The

---

<

Item	Chile Pesos	Argentina Pesos	US dollars	Comments	Payment
Roundtrip plane to Patagonia			US$3592	United Airlines	Ccard. Prepaid
4 Days of car rental in Chile	C$90,000		US$129.78	Rent A Car Vogel	Cash.
Taxi.	C$20,000		US$28.84	Puerto Montt Airport to Puerto Varas	Cash.
5 Nights in Puerto Varas hotel			US$500	Hotel Solace: $100 per day	Prepaid w/ Expedia
1 Day Sea Kayak Adventure	C$140000		US$201.88	Ko'Kayak charges 70,000 each	Cash
One day Boat/Bus/Boat to Bariloche			US$560	From Puerto Varas to Bariloche	Prepaid w/ Paypal
First night in Barioche hotel			US$134.39	Hotel Tirol	Prepaid $134.39 on Mel ccard
Three nights in Barioche hotel		A$6044	US$388.20	Hotel Tirol	Ccard
Seven days car rental in Argentina		A$9964	US$640	Budget. Includes cost of gas refilling.	Ccard.
One way catamaran ride from Villa La Angostura		A$560	US$41	280 pesos per foreigner	Cash
Arrayanes National Park admission		A$240	US$18	120 pesos per foreigner	Cash
One night hotel in Villa La Angostura			US$117	Hostel Don Pilon: $117 per night	Prepaid w/ Booking.com
Two nights hotel in San Martin			US$287	Le Chatelet: $144 per night	Prepaid w/ Booking.com
Two more nights in Hotel Tirol		A$4469	US$287.04	Pay $833 pesos cash, balance on $3636 on ccard
Wendy's in Houston Airport			US$15.50		Cash.
Puerto Cafe Hamburgers	C$20,000		US$28.84	Slow service, undercooked burgers	CCard.
Chile Hiking Map	C$6,000		US$8.65	Trail Map of Vincente Perez N.P.	CCard.
La Cascade Parking Fee	C$2,000		US$2.88		Cash.
Saltos del Petrohue Parking	C$1,000		US$1.44		Cash.
Alessandro Pizza & Pasta	C$15,000		US$21.63	Medium ham & pineapple pizza	Cash.
Parentesis Pizza	C$18,100		US$26.10	Ham & mushroom pizza	Ccard.
Alerce Andino N.P.	C$3,000		US$4.33	Two park admissions	Cash.
Shell Gasoline	C$22,000		US$31.72		Cash.
Parentesis Pizza	C$15,000		US$21.63	Medium ham & pineapple pizza	Cash.
Cassis	C$16,000		US$23.07	Veggie burger + #10 beef sandwich	Ccard.
Bariloche Bus Pass		A$177	US$11.37	Pass + 2 roundtrips	Cash
Bariloche McDonalds		A$271	US$17.47	A bad idea. Two combos	Cash
Trattoria I'Italiano		A$380	US$24.41	Spaghetti + ravioli dinners	Cash
Gondola & Chairlift		A$560	US$35.97	Up to start of Refugio Frey trail	Cash
Cocodrillos		A$380	US$24.41	Steak & fries, + medium pizza	Cash
Two Catamaran Tickets		A$700	US$44.96	One way trip to Arrayanes N.P.	Cash
Admission to Arrayanes		A$240	US$15.42	Two park admissions	Cash
Lagos Resto Bar		A$250	US$16.06	Ham & Olive pizza	Cash
Peperone		A$385	US$24.73	Two chicken dinners	Cash
San Martin Supermarket		A$94	US$6.04	1/2 kg of ice cream, 2.25 L diet Coke	Cash
YPF Gas Station		A$300	US$19.27	27 liters of gas	Cash
3/4 kg of ice cream		A$180	US$11.56	Chocolate, White Chocolate and Mint Chocolate Chip	Cash
Cocodrillos		A$360	US$23.12	Two chicken dinners	Cash
La Marca		A$315	US$20.23	Two spaghetti dinners	Cash
La Turista		A$110	US$7.07	1/2 kg Mint Chocolate chip ice cream	Cash
Bariloche T-shirt		A$180	US$11.56	Souvenier	Cash
Patagonica Chocolate		A$260	US$16.70	1 kg of Chocolate	Cash
Cocodrillos		A$250	US$16.06	Final pizza for lunch	Ccard
Grand Total			$7457.33

We stayed at Hotel Solace for five nights in February 2016. We booked through Expedia, and prepaid at a rate of US$99.83 per night. Here is what I liked about Solace: Location: Hotel Solace is locate about 1/2 km from the center of Puerto Varas. It is an easy walk to get to the shops and restaurants and bustling center of the city (you do have to walk down a short hill). Walking is a good idea, because parking in Puerto Varas would be a challenge. However, the shortest distance from the town center is helpful because it keeps the noise down. While we visited Puerto Varas, there were nightly bands playing in the town square, accompanied by large and noisy crowds. But we heard none of the hub-bub from our Hotel Solace room - this hotel was the quietest place we stayed while we visited Patagonia. Breakfast: What a huge breakfast buffet! Breads, pastries, fruits, eggs, juices, yogurt - quite a selection, and all of it was tasty and filling. We ate such large breakfasts that we were able to skip lunch. Even better, the breakfast buffet opened early (6:30 A.M.) so we could get an early start on our sightseeing. Helpful Staff: The staff is extremely helpful and friendly. Most speak English. Our rental car company screwed up, despite that fact we had a reservation, the rental company did not have a rental car to give us. This could have been a disaster, but the Hotel Solace staff contacted a local rental car company for us, and found us a car (and it turned out to be at a cheaper rate than the car we originally booked with Alamo.) I was impressed by this level of helpfulness. Chocolate Mint: Every evening, we got a small chocolate treat on our pillow. Sweet! Nice Room: The room is clean and modern