We decided to try the NH Cordillera after reading reviews posted on this site. We were meeting friends in Mendoza who had visited the town before. They were staying at The Aconcagua Hotel and had suggested it but The NH Cordillera sounded a little higher class so we booked there. We arrived on Sunday at about 3:30pm and as I struggled through the front doors the two suitcases the concierge (obviously not the doorman) watched from inside and made no attempt to help/greet or even acknowledge our arrival. We just received a stony glare from him. At the check in desk we were not approached for approximately 2 minutes even though there were two hotel staff standing in a doorway behind the counter chatting to each other. When we were approached it was to tell us someone would be with us shortly (another couple of minutes passed). The girl who finally showed up was nice enough and spoke English. We were given our card keys and left to ourselves to get to the room. On arriving at our room #107 neither of the cards would work so back down to the desk to have then reprogrammed. The room was clean but the view was of a brick wall and parking lot in the center courtyard of the hotel. We stayed at the hotel for 4 days, when we returned to the room on the second day we found that it had been made up but the bathroom had only partially been cleaned, the soap dish, counter and toilet had not been touched. The remaining days however were fine. The breakfast included was very good, consisting of cold meats, cheeses, fresh bread, scrambled eggs and wieners, fruits, cereal and more. Two urns, one with coffee and the other hot milk. made for a good cup of coffee. The staff were not friendly in the breakfast area and I guess that was my problem with this hotel. We did not feel welcome with the majority of staff. When we visited our friends at The Hotel Aconcagua the lobby door was opened for us each time and we were greeted with a smile, their rooms were almost the same but with a view of the mountains. They had wine tasting in the afternoon in the lobby and there was a very nice restaurant adjoins their hotel. We paid $126 a night and our friends paid $96 a night and also got their fourth night free. The breakfast was include and sounded like ours.
The location of The NH Cordillera is a little more central but I would stay at The Aconcagua if we visit Mendoza again.
Mendoza is a beautiful city and we enjoyed the people we met in the stores and restaurants. We found that dealing with the money caused us more grief than anything else. Everything is so cheap there that trying to get change was a constant challenge. Prior to travelling to Argentina we bought pesos in Chile at the Cambios and were given 100 peso notes which were extremely hard to break. Our hotel finally made change on the third day but it was done reluctantly. All the restaurants we used took visa but for the small stalls in the parks you had to have small bills.
We found for lunch the cost would be about $8. This consisted of 2 bottled water, 1 liter of Heineken beer, side of fries and we would share a Lomitos. Dinner was about $40-$50 a couple and consisted of some Empanadas, bottled water, a good bottle of wine ($12), a huge bife de chorizo.
Overall it was a great trip and although the hotel was a disappointment it didn’t ruin the holiday. I would suggest the Hotel Aconcagua over the NH Cordillera but if you have already booked for the NH Cordillera don’t panic, it was the attitude of the staff that put us off and the brick wall view we had.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
