Hotel Mirador del Lago — Attraction in El Calafate

The lobby area of the hotel is welcoming and the staff are helpful and friendly. However behind the facade, there are a few tatty bits and the rooms are dated/ in need of tlc.

We stayed here 3 nights and can corroborate other comments regarding soundproofing. Originally we were allocated an upstairs lake view room. However, after 1 night we were forced to move due to the fact that there is a super busy and relatively fast moving road between the hotel and the lake. The windows are wooden with no soundproofing and it was like sleeping in the middle of the M5 motorway.. .. cars, buses & motorbikes until gone midnight. The locals love a noisy sports exhaust too.. . so we didn't get any sleep at all. There were also many dogs barking in the neighbouring residential area and you can hear people talking through the walls from the next door rooms as well.

After this we moved to a downstairs room at the back, which was fairly dark as the window was pretty much up against the fence and a load of bushes.. but at least the road noise reduced dramatically. Annoyingly though, the neighbouring room then had their tv on till late and you could hear it through the wall and in the morning was the noise of people walking around in the room upstairs and water rushing down the pipes in the walls when they flushed their toilet🤦

All the back rooms are up against the hedge and fence with no view incidentally.. but the alternative is all the noise round the front of the hotel.

We also looked everywhere for, but couldn't find a way to regulate the temperature in the room. The windows can be opened, but that would then let more noise in.

Other thing to note is shower water changes temperature by itself. I presume this is when other guests hop in the shower and the demand on the water supply changes.

Anyway, we had tours booked so we were stuck with it. The hotel seems to be extremely busy/ popular, so I would have thought there is enough money in the pot to do a bit of sprucing up in this place. I can't understand why they haven't done so?

The breakfast offering was okay, but nothing to sing and dance about. Fresh coffee instead of pre made pots would have been nice as they do have a machine there, but it only seems to be put into action during the pay for afternoon tea. Also, when I enquired I was told the drinking water available at breakfast was out of the tap. I know Argentinian water is drinkable, but our European tummies are not used to it and it also reeked of chlorine. A 4* hotel should be able to afford a water filtration machine!

This hotel is situated 15mins walk from town, where you can find lots of restaurants, shops and bars.

Small streets on the opposite side of the road from the hotel, lead down to...

We spent two nights in a ‘Double Standard’ room which felt like a basement apartment. I think we got the worse room in the hotel (102) even though booked eleven months in advance. The view was eye-level of the rear parking lot and the employee bicycle rack. The shower screeched like a siren and the toilet flushing was also really loud. Not to mention the outdoor and hallway doors banging shut for each guest coming and going. Also, our room-phone rang at 6am and no one answered and hung up which was really annoying. ||The wing seemed like an older part of the hotel and the nicer newer rooms were on the opposing side of the lobby. If a nicer room is important for your stay, I would suggest spending a little more for a Superior room. ||Positives; hotel is walking distance to town and has car parking on-site. Breakfast is extensive with tons of pastries and goodies (small sticky-buns were amazing). There was a barista, but unclear if an extra cost. Breakfast room has distant views of the scenic lake and mountains.||Given the price point alongside the underwhelming room, it was a bit...

The price/ quality ratio for this hotel is totally out of whack, even for southern Patagonia. It desperately needs a major upgrade to continue charging the top rate in town. In our lake view room the ancient carpets were loose, the bathroom was mouldy and smelled bad, the TV was from another era, and the decor was 1980s. ||That lake view? It’s there in the distance, across a very busy, noisy road which is right outside your windows and will keep you up all night as all the traffic that passes through Calafate uses this thoroughfare. And if it doesn’t, the total lack of soundproofing between rooms and floors will stop you from sleeping. We could hear our neighbours on the phone, watching TV, using the bathroom, and having a big argument in the middle of the night.||The number one requirement of a hotel is to provide a sound night’s sleep. It’s impossible at this hotel, even at a cost of $300. Stay anywhere else.||(I’m scoring 2 rather than 1 because Juan on the reception was friendly and helpful and there is parking. Those are the only two...