Rincon del Este Resort

Just back from 2 weeks here! I would highly recommend. Location in Punta del Este gives access to the beaches/restaurants etc that tourists come for but also a good location to explore the history of the area. Peoiple at the hotel our very friendly and helpful - much appreciated. We had a great time!

On avait lu les critiques sur Tripadvisor avant de se rendre dans cet établissement ce qui nous avait permis de préparer le terrain en envoyant un mail avec nos desiderata. (mail , auquel le service réception avait répondu). Mais à notre arrivée , on a bénéficié d'une chambre indigne même d'un hôtel 1 étoile européen à cause d'une propreté très déficiente .. On a vite filé à la réception avant de s'installer et on n'a pas eu besoin de beaucoup de temps pour que le responsable nous change de chambre et nous surclasse même.A partir de la tout fut agréable.L'endroit est calme et verdoyant , il y a pas mal de services pour les adultes et les enfants (piscine , put de golf , activités dans la piscine , locations de vélo , salle de gym ,etc...)Le personnel est à la hauteur et le restaurant a une bonne qualité de service et de nourriture sans être très élaborée . mais quel dommage que cet endroit ne fasse pas attention a la vétusté car bien que tout fonctionne ,tout est vieillot. Quelques coups de peintures semblent nécessaires pour en faire un endroit idéal pour les vacances en famille. Et puis une wi-fi qui ne passe bien que dans les parties communes .

Even though units are a bit old, which is quite common in this kind of Resorts in Punta del Este, they are perfectly furbished, well equiped, and it is worth highlighting the cleanness and organization of the whole resort, including its units. Recommend units for up to 4 people as they are more private, located on the first and second stories. Good social activity, close to the Brava Beach at Parada 22, and very affordable. Excellent value for the money, worth visiting. Only negative thing: a bit noisy at night, as children play and scream in the central park till late hours despite the official time limit set at 11pm. Also, weak wifi connection, better to connect from the Lobby.

This resort has lots of positives, but the same amount of negatives.

Overall, however, I would rate it on the negative side, because the units themselves, where you have to spend a whole week, are NOT good.

Let’s begin with the positives:
- The location is great, at 22 and Brava, just 5 blocks from the beach
- The resort area is big, with lots of trees and green spaces
- The resort includes lots of buildings, all around a center garden. Most rooms have terraces, facing the central garden
- The resort has LOTS of great amenities, including an outdoor swimming pool with a Jacuzzi, an indoor swimming pool, a play room (with 2 ping pong and 1 pool table), a reading/stay room, a gym, a restaurant, free DVD service, free parking and tennis, volley ball and paddle courts. There is even a small golf court for kids
- The staff organizes events daily, mainly for children, which are advertised daily through daily newsletters in units.
- The restaurant is OK and has reasonable prices. On Fridays, there is karaoke shows
In summary, if you are a parent with kids, you would love to stay at this resort and have your children fully entertained at all times.

But if you are not a parent with children, you would focus on the resort’s many negatives, mainly related to the condition of the units. It is really surprising the contrast between good common areas and bad private areas:
- The rooms are small and beyond dated, particularly the living and kitchen areas. We stayed at a 2 bedroom/2 bath unit (the biggest one), and the six of us were very crowded
- The units need LOTS of maintenance, including rusted appliances, shredded towels, mold in the bathrooms, cheap toilet seats, rusted and leaking faucets (some with unmatched handles), dated/cheap cabinets (some with no handles), very cheap furniture (cheapest plastic chairs), very little water pressure, etc.
- In the living room, there is no sofa-cama. Instead, there are two sofas with mattresses on top (and one of the mattresses did not even fit the sofa!)
- There was no air conditioning in the living room, but only in the bedrooms
- The 2nd bedroom had no TV, and there was no DVD player in the whole unit
- Worse of all, there were flies and cockroaches all over the unit
- The outdoor swimming pool is next to the restaurant in a crowded space, with little space for chairs. Guests are forced to put their chairs in the grass, which make the area look very un-classy
- The resort charges for daily towels, beach chairs and beach umbrellas (almost USD 1/towel/day and USD 3/chair or umbrella/day), which is usually free in most resorts
- The wifi (albeit free) is EXTREMELY & ANNOYINGLY slow, which was really a hassle

Regarding the very low water pressure, we called several times to fix the issue in one of the bathrooms, first to no interest from management. After many tries, we were told the problem was not fixable, so we had to shower all in only one bathroom.

The resort pictures are accurate, particularly for the outdoor areas. But the conditions of the units are very bad, and are not represented properly in the pictures.

I am really surprised that Interval categorizes this resort as a “Select” one. Compared to other Select resorts, such as those in Mexico, this one is really sub-par.

I guess the good reviews may come mainly from parents, who do not have many resorts to compare with. Punta del Este is very exclusive and there are not many full service resorts like this one.