Design Suites Calafate

Let’s start with the pros: 1. Very nice architecture and fancy building. 2. Has a pool, has wifi. 3. Bed was verrrry comfortable! 4. Had bath robes. 5. The view of blue Lago Argentina was amazing! Cons 1. Far away from city center. We rented a car so this didn’t bother us but I’ve read reviews of people walking the 4km to the city which is inconvenient. 2. There were gnats and moths in our room!! This is the main reason I rated it two stars. I think housekeeping or somebody from staff left the balcony door open. We didn’t sleep till 2am because we were killing all the bugs. 3. The shower is hard to maneuver, it doesn’t have hot or cold written on the handles. 4. My husband ordered a late dinner, it was lamb and vegetables and it was terrible. Inedible food. We ordered dinner from Cuevos pasta bar the next day for fear that all of the dinner menu being bad. 5. Breakfast was sub par compared to other places that we stayed at in Patagonia. It wasn’t bad just not the same standard.

This hotel isn’t awful, but it’s too far outside the center of El Calafate. It’s a 40 minute walk to the center, and the free shuttle the hotel provides does not run at convenient times. We had to get a taxi every time we wanted to go into town. We saw plenty of nice hotels in the center of El Calafate that would have been better. As far as our room, it was very hot and stuffy I think because of the light coming through the large windows. We had the air conditioning cranked up the whole time to make the temperature bearable. The room had a nice view of Lago Argentino. I recommend they put blackout curtains on the windows because it’s hard to block out the light when you’re trying to go to sleep. As others have mentioned, the walls are thin so you hear everything going on in other rooms. The breakfast was decent, although it would have been nice if they provided a milk alternative (almond, soy, etc.) as I don’t drink regular milk. Other hotels we stayed at in the Patagonia area provided milk alternatives. The hotel provides boxed lunches for a fee. We did this on two days where we had all day activities planned. The boxed lunches were good! We had a very disappointing experience when we tried to pre book a taxi for the day of our departure. We inquired at the front desk the night before to see if we could book a taxi for 7am the following morning to take us to the bus station. The guy at the front desk told us we didn’t need to book a taxi, we could just come to the front desk at 6:45am the following morning and ask them to call a taxi and it would be there by 7am. We took his word for it and unfortunately that is not what happened. We went to the front desk at 6:45am and they called a taxi, but it didn’t arrive for an hour which caused us to almost miss our bus. There was a different guy working the front desk in the morning and he told us that taxis are very busy in the morning, which is not what the guy had told us the night before. We were very angry about the situation because it could have been avoided if they had pre booked the taxi for us as requested. Overall, I recommend you give this hotel a miss and book something in the center of El Calafate.

Stunning view from the rooms that are large and comfortable (same for bathroms) but getting a bit oldish. The breakfast is very mediocre, even the bread! fortunatly we had a waitress, if my memory is good called Milena, not only sweet and professional, but in addition every morning permanently doing all she could to make us feel happy even with this bad breakfast. This hotel is truly fortunate to have somebody like her and she should be warmly congratulated by the management, on the contrary of the breakfast chef...

Stayed here as part of an Inspiring Vacations tour. It isn't the type of place you want to stay if on a tour and wanting to see the destination city. Design Suites Calafate is technically I guess in Calafate, but in reality is located about 7km from the part of town as a tourist you'll want to go to and spend most of your day at, or even as someone who is hungry and wants to buy either a meal or just a bottle of soft drink or snack from a shop. There are no shops whatsoever in the vicinity of Design. It's one of those places where if you gave someone directions those directions include turn off the paved road. I did walk into "town" the first day of my stay, you walk down a lot of dirt roads, there's some derelict houses between you and the tourist area (I never felt unsafe at all), as well as plenty of newer houses, hotels and lots of buildings under construction. In fact the great view which is the number one thing this place has going for it, I think if you came back in five years, would be completely different. But at the moment you get a great view from your room (if you get one facing Lake Argentina) or from the dining room and other common rooms. It's nice but it's like a painting, it never really changes. For me I'd rather walk 7kms to see a nice view, stay there for long enough to take it in, then go back to my accommodation where the main town/tourist area is. You really need a car if you're staying here, although they do have to free scheduled shuttle drop offs and pickup times, although they are not very convenient times so I never used it. Room comes with breakfast which is a buffet serve yourself what you want from a couple of tables. Juice, various sliced bread to toast, fruit, cereals, pastries. There were scrambled eggs and on the first day these weird bacon fat things. The second day some little frankfurt things were mixed in with the bacon fat. I preferred it without them. The staff were always quite friendly and helpful. Room was a decent size, two beds had been pushed together to form a double, the second night kind of noticed the gap as you sort of fall in between them. But it was comfortable. These weird leather women's purse type pillows were on the bed and were very uncomfortable along with great normal ones. An odd collection of wires hung above the bed for some reason. Was it art? I don't know. Bathroom toilet was excellent. Shower unfortunately was in a bath tub. No need for a shower curtain with how it was designed. The wash your hands basin though was too shallow. Like the depth of a dinner plate. Walls were really thin, you could here everything that was being said by the loud talker in the room next door.

The hotel is in desperate need of a full renovation. I would say is a 2 stars hotel, definitely not 4. The walls are thinner than paper. You can hear everything that’s happening in the room next, above and under you. It was almost impossible to rest with so many kids running in the hallways, yelling and screaming and the parents or the hotel staff wouldn’t do nothing about it. The price per room VS what you get is totally a ripoff. The breakfast buffet was very poor. I wouldn’t stay here again.

Great views, spacious rooms. Staff generally gracious but seem tired at times. I liked that we were able to text the front desk via Whatsup to help us get taxis from downtown to get back to hotel even past 10pm. Food prices at the hotel restaurant are very reasonable but not the best. The breakfast selection was good. You’ll have to take a taxi to get to and from town. The hotel shuttle service (taxi that they call and pay for you) runs 4x per day (10am, 6pm to town; 12pm, 8pm from town back to hotel).

The management of this hotel left much to be desired. The recurring issue with room keys was not only inconvenient but frustrating, as it disrupted the flow of my stay. Having to make repeated trips to the front desk just to access my room was certainly not what I expected from an establishment of this caliber. Furthermore, the absence of a basic amenity like ice for drinks was perplexing. It's a standard expectation for hotels, and the oversight gave the impression of a lack of attention to detail. The limited food options, coupled with the absence of a diverse menu, fell short of the standards typically associated with a 4-star rating. The overall experience left me questioning the hotel's commitment to providing a comfortable and enjoyable stay for its guests.