San Martin is a lovely touristy affluent town, but it was sooo much busier than the last time we visited. Some say that it’s the paving of the 7 Lakes Road that has made it more popular, or perhaps it’s just that more people are travelling since Covid. The Chapelco ski resort was really busy, the ski and snowboard rental shops in town had large queues, and even the Mamuschka chocolate shop had really long lines. The upside was that the après ski festivities were more vibrant, and it seemed like there were more restaurants to choose from, although they were quite expensive.

We stayed at the Tunqueley Hotel which was very central and had gated car parking out the back. The staff were very friendly and some spoke English. The lounge area was a nice spot to relax and breakfast was reasonable. The guest rooms were rather dated but functional, except for the bathroom which was rather tight – it reminded us of a Japanese hotel.
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Nice resort, best for family,
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Even though San Martin de los Andes is an affluent resort town, the culture is very laid back and not at all uppity. The town features beautiful old school Swiss architecture as well as more modern alpine wooden buildings. The town is rather pretty and thankfully the height of the buildings is regulated, so it’s not likely to see any ugly high rise developments.

Other pros of San Martin de los Andes include the fantastic restaurants, the nice après scene, and the interesting shopping. It is a beautiful town, but one con is that only a tiny part of town sits on the lake, and the town doesn’t have the majestic lake views seen in other Lakes District towns.

It is a well developed town that caters well to tourists, but it is more refined than Bariloche and doesn’t have the associated underbelly. It’s still a touristy town, but it’s not crazy like Bariloche.
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