Mendoza
November 2022
4 Days
I had never been to South America before, so in 2022 we decided to take a trip to Argentina. With my newly established Globalist status, we were also able to take advantage of a lot of the perks at Park Hyatts in Mendoza and Buenos Aires. Our first stop was Mendoza, the most popular wine country in Argentina and known for Malbec wines.
Flights
United Airlines Economy ORD-IAH-EZE: Cash one-way + $40 taxi to AEP
Aerolíneas Argentinas Economy AEP-MDZ: 14,000 AMEX points one-way transferred to Flying Blue (25% bonus) + $14 taxes & fees
Hotels
Park Hyatt Mendoza: 24,000 Hyatt points for 2 nights + 2 free night certificates
▸ Luxury hotel located in the city center and attached to a casino. Walkable to many restaurants in Mendoza.
Park Hyatt Mendoza - Mendoza, Argentina 2022
Food
La Lucia - Recommended to us by the hotel. Good food, good prices, and massive portions.
Magnolia Restó - Modern take on traditional dishes. Located in lively Arístides district. Good food, good vibe.
Abrasado - Often noted as one of the best steakhouses in Mendoza. Located at Bodega Los Toneles winery, a bit outside the city center.
Fuente Y Fonda - Home cooking family style dishes. Massive dishes.
Activities
Empanada making class
Night out in Arístides
Winery bike tour
Wine tastings
Full Itinerary
Day 1
The trip to Mendoza from Chicago took nearly 24 hours and included a 3 hour flight from Chicago to Houston, a 10 hour flight to Buenos Aires Ezeiza airport, an hour taxi ride to Aeroparque airport, a 2 hour flight to Mendoza, and finally a 30 minute taxi to our hotel, the Park Hyatt Mendoza.
While not the most luxurious Park Hyatt hotel out there, the Park Hyatt Mendoza is probably the cheapest Park Hyatt at Category 3 which means you can use category 1-4 free nights here.
Plaza Independencia
The Park Hyatt Mendoza is located right on the west side of Plaza Independencia in the city center of Mendoza. This location is central to the main shopping street of Avenida San Martín and the main restaurant and bar street of Avenida Arístides Villanueva.
Plaza Independencia - Mendoza, Argentina 2022
Exchanging Money
Argentina has gone through a period of severe inflation over the last few years, making the US Dollar king. Because of this, there is a 'black market' which buys US Dollars from visitors and sells them to Argentinians so they can save in a more stable currency.
When we booked this trip, the exchange rate was 75 ARS to 1 USD. By the time we arrived, the exchange rate was 150 ARS to 1 USD. And by selling US Dollars on the 'black market' we could get 300 ARS to 1 USD.
The process was straightforward - we went to Avenida San Martín where there was no shortage of people standing around saying "cambio cambio". After asking the exchange rate up front, we were led to a pawn shop of sorts which had a back room with a lady who took our 3 $100 bills and gave us 90,000 pesos.
Argentine Pesos - Mendoza, Argentina 2022
The largest bill is 1,000 pesos, but they gave us the stacks pictured here of 500, 200, and 100 notes. It was certainly a strange feeling to get used to carrying around rubber banded bricks of cash.
On recommendation from the hotel, we had our first dinner at La Lucia, just around the corner from the hotel.
Boar Ribs at La Lucia - Mendoza, Argentina 2022
The boar ribs pictured were phenomenal, but we hadn't yet realized the portion sizes in Argentina are massive and ordered far too much.
Day 2
Making Empanadas
For our first full day in Argentina, Gwen had booked an Airbnb experience to make Empanadas. As this was our first time trying Airbnb experiences, we had no idea what to expect. Not only was the cooking fun and delicious, we also had a great time talking with our host and learning more about the culture and life in Mendoza.
Our Homemade Empanadas - Mendoza, Argentina 2022
Arístides
After spending most of the day cooking and going back to the hotel for a rest by the pool, we headed to the main entertainment district Avenida Arístides Villanueva, a street lined with bars and restaurants and filled with outdoor seating.
During my research prior to our trip, Magnolia Restó popped up on a number of lists of the best retaurants in Mendoza, serving dishes with a bit more modern take than traditional Argentine cuisine. It certainly did not dissapoint and my braised lamb was delicious, but once again too much for me to finish completely!
Day 3
Wine Tour by Bike
Of course Mendoza is probably most well-known for Malbec wine, so naturally we planned a bike tour through several wineries in the Luján de Cuyo region. While it was nice to have a guide, we probably could have managed to just rent bikes on our own and set up visits to a few wineries.
Viamonte Winery - Mendoza, Argentina 2022
As we were visiting in spring, the grape vines did not have any fruit yet, but we had a wonderful time sitting outside and trying many Malbecs and other wines from the region.
After a wine filled day, we definitely needed a nap but were able to make it back out for dinner at 11pm to one of the best steakhouses in Mendoza, Abrasado, which is located at the Bodega Los Toneles winery closer to the city center.
Pear Gazpacho at Abrasado - Mendoza, Argentina 2022
The steaks were amazing, but there were also a number of very unique other dishes such as this pear gazpacho.
Day 4
When we were at dinner at Abrasado, the winery looked so cool that we decided to come back the following day to do a tour and tasting. While the tour was only offered in Spanish, we managed to get by and our guide was nice enough to do a bit of translation for us on the side. We also didn't need too much translation to figure out what to do with the wine!
Bodega Los Toneles - Mendoza, Argentina 2022
For our final meal in Mendoza, we went to Fuente y Fonda, a restaurant known for serving traditional family style dishes "in tribute to grandmothers and mothers who fed our hearts". While certainly delicious, we once again could barely eat half of our dish!
Pastel de Papa y Carne at Fuente Y Fonda - Mendoza, Argentina 2022
Overall
4 days in Mendoza was a great way to kick off our trip to Argentina and was everything we imagined it would be (mainly wine and steak). In 4 days we didn't have time to do much outside of the city, so hopefully one day we can go back and adventure some more.
To see the next stop on this trip, go here to Ushuaia
In Photos
