José Ignacio, Uruguay

Estancia Santa Cruz

Price per night from$595.00

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD595.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Estancia Santa Cruz Photos

Style

Different ball game

Setting

Lagoon-edge estate

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Family-run Estancia Santa Cruz feels like heading to your friend’s country house for the weekend. The Kleins are your affable hosts, on-hand for cocktail recommendations, polo tips and sunset asados, between tennis games and poolside pizzas. Each California-inspired casa is named after the owners’ children, and you’ll make your own family memories on horse rides and kayaking the lagoon. Share stories at beach-house evenings, and after some Klein wine, you might find yourself offering to host the next get-together…

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Facilities

Photos Estancia Santa Cruz facilities

Need to know

Rooms

Six rooms across three casas.

Check–Out

Noon; check-in, 2pm. Both are flexible, on request and subject to availability.

More details

Rates at Estancia Santa Cruz include breakfast with buffet and à la carte options, and free use of mountain and electric bikes, paddleboards, kayaks and tennis kit.

Also

Unfortunately, this ranch-style stay isn’t suitable if you have reduced mobility.

Hotel closed

The hotel opens annually from 1 November to 30 April.

At the hotel

Beach house, tennis court, gym, yoga studio, charged laundry service and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: air-conditioning, tea- and coffee-making kit, free bottled water, minibar, bathrobes and organic bath products; Casa Bea has a TV.

Our favourite rooms

At owner-run Estancia Santa Cruz, each standalone casa takes inspiration from Californian country style, with exposed rafters, view-gazing floor-to-ceiling windows and a soft color palette. You’ll find lake-facing terraces, a barbecue area and kitchenette at each residence, but we like Casa Ali King for its whitewashed interiors and cosy living room. Named after the owners’ daughter, Casa Bea is a sprawling residence with three bedrooms, multiple balconies and terraces, and an open-plan living-slash-dining room.

Poolside

The polo fields and tennis court aren’t the only spots where you can cosplay as a sports professional: the circular saltwater pool is Olympic in size. Its setting and ambience, however, is much more laidback, with its lilac flowers, palm trees and verdant views, which are best relished from the in-pool hot tub. Shallows contour its curved edges, so little Smiths can get in on the action too, but the bar area, which supplies coffees and cocktails, may appeal more to grown-ups.

Spa

It may be petite, but the spa area soothes with an infrared sauna, big-enough-for-two rainfall shower and post-treatment terrace (you'll want to book in advance to get the place to yourself). Lymphatic massages, rejuvenating facials and restorative reflexology sessions are wellness favorites, as are private yoga classes in the bright studio next-door, which can be booked on request.

Packing tips

You can leave your mallet behind: the hotel readily supplies all polo kit.

Also

The hotel’s prestigious polo fields host friendly games, competitive tournaments and open-to-everyone classes, but if you’d rather sit back and watch instead, you’ll get front-row seats on the restaurant’s veranda.

Pet‐friendly

Four-legged friends are very welcome and can stay for free in any casa. See more pet-friendly hotels in José Ignacio.

Children

Welcome. Each room can take a free baby cot on request and babysitting can be arranged with advance notice. Casa Bea sleeps up to 10, so is best for bigger gaggles.

Sustainability efforts

Solar power, water- and energy-efficient systems, and a phasing out of single-use plastics lead the sustainability charge at Estancia Santa Cruz. The estate supports the community’s reforestation efforts and sources the bulk of its produce from its four kitchen gardens, which are bolstered by nearby suppliers. The Klein family has its own non-profit organisation, Color Esperanza, which works with locals with disabilities and gives them personal and professional development opportunities.

Food and Drink

Photos Estancia Santa Cruz food and drink

Top Table

On the terrace for the best views of polo games or on the mezzanine for a tucked-away night cap.

Dress Code

Polo shirts and subtle Ralph Lauren logos feel fitting.

Hotel restaurant

Farm-to-table cooking shines at La Sierra — the hotel’s window-wrapped restaurant that looks out to the polo fields, kitchen gardens and budding vineyards. Dishes such as wiener schnitzel and flammkuchen — although prepared with Uruguayan produce — pay homage to the Klein clan’s European roots. A sense of at-home ease settles over the space and continues to flow at traditional asados, and sushi evenings at the beach house, plus there’s a pizza oven at the poolside bar.

