We planned this getaway for my husband´s birthday with almost a month anticipation.
When I first contacted the hotel, they took 2 days to get back to me (thankfully I was really stubborn in going to Carilo and mostly in staying in a beachfront hotel), hence I didn't move forward with another choice. After a couple of emails to answer some queries I had, I decided to make the booking. We chose not to have lunch, since we planned to be out all day.
We had to pay in advance (or else they would not keep our reservation for longer than 24hr). They specifically requested that we took -on printed sheets- the reservation voucher and our personal file (one that they sent and we had to complete) or we would waste time at the check in.
The hotel looked nice and the staff friendly.
When we checked in, they gave us a cute tiny bag with the remote control of the DVD player, a car-gate opener and the room key.
The rooms are named after sea fauna, which is a fun difference of the usual numbers you might find in other hotels and resorts.
Breakfast was included and consisted of slices of jam and cheese, 4 slices of bread (2 white and 2 brown) and 4 very sweet and tasty medialunas, all served with jars of coffee and milk, and a jar of orange juice (natural).
The room was a studio apartment, which was very comfortable and not as cute as we expected from the pictures, but it was fine and well accommodated. The bed was awesome and so were the pillows; the linens were of a 5 star quality hotel. We did not use the amenities: pool, kids lounge, gym or spa, but they looked very neat.
Ah! An important fact is that our room had only a room to one side and the walls were so thin that we could hear what the couple next door was talking about. So we kept the TV on to "have some privacy".
A very upsetting thing that happened to us, was that the day before our check out date, Christian called from the Front Desk at 6pm and told us that "it was already late for our late-check-out time and that we had to leave". His approach was rather harsh so I kindly explained that we had our check out booked for the following day. He insisted several times, and finally I told him to please confirm the information, because the papers I had with the booking stated we were supposed to leave the following day. He told me he'd check it and hung up. Some 30 minutes later, he called back, saying that "the information was wrong, since you say you are supposed to leave tomorrow"; he said he was sorry for the confusion and that was it.
It poured with rain during our 2-day stay, which gave us not many options to go out and enjoy. We went to the hotel on the low-mid season, some suggestions for these periods: the hotel only sells beverages, so if you want a snack or chocolates, be ready to buy them before you get back to the hotel; the corridors and connections between the rooms and the facility amenities do not have roof, so I advise you to take an umbrella. :)
We went to visit Pinamar, Valeria del Mar and Villa Gesell. If you go to Carilo on a rainy season beware: you may get stuck on the road (there are no paved roads in Cariló, and you can get stuck in the muddy-sandy roads the town has!).
We believe that if you go to this hotel on high season (from late december to march), it might be crowded with kids and families running all over ("No Running" and "Drive carefully, children around" signs suggested so). The thickness of the walls should not worry, because you'd spend most of the time in the beach.
All in all, I think it was a nice hotel, but for the prize (and comparing to other options we had), I'd probably go to a higher quality hotel somewhere else the next time.