Llao-Llao

From Our Window

Bariloche is Argentina’s Lake Tahoe. Lot’s of lakes. Mountains high enough for skiing and lots of snow each year. The steep pitched roofs on most of the buildings tells you all you need to know about the peak snowfall.

Fly from BA to Bariloche

Agrentina has a lot going for it, but apparently good roads connecting BA with the interior is not on the list. Landing in Bariloche with 300 or so other sholder-season travelers tells a lot. The landscape around the airport is borderline desolate. Rocky, with not much growing on it. There are no farms or roving cattle in sight. (That’s all in the Pampas, north of BA).

If there is a road headed east to the coast, it is a rugged one. A 1000 mile hour drive we were told. But there are plenty of flights, especially in the winter ski season.

BA felt Spanish and Italian. A Mediterranean lifestyle. Bariloche is German, Austrian, Swiss. Very Alpine. The outdoor living, the lakes and hiking trails must have made central European immigrants feel at home in the big wave of European immigration around WWI. And there are more than enough places with serious custom made chocolate to demonstrate Swiss roots.

Hotel Llao-Llao

We stayed at the famous Hotel Llao-Llao, a great lodge in what I would call the Adirondack style. It was a little more than a half hour from the town, overlooking one of the lakes. It must have been popular with President Eisenhower, who was photographed golfing there sometime in the 1960’s. At this point it is a family friendly place, fairly self contained with serious hiking trails, golf and, in season, fly fishing. 

The hotel is a comfortable place to hang out, with a nice lounge, Argentinian wine, a pleasant happy hour every afternoon and a friendly staff. Everyone enjoyed their stay here, but it felt like going back in time about 40 years. Some of that was charming and some was a signal that an update was overdue.

Hotel Llao Llao