Yoo Punta Del Este

The room was nice and clean, and the customer service itself was super, super awful. We had to figure out the different places in the hotel on our own. Also, the reservation confirmation came as an audio message at almost 1 a.m., with a guy telling us to ignore the email and that it was approved. They really need to rethink when they contact clients. Not professional at all. There's more I could say, but I'll leave it there.

The apartment itself didn't feel very comfortable: hard floors cleaned with cheap soap, poor lighting, gaudy furniture, and a worn sofa. The halls and lifts were sweltering, with no central ventilation, and street noise kept me up at night in the street-facing apartment. Better window acoustics would help. The daily sheet changes were another letdown, since the linen looked old and poorly cleaned, with spots on it. Not cool at a five star resort. There were good points too. Yoo has a brilliant outdoor pool, and every apartment has a washing machine. The location is convenient for groceries, bakeries, and high end restaurants, all within walking distance. It was a decent enough stay, but at this price, three stars feels generous.

This was a deeply unpleasant experience. I was threatened with jail for complaining, then called a colonist and capitalist and told I wasn’t welcome because I was European. The owner made it sound like this was about what some younger Uruguayans think of Europeans, though obviously not all of them. I was in Uruguay to see whether my family might move there. I’d had many pleasant experiences, but now I have doubts. Thanks to the owner for a lesson I could have done without. Before all that, the place tried to charge my card in Mexican pesos for more than the agreed amount. Both my credit cards were blocked and cancelled while I was traveling. The merchant then cancelled at the last minute, before check-in. I complained, called the service “horrible,” and suspected the merchant was behind the card trouble. That led to the threats and insults. Several “Yoo” apartments are listed through Booking. This one is “Yoo Penta Del Esta”. AVOID!

The hotel was super clean and comfortable, with great staff, in a convenient spot in this beach town. The town is quieter than similarly sized cities, and the steaks are the best in the world. There was plenty of fresh fruit and veg with every meal. Just be aware the garage spaces are tiny, so only small cars fit.