and quiet. There was a safe in the closest where we could lock our valuables during the daytime. Parking: There is free parking here. The lot does fill up, but at least you can park your car - parking spaces are at a premium in Puerto Varas. The WiFi worked consistently in our room. This wasn't true in all the hotels we visited. Overall, I have only positive comments about Hotel Solace. This was a great hotel for us during our Puerto Varas visit. We stayed at Hotel Tirol in Bariloche for a total of six nights in February of 2016. We booked directly with the hotel. I thought we were getting a rate of US$111 per night, but the quoted price did not include the 21% VAT (Value Added Tax). This meant our actual rate was US$135 per night. Here is what I liked about Hotel Tirol: Location: Hotel Tirol is ideally situated in downtown Bariloche. It is just two blocks from the Tourist Information office on the central square. The National Park office for Nahuel Huapi is just a block behind it. Numerous shops and restaurants are easily reached with a short walk. Because parking is such a challenge in Bariloche, it is nice that Hotel Tirol is so close to the city center. Currency Exchange: The front desk is willing to convert US cash (clean $100 and $50 bills) into Argentinian pesos. We got an exchange rate of 15 to 1, which seemed fair. This was very convenient for us, we didn't have to worry about card skimmers at ATMs or thieves watching us withdrawing money from banks. Friendly Staff: The staff at Hotel Tirol is helpful. They speak English. They are used to dealing with typical tourist questions - for example, they let us store our bags at the hotel before we checked in (never leave your suitcases in the trunk of your car in Argentina!). Breakfast: Breakfast is a well stocked buffet. They will tell you that breakfast does not officially begin until 8 A.M., but we went down at 7:30 A.M. and already found people eating. Not all of the items of the buffet are out that early, so if you want a complete selection from the breakfast buffet, wait until 8 A.M. But if you want an early start, then you can go begin before eight. Nice Room: Our room seemed clean, with a nice king sized bed. We had a safe and a small fridge in our room. Here is what I didn't like about Hotel Tirol: Noise: Although Hotel Tirol is convenientally located near the center of Bariloche, this unfortunately means you hear a lot of street noise. The people of Argentina love to play the music from their cars at ear splitting volumes even at 3 AM. Plus, the motorcycles are loud and numerous. I don't know if there is any solution to this - even if you stayed at 5 star hotel in Bariloche, how could they keep out the street noise? Parking: Hotel Tirol has free parking, and that is a good thing. Unfortunately, it is a small lot, with only 8 parking spaces, and some of those spots are tight places. We would just park in the driveway and then hand the keys to the front desk and let them park the car for us (which they were happy to do.) We stayed in Hostel Don Pilon one night in February of 2016. We paid US$117 - I think I requested a double room, but we ended up in a room with a king sized bed plus two bunk beds, so perhaps I was paying for a bigger room than I wanted. We ended up in room 5. Here is what I liked about Don Pilon: Location: This is just two blocks off of Route 40, and it is easy to find. Once you reach the Hostel, you can park the car and walk to all of the shops and restaurants in the town. Parking: They had a good sized parking lot that apparently few of their guests use. We had no problem parking our car there. Staff: Although their English is limited, the workers at the Hostel seemed like a friendly group of people A list of things that I didn't like about this Hostel: The mattress: the mattress on the bed must have been used for about 100 years, with an elephant sleeping on it every night. The mattress was crushed from years and years of use, and it sloped badly to one side. Similarly, the towels and sheets have been in use since the Renaissance. Noise: there was constant loud noise throughout the night. Someone was loudly playing music until the sun came up. I am not sure if the source of the music was inside the Hostel, but it was very close to our room. Breakfast: the breakfast was a sad affair of dry toast and a fruit cup and nothing else. Not at all appetizing. WiFi: there was none. I am puzzled how this place merits a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence. It seemed like a functional hostel, servicable but without redeeming features. Given the high price, I expected a much nicer place. We stayed for two nights at Le Chatelet in San Martin de los Andes. We paid US$143 per night, including the 21% VAT (Value Added Tax). We prepaid for