Mar Del Plata: Day 1 - Embracing the 5 Stars From Hotel Costa Galana

So there we were... standing in the lobby of the Hotel Costa Galana in Mar Del Plata, Argentina... eagerly awaiting to get our key cards to our rooms.

Unfortunately, one of our rooms wasn't ready. Luckily, we were as famished as we were tired. So, we left our luggage in the lobby and headed upstairs to La Terraza Restaurant.

While we waited for our food to arrive, I took full advantage of the beautiful view of the beach from one of the nearby windows. I couldn't wait to walk on the sand and get my feet wet on the shore. But the view wasn't the only thing that was visually appealing.

You can tell from the food we ordered that the cooks went all out to ensure that each dish looked fancy. No wonder the food here was so expensive.

Once we were done with lunch, we went back to the lobby to complete our check-in before heading to our rooms.

Now, I've stayed at a 5-star hotel before, but I have to say that Hotel Costa Galana really knocked my socks off. The beds were extremely comfy, and we had a fully stocked mini-bar. They even put chocolates on our pillows.

The Sheraton Hotel never did that for us. 

I only wish they would have given us one queen sized bed as opposed to two twin sized beds. We are married, after all. 

The other complaint that I had about our room was the view. As you can see in the photo below, the only thing we could see out the window was the neighborhood behind the hotel. I was disappointed because the hotel's website showed rooms with a view of the beach. That's what I was expecting. But every other creature comfort provided by the hotel really made up for this.

So, after a hot shower and a nap, we met up with our friends in the lobby, so we could explore Mar Del Plata.

The weather down here was amazing. The temperature must have been in the mid to low 70s Fahrenheit. It was very breezy and felt like we were in fall and not the Argentine summer. So, we walked about two blocks behind the hotel so we could do some shopping. But the stores weren't really that remarkable. If anything, I've seen better ones in Cordoba City and that's not saying much. 

I'll show you what I mean with some of the photos and videos below.

Another thing we observed was how rude some of the locals were to us, particularly the younger crowd. They made references about our female companion's cleavage and also poked fun of the way I walked. Alright! I admit it! I do have an odd way of walking but I'm not ashamed of it. 

I thought that the folks in Mar Del Plata were on a higher level of class. Instead, we noticed some of them behaving like high school bullies towards our group. But we decided not to let a couple of rotten apples spoil our fun.

Now, in in my last post, I mentioned how there didn't seem to be much of anything in Mar Del Plata during our cab ride to the hotel. Well, we walked around for a bit. We even went into some of the local supermarkets to see if we could find American food products.

We did buy salt and vinegar chips, which are extremely difficult to get in Cordoba City. We also found Maple Syrup, and Pumpkin spice seasoning. But all in all, the city had failed to impress us.

This was, however, our first day, and there was still a beach and a great deal more to explore in the days ahead.

To be continued...