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Tag-Archive for "South America"

Cyan Recolate Hotel Apr 29

We stayed at Cyan Recoleta Hotel for just one night in April 2017. We decided to stay here as we had stayed at the Urban Suites next door and we were happy with the area. I booked the room online on booking.com and check in was fast in the small lobby. We got room 202 on and when we came into the room it was on the small side but very light as there were white tiles on the floor, white walls, a couple of white barstools etc. The king-size bed was large and I slept well in it that night even if it was a bit on the soft side. There is a small table with a couple of barstools and a small kitchen which included an empty fridge (it was possible to buy various stuff in the lobby if I’m not mistaken), a microwave oven and some basic kitchen amenities. The room looks pretty fancy at first glance but you can also see that it is a bit worn out when you take a closer look. Wifi was included in the room and worked fine. We had a great view of the Recoleta cemetery from our window.

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The bathroom was tiny and there was a shower option in the bathtub – I’m not crazy about shower curtains and it would have been great to see a better shower option. There were basic amenities like soap and shampoo and the wardrobe included a small safe.

The breakfast was served in the basement and it was setup in a light modern room. It included the usually selection of sweet cereal, bread, pastries, various spreads and small glasses of fruit salad.

Location of the hotel is good. It is located right next to Recoleta cemetery and Recoleta mall and in the area you will find shops, restaurants and bars.

All in all we were happy with our stay at this hotel. The room small but it works great if you are only staying for a night or two.

Regards
Gard
gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures

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Huentala Hotel Mendoza Apr 28

We stayed at Huentala hotel in Mendoza in Argentina for 4 nights in April 2017. We booked the hotel online and I’m not quite sure why I picked this hotel instead of the newer Sheraton next door but I think it was because I could get a larger suite room at Huentala compared to Sheraton. When we arrived we were checked in and got a glass of wine and we got room 116. I don’t think we got any information about breakfast and no information that they had a pool/gym – we only found that out a few days later when someone checked in and got all this info.

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The room was pretty big but without proper lighting I found the room to be a bit dark. The floor was in dark wood and walls in light colors. There was a desk/chair, a two seat sofa, table and chair in the first part of the room. The bed was big and comfortable enough for me at least. The window that we had did not provide any view apart from a courtyard of some sort. A flat screen TV was placed on a small table. We did have it on a couple of times but I don’t think we found any channels in English. There was a wardrobe with a few hangers and a small safe and a small fridge with some drinks. To give you an idea of the price level a bottle of water was 55 pesos and the same for a Pepsi. A similar bottle of water was 20 at the local kiosks.

The bathroom was tiled and had a bathtub with a glass panel to make it easier to take a shower without splashing all over the place. The amenities included shampoo, soap, conditioner, lotion, bath salt but also shaving kit, tooth brush etc. Wifi was included and worked pretty OK at times. But in our room it seemed like we only had coverage in certain spots in the room which was quite annoying.

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Breakfast was served a few steps down from the lobby. It was quite similar to the other Argentinian hotel breakfasts that we had. I was actually hoping for a bit more as this seemed more of a 4/5 star hotel. But the breakfast contained an option of bread, pastries,sweet cereal, scrambled eggs and bacon etc. The coffee was not great and came from a big container – but then again I prefer my coffee a bit stronger (e.g. double Americano). But what disappointed me the most was probably the fruit salad. At the other hotels we stayed at they had pretty good fruit salads that seemed to be homemade. At Huentala it seemed like most of it was just canned fruit in sweet syrup.

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The location of the hotel was great as it was only 500 meters from Plaza Independencia and it was easy to walk to restaurants, bars and there were shops and kiosks scattered around.

All in all I found this hotel and room to be a bit tired. Yes, the hotel lobby and room reminds me more of a classic Paris hotel with marble (or at least stone) tiles in the lobby, heavy columns etc but the lobby was also darkish just as the room. To make a long story short: if I head back to Mendoza I will probably try another hotel.

Regards
Gard
gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures

 

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Mirador del Lago hotel Apr 27

We stayed at Mirador del Lago hotel in El Calafate in Argentina for three nights in April 2017. We took a shuttle from the airport to the hotel and check in was fast. We got room 110 located in the corner on the ground floor. The room was quite small and most of it was occupied by the kingsize bed. The room had a wooden Scandinavian feel to it with wooden floor in the entrance, wooden panels on some of the wall and the bed also had light wood details. There was a small step up from the wooden entrance to the bed area which was a bit annoying – I managed to stumble on it a few times.

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There was a flat screen TV on the wall but it seemed like all the channels were Spanish speaking and movies were dubbed. There was also a desk and a chair in the room. There were no international plugs but we did bring a converter so we were able to charge all our gadgets. The wardrobe included a few hangers and also a small safe. The small fridge contained some drinks.  A bottle of water was 40 pesos so it is cheaper to go to the local grocery store to buy water.

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The bathroom seemed to be newly renovated. It was small but looked great with greyish tiles. There was a small sink and a shower cabinet. There was even a heater for the towels. There were the basic amenities like shampoo, soap and conditioner.

Breakfast was good with a standard selection of bread, cereal, scrambled eggs and bacon. The town is named after the calafate berry and they had this jam so that we could try it out. In addition they had a good fruit salad – it seems like this is a standard at Argentinian hotel breakfasts. The coffee at breakfast was not very good. I don’t know if it was instant but it was served from a big container. They could make proper coffee for us but at an additional cost.

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The location of the hotel is good. It is located a bit in the outskirts of the city center but we could easily walk over to restaurants and shops. All in all we had a good stay. It would have been great of the room was a bit larger but the bed was comfortable and provided a good night sleep. I would not hesitate to recommend this hotel to family and friends.

Regards
Gard
gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures

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Urban Suites Recoleta Boutique Hotel Apr 26

We stay 3 nights at Urban Suites Recoleta in Buenos Aires in Argentina in April 2017. I booked the room online (booking.com) and check in was fast in the small lobby. They did not have a room for us right away as it was 11 am but there is a workout room on the top level where we could change clothes. The workout room also has a terrace with a jacuzzi of some sort and there is a great view to the Recoleta cemetery.

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When we got back to the hotel later on we got room 73. The room was bigger than I had expected with a dark wooden floor and light walls with various art works. The king-size bed towards one end of the room was fairly soft and comfortable and side tables had space enough. There was a large sofa, chair and table in the “living room” and the small kitchen contained a table with 4 chairs, a microwave oven, water boiler, small fridge etc. There was a smaller flat screen TV on the wall by the bed but we could not find a lot of English speaking channels. There were no international plugs but we did bring a converter so we were able to charge all our gadgets. The wardrobe included a few hangers and also a small safe.

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The bathroom was also quite large and had a toilet, bide and a shower corner. For some reason there were not many hooks to hang clothing, towels etc. There were the basic amenities like shampoo, shower gel and conditioner.

When we were there it was not that hot so we didn’t get to test out the air-con capacity but it seemed to work fine. We had free wifi and it was only a matter of putting in a password the first time so this worked very well.

Breakfast was in the basement and had a standard selection of bread, pastries, some sweet cereal, juice etc. There was also some scrambled eggs and bacon. I enjoyed the fruit salad and it seemed like it was homemade. It was possible to order good coffee made according to your wish – the double espresso was good.

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Location of the hotel is good. It is located right next to Recoleta cemetery and Recoleta mall and in the area you will find shops, restaurants and bars. All in all we were happy with our stay at this hotel and I would not hesitate to recommend it to family and friends. I might even stay there again if I travel to Buenos Aires again.

Regards
Gard
gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures

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