Men's Journal

Casa Suaya, Jose Ignacio, Uruguay Photo credit: Courtesy Casa Suaya

by Nora Zelevansky

For years Argentina’s elite have t aken their summer vacations (December to March) in Uruguay, at beachfront enclaves in areas like Punta del Este. But as Punta’s center has developed, Buenos Aires’s tastemakers have discovered the relaxed but refined pleasures of José Ignacio, a fishing village a half-hour drive from Punta and, more crucially, the airport there. You’d do well to follow their lead.

When to go:
Uruguay’s cooler spring months, October and November, are quiet, but at the onset of high season (December 24–January 10), tens of thousands of jet-setters descend upon the unlikely town for an exclusive party scene. Afterward, from mid-January through March, José Ignacio settles back into a perfectly secluded escape with ideal weather and no crowds.

Where to stay:
Having vacationed as a child in Punta, L.A. hospitality guru Adolfo Suaya (Geisha House, Goa) expanded his new, chic private vacation home into a luxe resort called Casa Suaya. Across a palm tree–peppered beach, the hotel (along with Suaya’s home) is made up of three upscale rustic-style buildings of earthy raw red stone, stucco, and glass. In Suaya’s backyard, visitors feel like guests at a wealthy benefactor’s estate (as opposed to the oversize casino resorts in Punta). Sixteen suites with ocean views have white walls and stucco fireplaces with exposed ceiling-high chimneys (from $600; casasuaya.com).

What to eat:
Famed Argentine chef Francis Mallmann (who recently built Hotel & Restaurant Garzón in nearby gaucho territory) is credited with establishing the region’s simple haute cuisine with impeccably prepared seafood and grilled meat seasoned with olive oil and sea salt. At Casa Suaya’s new restaurant Butia, chef Clo Dimet serves up fresh local catches like merluza (hake), corvina, brótola, and shellfish. (A second, sand-floored eatery, El Brasero, serves mostly beef under the cover of a nearby forest.) Just a short walk down the beach sits José Ignacio’s most famed eatery, Parador La Huella, an open-air restaurant next to a lighthouse in a Santorini-esque village, known for sashimi and caipiroshka cocktails (paradorlahuella.com).

What to do:
Brava Beach, a choppy Atlantic Ocean inlet on the eastern side of Punta del Este, has great waterskiing and kayaking, and wind gusts create waves ideal for surfing. Just five minutes west is Mansa, a calmer river beach known for spectacular sunsets and fishing excursions, where you can catch your next meal and eat it too; clay shooting and wild boar hunting are also nearby. Kitesurf with El Pato (598-99-905-308), a guide service that offers lessons for both novices and experts, or rent a bike or 4×4 from Todoterreno for an offroading adrenaline fix (598-99-873-988).

This article originally appeared in the November 2008 issue of Men’s Journal.

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