's the only two I know about.

FYI - do you know about expertflyer.com and/or itasoftware.com?
EF is subscription, but ITA is free, and you could easily find the info you needed there (and much more). Try it, you'll like it.

Bus from MDZ to SCL
 

Gaucho100K,

I have read your various helpful pieces of advice and I would like you to know that I am extremely grateful.

I will be visiting Argentina in November and Mendoza in in plans. While in Mendoza I would like to take a bus trip accross the Andes to SLC and I would be grateful for any advice regarding the best/most reliable bus company. Also any links to the schedules and booking arrangements would be appreciated.

Thanks for your kind words. However, it seems like I will have to let you down with your request for help, since all I can tell you is that I know there is a regular (scheduled) bus service from Mendoza to SCL, but Ive never used the service and Im afraid I dont know the specifics.

A quick search on the internet took me to this site:

http://www.e-mountain.com.ar/0BUS/catamdz.htm

Sorry I cant be of more help.

Thanks for the information. I guess that I will follow up with my hotel when I make my reservation (s).

I have a new question relating to hotel rates for gringos (or Aussies in my case).

The rate for the Park Hyatt Mendoza that are available on the Aerolineas Argentinas site ("Hotel" tab) is ARS 468 (abt $156). When I tried to book this, I got a message back stating that the rate for foreigners is $220.

Can you enlighten me on this policy. Is there any way around it? Why would the hotel care?

Thanks for the wonderful contribution that you are making.


Brian

Brian,

It seems the Hyatt is offering special rates to residents. The issue of special rates for citizens and residents has been widely debated on various threads throughout FT, as this practice happens throughout various cities in the world.