Las Balsas Relais & Châteaux — Restaurant in Municipio de Villa La Angostura

We stayed 4 nights at Las Balsas and there’s no denying it’s in an amazing location with wonderful views! Other positives are the lovely spa, the delicious food, the charming communal areas, and the friendly staff. ||Although, on the whole, we had a great stay, unfortunately it didn't quite live up to the high expectations we had, given the cost and the Relais & Chateaux label. ||For example, our room was tiny, with very little storage space for clothes and nowhere to store our bags. The walls were completely bare so it felt a little sparse (especially compared to the rest of the property, which had a cosy decor). The bathroom felt a little worn, particularly around all its wooden features. We also found it a little uncomfortable that the bed was directly against the wall without any kind of headboard. ||Also, we were woken up during the night by a kind of scratching noise (it sounded like there was a mouse trapped in the roof area) - which was an intermittent issue for the rest of our stay. The reception staff arranged for a maintenance person to look into it but apparently nothing was found so nothing was done to fix it. After dinner one night it was mentioned that we could move to a different room but we weren't minded to pack and move at 10pm so we declined on the basis we'd see how we got on that night. Although we reminded the staff a few times about the ongoing problem, there continued to be no resolution and no further offer to move room and generally, frankly, they didn't seem bothered. We would have expected a bit more of a sense of urgency in trying to resolve the issue and more proactivity to make our stay more comfortable. It's really not ideal when you can't get a good night's sleep. ||The food at the restaurant was generally excellent although it would have been nice if there could have been specials on offer or different menus for some of the evenings. It seemed a little unusual in a restaurant of this quality for the menu to be the same every day during the 4 days we were there. It would also be nice to see a wider variety of wines available by the glass. ||Additionally, although we were on a full board rate and there was no problem to arrange a lunchbox for one of the days, we were rather underwhelmed by what we were given: we didn't think a wrap, a banana and a small bag of granola each was really on point for this kind of property (especially compared to the 3 course lunch you could have on site). ||It was nice to have soft drinks available in the mini bar in the room but it was odd there were no glasses to drink them from (until they were delivered during the turndown each evening) and they were all in plastic bottles, which seemed incongruous with the approach other properties are taking to single-use plastic (and actually our picnic basket included 2 refillable water bottles so it's odd they are inconsistent with this). Equally, it was nice to have an espresso machine in the room but only offering 2 capsules per day seems incredibly basic. ||All in all, we did enjoy our stay so these negatives shouldn't be taken out of context, we just feel that the overall experience could very easily be a lot...

We first went to Las Balsas some 20 years ago and had not returned for about 10 years. What used to be a charming little place with excellent service in a wonderful spot on the Nahuel Huapi lake is unfortunately, no longer so. And for the following reasons we would not rate it as a Relais & Chateaux:||. As our 20 years old daughter and a friend sat at a table outside as indicated by reception while we were doing the check-in, who turned out be the General Manager badly mistreated them, probably thinking that they were 2 girls who managed their way in from the nearby beach. Upon our complaint to reception he would not even show up to apologize and when my wife eventually saw him and asked him for an explanation he said he was busy and would see her the next morning, which of couse he never did. Nor did he appear a single time during our 4 days stay to ask whether we were having a pleasant time! We read that his background is not in the hotel industry and unfortunately it shows badly! A pity as the rest of the staff is nice but obviously not led by example,||. What used to be a private beach and pier is now a very busy spot on any nice summer day with kids screaming the whole afternoon. Most rooms overlook that public beach(see attached picture). On a wonderful summer day, forget about enjoying a peaceful drink in the garden,||. The food at the restaurant is ok but nothing special. In addition only one of the 4 main courses is changed everyday (none of the 4 starters and desserts) and if you are staying several days on a half board basis you’ll most likely regret the limited choice. As a matter of fact I just checked their website and the menu is still exactly the same as a month ago,||. Our room was quite small with an aging bathroom (as most from what I could see from the reviews) and internet speed has been very slow during all of our 4 days in the hotel.||In summary, the mix of bad management, noisy beach, very average restaurant and ordinary room contributed to a disappointing stay and we shall not return unless some major...

We first went to Las Balsas some 20 years ago and had not returned for about 10 years. What used to be a charming little place with excellent service in a wonderful spot on the Nahuel Huapi lake is unfortunately, no longer so. And for the following reasons we would not rate it as a Relais & Chateaux:||. As our 20 years old daughter and a friend sat at a table outside as indicated by reception while we were doing the check-in, who turned out be the General Manager badly mistreated them, probably thinking that they were 2 girls who managed their way in from the nearby beach. Upon our complaint to reception he would not even show up to apologize and when my wife eventually saw him and asked him for an explanation he said he was busy and would see her the next morning, which of couse he never did. Nor did he appear a single time during our 4 days stay to ask whether we were having a pleasant time! We read that his background is not in the hotel industry and unfortunately it shows badly! A pity as the rest of the staff is nice but obviously not led by example,||. What used to be a private beach and pier is now a very busy spot on any nice summer day with kids screaming the whole afternoon. Most rooms overlook that public beach(see attached picture). On a wonderful summer day, forget about enjoying a peaceful drink in the garden,||. The food at the restaurant is ok but nothing special. In addition only one of the 4 main courses is changed everyday (none of the 4 starters and desserts) and if you are staying several days on a half board basis you’ll most likely regret the limited choice. As a matter of fact I just checked their website and the menu is still exactly the same as a month ago,||. Our room was quite small with an aging bathroom (as most from what I could see from the reviews) and internet speed has been very slow during all of our 4 days in the hotel.||In summary, the mix of bad management, noisy beach, very average restaurant and ordinary room contributed to a disappointing stay and we shall not return unless some major...