schmare

Hi all,

I'm looking to book a hotel in Bariloche for a few nights for my mother, and after reading various reviews here and on tripadvisor, I'm still wondering what would be best.

The options I have so far:

-Hotel Edelweiss - the group she's meeting is staying here, so it gives the advantage of not having to change hotels. This seems to be this hotel's only advantage, as it gets very mediocre reviews.

-LLao Llao - seems to be a nice hotel, but it gets a lot of average reviews also, so I'm not sure it's worth the price. I've also noted from other threads that the cheapest rooms are to be avoided, as they are very small and dated.

-Design Suites - this one seems reasonably priced, and gets good reviews, but it seems to be a bit far outside of town.


Mom is staying in Bariloche for a few nights before starting a cycling trip, so she'd like something comfortable and relaxing. She doesn't need any particular ammenities at the hotel. Does anyone have thoughts on those three hotels? Are there other hotels I should be looking into?


Thank you

monkey2

I stayed in a wonderful small hotel called Penon del Lago a couple of years ago, on the road between Bariloche and Llao Llao, extremely friendly people, really select, first class accomodation. I think I paid around 150 US dollars a night for a huge suite. Within easy walking distance is a great restaurant called Rincon Patagonico, highly recommended, particularly the lamb asado, possibly the best meal we had in the South, a great wine cellar too. I hope your mother enjoys her time in the area it is truly beautiful, I would suggest the best accomodation is away from Bariloche itself, it is just beginning to get a tiny bit tourist tacky.

schmare

Thanks for the tip - I just checked out the website for the Penon del Lago, and it looks great!

chejus

Bariloche is raving with hotels at present. I suggest you take a look at Gaucho100K `s thread about Argentina and also take a look at www.tripadvisor.com for reviews and recommendations.

Llao Llao is a very nice hotel, the nicest I would say, I haven`t seen the rooms you mention but I assume it is quite expensive and very nice too.

Design suites I`ve been told is nice but have not been there.
I would stick with the group, I`m not too exigent.

jja34-1

I've only stayed at the Llao Llao, so can't recommend any other hotels, but note that it is somewhat isolated and not within walking distance of anything else, so if your mother wants to walk around Bariloche, she is better off staying somewhere closer to the center of town. Llao Llao is worth a visit, but the standard rooms are very small and not IMHO worth the price for a one night stay.

I second the vote for Rincon Patagonia. The concierge at the Llao Llao sent us there. Amazing restaurant - one of the best we ate at during our 10 day trip.

bakoboy

We stayed for a week at the Design Suites in January 2006. We had one of the regular rooms--which was very nice. The front desk people speak English.

There is a hotel-run shuttle that leaves at various times during the day into Bariloche and has a corresponding return. It is a long walk into town along a VERY busy two lane road. A taxi back to the hotel costs about 3 or 4 US dollars. Sometimes we had the front desk people call a cab to come pick us up.

It is very scenic in and around Bariloche. Hope you have fun!

SanDiego1K

Does anyone know the Hotel Aldebaran? The October issue of National Geographic Traveler recommends it.

"On the peninsula of San Pedro about 14 miles outside of Bariloche, this inviting hotel was built into the rocks and forest around it. The owner selected the decor for each of the ten rooms, including wall tapestries, duvets and futons in earthy tones. A local artist from the southern village of Menucos designed the stonework for the bathroom walls. Several rooms have decks overlooking Lake Nahuel Huapi and the Andes Mountains. A living room area with a fireplace and large windows is the perfect spot to sip Argentine Malbec wine and soak up the view."

What about Hosteria Isla Victoria? The views on the website are breathtaking. However, additional research indicates that the prices match the view - and that your only access is by hotel boat.

Las Balsas? It's been recommended to me. It is a Relais & Chateaux property an hour's drive from Bariloche - though I am a little concerned about the distance, as I've seen a considerably longer estimate of the time required to reach it. The restaurant is supposed to be excellent.

Schultzois

I love Llao Llao, and have stayed there 2-3 times. That said, they always give me a nice upgrade as a Leaders Club member, so I have not had the opportunity to see a bad room there (if there is one).

When Llao Llao was booked a couple years ago, I stayed at the Arelauquen Lodge (not sure of their Web site). Less expensive than Llao Llao, but also a very peaceful, relaxing, exclusive feeling place. Considerably smaller, which when I was there meant an ultra-attentive staff because they really knew each guest from the moment you checked in. I liked it a lot and would stay there again.

Finally, I really like Las Balsas, but that's down in Villa La Angostura, which is about an hour away. Beautiful lake setting for one of very few Relais & Chateaux properties in South America. Great cycling around there, incidentally, which is how I discovered it for the first time.

