Hotel Beltran — Hotel in Colonia del Sacramento

This hotel is vastly different in real life from their marketing. The room was shockingly small and dark. What is perhaps not clear from their professional photos is that the doorway is your only window (when I booked, it appeared to me to be a balcony), and that what is right outside your door is the main path through the courtyard to the other rooms. ||||So in order to have any light or fresh air in your room, you need to keep the doors open and expose yourself to the foot traffic. There is an outside set of wooden shutters that create some privacy, but there goes your light. ||||The room itself is not secure. It is locked from both sides with a skeleton key in an assembly with loose screws (see photos). One good shove and you'd be in. I walked in off the street directly to the courtyard and to my room without encountering any hotel employees on many occasions. Yes, Colonia feels safer than Buenos Aires, but there weren't even any staff around as a crime deterrent. It's no secret that Argentina residents and tourists come to Colonia to get US Dollars out of bank machines (which you can't do in Argentina because of currency controls), so chances are you will be packing all of your cash around with you on your person, which doesn't feel all that secure either.||||The single most disturbing thing about this experience was that the room had obviously been fumigated very recently. It was beyond the typical bug spray that dissipates relatively quickly, and so overpowering that it was nearly intolerable to be in the room. I saw evidence of ant problems, but fortunately no dead or dying roaches.||||Amenities: TV, towels, drinking glasses, 2 bars of soap, 2 packets of shampoo/conditioner (see photo) that proved impossible to open in the shower with wet fingers. No fridge. No safe.||||The hotel restaurant was closed except as a place to serve breakfast.||||Paper thin walls in need of painting (see photo). I could hear every word of my neighbour's conversation, and everyone entering into the courtyard. So you only get to enjoy the quiet of Colonia when the neighbours decide to go to bed.||||The breakfast was typical for area hotels, but extremely basic by European or North American standards (lots of bread and sweets, but no protein except for yogourt). However, it was nicely presented and there was fresh fruit salad and hot milk for coffee.||||The hotel itself is in an excellent location just a few blocks from the historic centre, and an easy walk from the ferry/bus terminal. However in this case, the trade offs are not worth the...

As a touristy area, the historic downtown of Colonia del Sacramento is a bit more pricier, but the Hotel Beltran offered a reasonable price. the hotel itself looks nice, and the staff is very attentive, but the room had its problems. It was a very cold night and there was a cold draft coming through the door, and the shower leaked more water through the cord than from the spout itself. The bed was rather small and too saggy, but for one night stay, and for the price we paid, it was ok. Breakfast, though, was a bit disappointing in terms of variety. As Brazilians, at least, you'd expect some cheese and cold cuts, such as ham or something of the sort, but there wasn't any. However, the croissants (medialunas) and dulce de leche (milk sweet paste) are always present in Uruguay and Argentina breakfasts. So, in all, it wasn't that bad, but could be better. If you're on a budget but don't want to stay too far from city centre, I'd still recommend it, but make sure you're warmly dressed for the colder nights. And the staff, I must say, are the nicest people possible. Always smiling...

We had a double room on the ground floor. It was reasonably priced and it opened out on to a very pleasant inner courtyard with birds singing in the trees. However, background music was piped into a courtyard which disrupted the peaceful atmosphere created by the greenery and the birdsong.||||There was a decent sized well-maintained en suite bathroom and the room was clean but there was a musty aroma which became quite strong when the cupboard doors were opened. There were also some signs of rising damp on the wall. A good regular airing would probably take care of the musty smell and it seems unlikely that the rooms on the upper floors would have this problem.||||The breakfast mainly featured carbohydrates and there were a lot of sweet things. Anyone who does not like sweet things and enjoys protein-based breakfasts would find it inadequate.||||Our room was reasonably priced so we accepted the drawbacks to staying at the Hotel Beltran. That being said, we stayed elsewhere when we returned to Colonia del Sacramento...