Hotel bar

La Sierra’s bar shakes up a mean caipirinha — the bartender is Brazilian, after all — and it’s best sipped by the pool or on the polo-eyeing porch. Alongside a list of cocktail classics at the bar, you’ll also find the family’s own label, Klein, in the well-stocked wine cellar, which can host intimate evenings. Do-gooder Café Feliz will put a smile on your face: at sweet treat o’clock, swing by for coffees and pastries, which are brewed and baked by local staff.

Last orders

La Sierra opens Tuesday to Sunday, with breakfast from 8am to 10.30am, lunch from noon to 5pm, and an informal dinner service with pizzas and tapas from 6pm to 9pm; its bar pours from 9am to 9pm.

Room service

You can order dishes from La Sierra’s menu to your door between 9am and 9pm, Tuesday to Sunday.

Location

Photos Estancia Santa Cruz location
Address
Estancia Santa Cruz
Camino Medellín
Maldonado
20098
Uruguay

Estancia Santa Cruz sits amid verdant countryside on the shores of Laguna José Ignacio, between Uruguayan hotspots José Ignacio and Punta del Este.

Planes

Punta del Este International Airport is a 50-minute drive and Montevideo’s Carrasco International Airport is under two hours’ away by road; staff can arrange transfers from either, on request and for an extra charge.

Automobiles

You’ll want a set of wheels to tour the village-dotted coastline and seek out dinner spots, plus there’s free parking at the hotel.

Worth getting out of bed for

There’s no need to hold your horses at Estancia Santa Cruz: outdoorsy activities run wild. Your hosts have all the kit for games of tennis, scenic e-bike rides and lagoon-set paddleboarding and kayaking. Roam the vineyards of merlot and albariño — and sample them in Michael’s own label at the bar — or the four kitchen gardens, which are abundant with colorful produce.

Wholesomeness continues at the beach house, a few minutes away by golf cart, where a wooden pontoon unfurls over Laguna José Ignacio for bracing dips; warm up afterwards with a spell in the Jacuzzi or at a convivial lakeside barbecue. You’ll find equal camaraderie on the polo fields and the estate has numerous ponies for classes, tournaments or cross-country horse rides.

You’re within driving distance of up-and-coming José Ignacio and picture-perfect Punta del Este, which bring a cosmopolitan edge to your pastoral break with their boutiques and dining spots. Contemporary art sites, such as Fundación Pablo Atchugarry and James Turrell’s Skyspace Ta Khut, are your cultured neighbors.

Local restaurants

Toes-in-sand Parador La Huella will leave its mark on you, thanks to its lively atmosphere, sea-breeze-tickled setting and Latin American fare (save room for the dulce de leche volcano). Vineyard-set Narbona is a bodega and restaurant with farm-fresh produce, modern-country interiors and locally inspired dishes. The lights may be low at romantic Juana, but spirits are suitably high with its top wines, signature cocktails and fusion plates.

Local cafés

Farmhouse-style La Linda Bakery & Café is the place for artisan bakes, fresh-out-the-oven focaccia and latte-art-adorned brews.

Local bars

Spanish-style bites pair well with local wines at Solera Wine & Tapas Bar, a rustic-luxe spot with a twinkly terrace and cosy corners. The region is known for its wineries, and at oenophile’s paradise Bodega Garzón, you’ll be tempted by homegrown vintages, tours and tastings.

Reviews

Photos Estancia Santa Cruz reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this laidback-luxe hotel in Uruguay and unpacked their tennis whites and jodhpurs, a full account of their country break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Estancia Santa Cruz in José Ignacio…

The Kleins, the familial force behind Estancia Santa Cruz, hail from Germany and Bolivia, but are wholeheartedly committed to their José Ignacio locale. Plentiful Earth-kind endeavours spotlight this dedication: four kitchen gardens supply a seasonal bounty; the hotel runs on renewable energy, and it runs a non-profit organisation that helps locals with disabilities develop professional skills, such as working at the on-site Café Feliz.

Happiness is a feeling that will flourish as you roam this country-club-like resort, with its Olympic-size circular pool, sauna and spa area, and green vineyard views. Sundowners on the restaurant’s terrace are backdropped by polo games, and a sociable spirit is palpable in its asado evenings, tennis games and sushi nights at the lakeside beach house.

And with its secluded casitas, activities on tap and Michael as your ever-affable host, the bucolic buzz of Estancia Santa Cruz rivals that of nearby José Ignacio and Punta del Este.

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Price per night from $495.00

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