Ushuaia - Eating and Sleeping

View from our room across Beagle Channel

I cannot speak highly enough of our hotel, Tierra de Leyendas. Due to our rescheduled flight we arrived in Ushuaia at 8.30 in the morning. The hotel had organised a taxi transfer for us, and had a room ready even though official check in time was not until 2pm. The hotel is a little way out of town on an elevated site with outstanding views across the Beagle Channel. There is a large modern supermarket conveniently situated at the bottom of the road. A taxi to the centre costs about 40 pesos, or you can walk there in 45 minutes. We were given one of the few standard rooms facing the Beagle channel with superb panoramic views from our picture window. The bed was comfortable and the shower was powerful and hot. There are only 7 rooms in the hotel so you have to be lucky to get a sea facing room, or pay extra and guarantee the view from a superior room.

View from our room at sunrise

Even though we were not entitled so on arrival, Sebastian, the Owner, offered us a delicious homemade buffet breakfast with a good selection of hot and cold food. He very helpfully recommended tours and hikes and then made the bookings and taxi arrangements for us. The hotel had already emailed us a fully comprehensive pack including a list of tours so we had a good idea what we wanted to do. The free wifi and comfortable lounge area with Internet access were added bonuses, as was the extensive library of DVD's available to watch in our room. All the staff were constantly helpful and willing to do that little bit extra to make our stay comfortable.

Sebastian had trained as a chef in a top hotel and his influence was evident in the menu and the presentation of the food in the restaurant. We ate here on the first and final night. I can highly recommend the pacific salmon, and the brochettes de langoustines with curry sauce was simply outstanding.

We also ate at Kuar restaurant, about 2km out of town on the other side, so you need a car or a taxi to get here. It is set right on the water's edge with superb views over the Beagle Channel. As the sun set behind us over the mountains, from our window table we watched two sea lions swim lazily by. The foreshore is floodlit and you can continue to watch geese, oystercatchers and other birds as they feed along the rocky beach. The staff were friendly and there was a good choice on the menu, including black hake, trout and king crab. Everything is cooked fresh. The Tierra del Fuego local lamb was particularly good, as was the recommended wine from the Mendoza region.