Estancia la Bandada

Beyond expectation. Room was lovely. Food excellent. Staff was so very helpful, always going the extra mile. We enjoyed cooking class, riding horses, garden tour, pool, bird watching. Very restful. Asado was delicious and abundant. We particularly appreciated Grace's efforts to enable our birdwatching experience, taking us on a field trip to a neighboring estancia. In addition to bird spotting, we learned much about polo and horse breeding. Debora greeted us and gave a helpful tour. Later she showed us how to prepare empanadas. With her help, we three students soon had the knack of sealing the edges beautifully. Carlos was an excellent host. We appreciated his efforts and happy conversation while seeing that we had an early breakfast before departing. Juan lead our horseback riding adventure. He is clearly a skilled horseman and has a good sense of humor. We had an easy ride through beautiful landscape. The intimacy of the place was noticeable. We were able to get to know other guests, though one could certainly have privacy. We enjoyed meeting families from Buenos Aires and Ireland while we were there over Mother's Day weekend. If you are a bird watcher, there are many varieties of birds to see and hear. The chorus of doves in the woods was remarkable.

We stayed 2 nights at Estancia La Bandada and we had a lovely stay (quite, relaxing time) - I did hesitate between an Excellent and a Very Good rating but opted for the latter, maybe influenced partly by the fact that the weather was pretty poor (a lot of rain) for a good part of our stay. The place is cosy and exudes authenticity. Definitely the right place to rest and relax at the end of an active holiday. The service was great, discrete. The food was good (but sometimes more about quantity than quality) but I have to say the wine list was a bit disappointing by Argentinian standards (short list of mostly basic wines). We enjoyed the short horse riding tour (cut short due to the incoming rain) and used the bikes for a tour of the estate (although 1 to 2 of the 4 bikes were almost broken). One negative is it felt the staff were more focused on (i.e. attentive to) the day guests (people coming only for the day for the "estancia experience"). First of all, I am not sure the practice (of welcoming day guests) is a great idea if ones wants to foster an homely atmosphere but also it felt a bit wrong for us and other overnight guests. In retrospect, I would probably stay only 1 night at Estancia La Bandada.

La Bandada surpassed all our expectations. The place is stunning and most importantly the staff is incredible. They’ve payed attention to all details and were always one step ahead of us taking care of our needs. Another great asset this place has is the food, all of it is made in house from their organic garden and tastes fantastic. My family is vegetarian and that wasn’t a problem at all. We’re definitely coming back!!

Lá bandada is one of those places where you come and think ‘what am I going to do’. And a few days later, after having done little to nothing’ you don’t want to leave anymore. Peace, nature, wining and dining, simple horse riding. Just less than 2 hours drive out of Buenos Aires. Just loved it

We’ve traveled to many places around the world, and I’ve never had an experience like the one we had at Estancia La Bandada. My wife and I came for a few days as part of our honeymoon and the experience is truly unmatched. Grace and her team are the consummate professionals, never rushed, quietly confident and competent. The place itself is quiet, understated and cozy, and it truly feels like you’re at home while you’re there...if home was a beautiful Argentinian ranch estate with a live-in Michelin star chef. Seriously, the food here is incredible - we found ourselves mentally counting down until the next meal each and every time. It's not just delicious, it's also fresh - much of it grown in their garden. The eggs you have with your breakfast are laid by their own chickens onsite. You feel like royalty here, a little taste of heaven. Read a book by the pool while a border collie snoozes at your feet, take a horse ride, just take a nap between meals - you can’t go wrong here, if relaxing and unplugging is your jam, this place is truly world class. But really, what sets this place apart is the staff. Grace runs the place with class and calm, and everybody on the staff exudes this same energy. They get all the little things right - want a cozy crackling fire set up in your room’s fireplace? An impromptu empanada rolling class? They’ve got you, and more. Trying to make our flight home, we hired a car service and the driver's car broke down on the way. In the midst of our nervousness in making our flight, the estancia’s own employee Guadeloupe grabbed her personal car keys and took us to the airport herself. Who does this? I don’t know of another hotel or resort that makes you feel like family in this way - even on your way out. Keep in mind, I’m leaving out some of the little touches and details they provide for you, because writing them here would be like spoiling the ending of a great book for the next visitor. You’ll have to stay and see for yourself. 10/10, we will be back.

¡La Bandada nos dio una experiencia inolvidable! El hotel es muy lindo, la huerta es preciosa, los animales y en particular los caballos son magníficos, y el personal es super atento. Seguro que volveremos en el futuro. Pasamos un día allí y aprendimos hacer empanadas, comimos un asado, hicimos cabalgatas con Juan (el mejor guía!!), comimos una cena espectacular y nos despertamos al sonido de pájaros. Fue realmente espectacular.