SanDiego1K

I think that the OP has gotten the help he needed re his mother's booking, so I'll take advantage of this thread to take about Bariloche hotels more generally. We've just returned; what a breathtakingly beautiful area!

We stayed in 3 properties in 3 nights. (The one I wanted wasn't available til the 2nd night; then we didn't like it and moved on.) We also saw a couple other hotels.

Llao Llao
We had lunch, but didn't stay here. The Patagonia 1000 had booked out the entire hotel. The hotel reminds me of a grand old mountain lodge. It has a spectacular setting in great natural beauty, about 27 km from Bariloche. It is large, and offers a lot of services from golf to archery. It is the most expensive of the ones I'll mention, from $200 going far north.

Design Suites
I booked this on hotel.com for $107 plus tax for a standard room. This was a nonrefundable rate. The hotel was the winner of our trip. It is about 2 km out of Bariloche, sited on a hill overlooking the lake. The main building, with all the public facilities, has a gorgeous view. The restaurant/lounge has lots of inviting places to sit with a view. There are 2 free internet terminals. The hotel has very contemporary decor, while remaining very comfortable.

Rooms are in 3 buildings that are higher up the hill from the main building. We were upgraded to a one bedroom suite, which would normally cost $190 plus tax. The suite was huge and comfortable, with a great room that included a fully equiped small kitchen. The closet was walkin, off the bedroom, with space for two suitcases. The view was marginal as we were looking across other buildings. If I had paid for a suite, I would have asked for a better view. Again, the decor was contemporary, with interesting touches such as rocks used as the knobs for your coats. The only downside to the suite was that there was one telephone, by the bed. If you were in the great room, it was difficult to get to the phone while it was still ringing.

I appreciate those of you who wrote about this property on this thread, as that is how I learned about it.

Aldebaran Hotel
I wrote about this hotel above. Based on the description in National Geographic Traveler, I expected to love it. It was nice, but not all that.

First, it was a lengthy drive down a dirt road. It was about half an hour beyond Design Suites. My husband didn't like to return there in the dark, because of all the turns required to get to the hotel. Yet all the restaurants are back on the main road that leads into Bariloche.

We had booked a suite at $240. It was on the lower level, and looked into a planted area, rather than at the lake. We asked to be downgraded to a room with a view. We ended up with a very large, comfortable room (room 1) with a spectacular lake view. From memory, this cost $180. Their free internet terminal was the one used by the receptionist; I found it awkward to have to ask her/him to leave the reception desk so I could use it. The hotel isn't sited to maximize the view. Our room had a spectacular view, but the restuarant, bar, and lounge area had partial views, as they were set back a few feet from our room. Thus, when looking that direction, the view was cut by the protuding wall.

Penon del Lago
This is recommended above, and we checked it out. It has extensive grounds, and if you have children, has lots of land for them to run off energy. However, the room we were shown had 70s decor, and we decided not to stay. I suspect that room quality can vary; if you want to stay there, you should check out a range of rooms. It is roughly $150.

Nido del Condor
We got a junior suite (room 33) with fully equipped kitchen and a spectacular view at this hotel for about $150. Yet I really can’t recommend it. There is enormous variability among the rooms. We were well content with ours, but would have hated the other 2 that we saw. Only book it if you can see the room first. Our room had a wood burning fireplace which was fun. We pulled up the easy chairs in front of the window and read our books while occasionally looking out at the gorgeous landscape.

Our room was freshly remodeled, but the clubroom was not. It wasn’t a place to hang out, unlike that at Design Suites. And the internet terminal had a monitor circa 1990. Still, free internet is always appreciated.

We also saw a beautiful property about an hour north of Bariloche.

Hotel Correntoso, La Angostura
If we hadn’t already put a deposit down on Nido del Condor, we would have stayed here once we discovered it. What a gorgeous place! The hotel is beautiful, and the location is spectacular. The hotel is nestled all alone on a lake. We saw people fly fishing right off the shore. It has two restaurants, one a casual grill restaurant by the lake, and the other a gastronomic restaurant in the main hotel building. We were well pleased with the quality of the food. It has a lovely great room lined with bookshelves on one side, and windows to the lake on the other. It also has a deck area, again overlooking the lake. This hotel has done everything to maximize comfort while giving you the best view possible from every location throughout the hotel. We were highly impressed.

High season is 8 months of the year. Rates range from $158 (mountain view) to $280 (suite). In low season, they range from $134 to $238.

This property is worth strong consideration.

Gaucho100K

SanDiego1k-- excellent information & reviews, thanks very much for the great contribution!! Ive not been to Bariloche now for 2 years, so this is a great update even for me.