Eolo Lodge

On the 4,000-hectare Estancia Alice, Eolo is an exclusive mountainside lodge with 17 spacious suites and equally spacious common areas, all with “big sky” views that include either Lago Argentino to the east, the Valle de Anita immediately south, the Brazo Rico to the west, or a combination of them. On a clear day, there are even glimpses across the border to Torres del Paine [1].

Eolo owes its style to the cascos of the great Patagonian wool estancias, with corrugated metal siding, antique furnishings, and English tea settings. Contemporary technology such as double-paned windows, though, allows far greater natural light and better views than the poorly insulated buildings of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The baths are also modern.

Like those houses, though, the suites at Eolo lack modern conveniences such as television and Internet (though there’s a satellite TV and DVD lounge, as well as Wi-Fi in common areas). There’s a sheltered interior patio studded with Technicolor lupines in summer, a small indoor pool, and a restaurant (also open to nonguests, by reservation only).

Open mid-September through April, Eolo (RP 11 Km 23, tel. 2902/49-2042, www.eolo.com.ar [2], US$995 s, US$1,420 d, 2-night minimum) also has a Gran Buenos Aires contact (Laprida 3278, Oficina 39, San Isidro, tel. 011/4700-0705). Eolo helps arrange excursions to the Moreno Glacier [3] and other nearby sights but does not organize them itself.