José Ignacio, Uruguay

Kemay Boutique Hotel

Price per night from$500.00

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 (USD500.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Kemay Boutique Hotel Photos

Style

Away-from-it-all coastal creative

Setting

Palette-cleansing Atlantic wilds

Explore

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From its brooding monolithic lobby to its playfully surreal swimming pool, Kemay Boutique Hotel’s artistic sensibilities extend well beyond its gallery space and adjoining studio, where you’ll often find an artist-in-residence in full creative flow. Wild scrubland and romantic, rugged beaches are nature’s canvas — a landscape that elevates this one-of-a-kind retreat to a place that feels less designed than discovered.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

Meet-and-talk with the artist in residence or a private tour with the gallery director, and a bottle of wine

Facilities

Photos Kemay Boutique Hotel facilities

Need to know

Rooms

17, including 11 suites.

Check–Out

11am, and check-in is at 3pm. Both are flexible, on request and subject to availability.

More details

Rates include an à la carte breakfast.

Also

Unfortunately, Kemay Boutique Hotel is not suitable if you have mobility issues.

At the hotel

On-site gallery, 24-hour concierge, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: smart TV, climate control, Nespresso coffee machine, tea-making kit, minibar, free bottled water, bathrobes, slippers and natural bath products

Our favourite rooms

With their corner windows and upper-floor position, the elevated vistas afforded by the Deluxe Ocean View rooms are easy to fall for, and their wraparound terraces provide broad panoramas over the surrounding greenery, too.

Poolside

The hotel’s long, lap-friendly swimming pool was built around a mature pine tree, making quite an eye-catching feature. One end features a sunken seating area, while the other has a shallow section for splashing tots, plus the water is heated over cooler months. There’s also an adjacent hot tub.

Spa

Not yet, but a wellness space offering holistic therapies, personalised massages, and wellness circuits is in the works, as well as a fitness room.

Packing tips

Slip in a sketchbook and some watercolours. This art-meets-nature retreat is sure to inspire.

Also

There's no evening dining for now at Kemay, but plans are in the works to extend the restaurant's hours.

Pet‐friendly

Unfortunately, pets are not allowed at Kemay Boutique Hotel. See more pet-friendly hotels in José Ignacio.

Children

Little Smiths of all ages are welcome, but are priced the same as adults, except for children under two who stay for free with cots available.

Sustainability efforts

Kemay’s approach to sustainability began with its design, without a single tree felled during construction. Instead, the architecture was designed around the existing native vegetation. Inside, you’ll find biodegradable bath products; waste is recycled and food is sourced locally where possible.

Food and Drink

Photos Kemay Boutique Hotel food and drink

Top Table

Grab a spot on the terrace directly overlooking the hotel’s pool — its up-lit pine tree makes a spectacular backdrop for dinner.

Dress Code

Indie labels, asymmetric pieces and statement geometric jewellery will fit the creative ambience neatly.

Hotel restaurant

Despite its high-beamed ceiling, bold art pieces, and huge wall-to-wall windows, Kemay Restaurant still manages to create the mood of an intimate dining room. The à la carte breakfast here spotlights produce exclusively from local suppliers, with plenty of plant-led options. From noon, a daytime menu mixes Asian plates such as wok-fried shrimp and delicate sushi with heartier regional fare such as Uruguayan favourite milanesa (a breaded meat cutlet). A selection of small plates served into the early evening are your grazing option. 

Hotel bar

There’s no dedicated bar area, but staff are on hand to whisk your tipple of choice to whichever spot you decide to settle into.

Last orders

Cooked-to-order breakfast is served between 8.30am and 11am. A lunch menu is available from 12.30pm until 4pm. For lighter bites, the window is noon until 7pm.

Location

Photos Kemay Boutique Hotel location
Address
Kemay Boutique Hotel
Cruz del Sur 438
Arenas de José Ignacio
20000
Uruguay

Kemay Boutique Hotel sits just up the coast from José Ignacio, a chic low-key beach town on Uruguay’s southeast coast.

Planes

The closest airport is Punta del Este International, which is around an hour away by car. If you’re travelling from outside of South America, you’ll need to connect via Buenos Aires or São Paulo. Alternatively, with connections from Spain, Carrasco International Airport in Montevideo is about a two-hour drive away. The hotel can arrange private transfers.

Automobiles

Taxis and public transport can be on the patchy side, so if you’re keen to explore this lush stretch of coastline, you’ll want your own wheels. Free parking is available in front of the hotel.

Worth getting out of bed for

There’s a certain pleasure in doing very little at Kemay Boutique Hotel. But when you do fancy leaving the pool, a bracing barefoot stroll along neighbouring Playa Brava is the place to start. Swimming conditions here vary, the lifeguard station down the beach can advise. Its broad sweep of sand extends all the way to the José Ignacio lighthouse, where a 150-step-climb earns you dramatic ocean views in both directions. For consistent, better bathing conditions, try Playa Mansa, a short drive from the hotel. 

While you’re here, pop into José Ignacio town to browse the boutiques and galleries, linger over coffee or lunch, before hopping in a cab back to the hotel. A browse of the on-site gallery spotlights works by resident artists in fortnightly-changing exhibitions.

It’s also an easy drive to Laguna Garzón for kayaking, kitesurfing, and a wander through the surrounding wetlands (birders will want to bring binoculars). To explore José Ignacio’s interior, make a day of it with a trip to Pueblo Garzón, which punches above its (village) weight with a starred restaurant, winery and art gallery.

Local restaurants

To find toes-in-the-sand dining a flip-flop stroll from the hotel, head to Chiringuito Francis Mallmann for fresh-from-the-Atlantic catch of the day and to-die-for dulce de leche pancakes (Mallmann is also behind the fine dining at Garzón). If you’re eating in town, beachside Parador La Huella is a refined spot for local seafood and low-lit dinners within earshot of the surf. 

Local cafés

Set in a shipping container, Casa U delivers expert-brewed speciality coffee, alongside (on-brand) avocado toast and a sideline in vintage threads. 

Local bars

Housed in what could be described as a sophisticated shack, the rather magical Solera Wine Bar focuses on Uruguayan vinos paired with top-notch tapas. 

Reviews

Photos Kemay Boutique Hotel 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 artsy hotel in southern Uruguay and unpacked their bottles of Tannat wine and tactile ñandubay wooden bowl, a full account of their Atlantic-adjacent break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Kemay Boutique Hotel in José Ignacio…

Previously the preserve of the committed off-the-beaten-tracker, Uruguay is increasingly piquing the interest of discerning travellers. And with stays like Kemay Boutique Hotel springing up along its rugged Atlantic coast, that should come as little surprise. Set among largely untamed bush and pine forest, this secluded escape is a slick study in off-the-radar appeal. 

Take its coolly understated architecture, for instance: it was built around the existing planting — the most striking evidence of which is a handsome old pine, posing undisturbed mid-swimming pool. 

Interiors walk the line between pared-back and warm, with earthy tones and honeyed woods that chime harmoniously with the coastal scrub outdoors.  And bedroom artworks are your prompt to discover the hotel’s creative credentials, which extend to an on-site gallery and rotation of resident artists, as well as works dotting the grounds. The result is polished enough to placate less-intrepid hotel lovers, but still wild enough to appeal to those craving a sense of discovery.

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Price per night from $500.00

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