Punta del Este is a 90-minute drive from the airport in Uruguay capital, Montevideo; an alternative is the Buenos Aires airport, just across the bay from Montevideo.  Once one drives through the bustling and stylish resort town of Punta del Este, L'Auberge is just five short minutes but a world away.  Set amongst Punta del Este's grandest vacation villas, it is just 200 meters from the longest beach on the peninsula.   

Ten of L'Auberge's rooms are in the inn's old water tower, just two rooms per floor; these are the rooms of choice for many returning guests. Like the inn's other rooms, they are decorated with European antiques and art.  In addition to the junior suite in the tower, L'Auberge has two other expansive and luxurious suites.  Some of the rooms have fireplaces with antique surrounds, others have hundred-plus year-old armoires.  Some have Jacuzzis, and many of them face the award-winning gardens.  All are as tranquil as the inn's surrounding acreage.  

Shopping for fine Uruguayan leather goods, or incredibly affordable wool products, is a convenient and favorite guest activity.  Art galleries (modern and impressionistic art, particularly) pepper the nearby streets and are a testimony to the sophistication of Uruguayans and their visitors.  For these local excursions and for visiting must-see Jose Ignacio, a rental car is highly recommended.  For more sedentary relaxation, there is the inn's own garden-surrounded swimming pool, with cabanas and hot tub. During the summer, there are concerts in the garden using the owner's prized Bosendorfer piano.  

Buenos Aires and Montevideo are less than two hours away; many guests visit one or both of these world-class cities in conjunction with their Punta del Este stay.  

While Punta del Este is teeming with a wide variety of gourmet as well as fun restaurant choices, many of L'Auberge's guests go no further than the Restaurant at L'Auberge.  For forty years under the watchful eye of owner Cristina Carrera, the restaurant offers a uniquely simple but sophisticated menu and a warmly personal ambience.  Several of the staff have been welcoming return guests for almost half a century -- Juan, the pastry chef who is perhaps world-famous for L'Auberge's Belgian waffles, for instance, and Carmen, a beloved waitress whose grandchildren now work at L'Auberge!  In many ways the hotel is a family welcoming "family" back.   

During the day, L'Auberge offers a grill at poolside, and The Tea Room is a favorite meeting place of Uruguayan elite – and guests alike.   

Nearby alternatives center around "downtown" Punta del Este (Lo de Tere, which faces the harbor, is a favorite), Jose Ignacio (15 miles up the coastline, where La Huella is THE place to dine with Argentine and Brazilian high society), or right in L'Auberge's beachside neighborhood (La Bourgogne is a pricey but popular choice for French cuisine.) 

While high-rate season runs from December 19 through February , Punta del Este's beautiful summer weather and swimming conditions continue to the middle of April; October and November are lovely and warm, as well.  Suites are $610-800 during high rate season (slightly higher at Christmastime) and $400-520 October 1 through December 19 and March 2 through April 12.