our room through Booking.com. Here is what I liked about Le Chatelet: Location: This hotel is located in the heart of San Martin. Once you park the car, it is easy to walk to restaurants or tourist information centers. The Room: We stayed in room 303, which was a nice big room on the top floor. It had a clean, modern bathroom. The room contained a small fridge and a safe where you could store your valuables. It was quiet enough that we slept with the windows open. Breakfast: The breakfast buffet was well stocked and had some tasty foods. The Staff: The hotel workers we met spoke English and were friendly and helpful. Parking: Although getting in and out of the Le Chatelet parking lot requires a little bit of manuevering, we had no problem getting a spot each night to park our car. What I did not like: The Mattress: I am really surprised that Le Chatelet would have such a horrible mattress on one of its beds. The mattress tilted to one side, as if an elephant had slept in the bed for 10 years. We ended up stuffing pillows underneath the mattress to prop it up, so that I wouldn't roll off onto the floor. WiFi: On the second night of our stay, the WiFi did not work at all. Overall, I thought this was a great place to stay. The sad condition of the mattress was a disgrace, but everything else about the hotel was terrific. I assume that the mattresses in the other rooms are in much better condition; hopefully the management will replace the mattress in room 303 soon. We ate at Puerto Cafe on our first night in Puerto Varas. We were not impressed and did not go back. The service is very slow, it took forever for us to place our order and it took even longer for the food to arrive. When we tried to order, we were told that several of the menu options were not actually available that evening. My wife asked for a well cooked hamburger, but despite the long wait for the food, when her burger arrived it was pink through the middle. This place is apparently popular, all of the tables were occupied, but I thought it was a disappointing restaurant. We asked a couple of the locals in Puerto Varas to name the best pizza place, and they both named Alessandros. It is located about a mile from the center of Puerto Varas, but since parking is tight, your best option is walk out to this restaurant - the walk is along the water of Lake Llanquihue, so on a clear day you will enjoy views of Volcan Osorno. We ordered a pizza for two people. It had a very thin crust. The pizza was a medium ham & pineapple pizza, for which we paid $15,000 Chilean pesos (about US$22), including a Coke Zero and a tip. The service was good, we didn't have to wait long for a table. Once we placed our order, the pizza arrived relatively quickly. The pizza was tasty, overall, this was a successful dinner.\ We ate at Parentesis on two nights during our stay in Puerto Varas. The service here is pretty quick (unless you sit at the table closest to the door - the waiters all ignore anyone who sits at that table.) I think we placed our ordered at 6 PM, and by 6:30 we paid the bill and left. Like all of the pizzas we ordered in Chile, the crusts were quite thin, almost crispy. The food was tasty. Cassis is a popular food joint in the heart of Puerto Varas. It was busy whenever we walked by, but when we went in to eat, we were given a table after only a brief wait. The service was good - the food came quickly, and it was pretty good. It seemed that many people came to Cassis just for the desserts - we saw numerous orders for banana splits or enormous slices of cake. The dessert could be a meal in itself. My wife got a veggie burger (it came with fries), and I got the beef sandwich. Along with two Coke Lights and tip, our total bill was $16,000 Chile pesos, which is about $23 in US dollars. We ate at Cocodrillos twice for dinner, and once for lunch. Their service is fast, the food is good, and the prices are reasonable. Cocodrillos has a gimmick that says that you get 2 for 1 pricing, but everything on their menu is 2x as expensive as the other restaurants. For example, a Coke Light is $30 Argentina pesos at the other restaurants, but it is $60 pesos at Cocodrillos - but then you get it at half price, so it ends up costing you $30 pesos after all, just like the other restaurants. Despite this gimmick, the prices aren't bad. On one visit we ordered chicken dinners (one grilled, one baked), on our other visit we got a steak dinner and a personal pizza. All of it was pretty good food. Peperone was nearly empty when we walked in early one evening. So we got fast service. We ordered two chicken dinners, two diet Pepsi, and an order of French fries - this came to a total of $350 Argentina pesos, or about $25 US for the entire meal, including the tip. Quite a bargain for some good food.