Has Bariloche Recovered?

jb5

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Is ash from the volcano still impacting Bariloche?
 
Bariloche airport remains closed and tourist numbers are down because of this.

Occupancy levels in 4 & 5 star hotels are at about 20%. Hostels are fuller as backpackers usually arrive on the bus.

National bus services to/from Bariloche are operating as normal and were only suspended for 3 days after the initial eruption. The Samore Pass (to Ososrno) opened yesterday.

Cerro Catedral ski resort is operating as normal. Lake excursions started operating about a month ago. Cerro Otto and Cerro Campanario are fully operational. The 41st Fiesta Nacional de la Nieve ends today and it's currently snowing here in down-town Bariloche :)

A number of higher end restaurants have closed and inevitably there will be other businesses that have closed or will close in the next few months...

Discounts are available at hotels and restaurants. I have reduced the rates on my apartment rental and will continue to offer discounts at least until the airport is fully operational, which will be in months rather than weeks... Bariloche centre has been 98% cleared of ash but the volcano is still smoking so there is a small amount of ash in the air when the wind is blowing in a westerly direction. Even if the airport opens soon, some flights will continue to be cancelled.

Villa la Angostura is also open for business despite the fact that about 30cm's of ash fell on the town. I was there last week for lunch and the restaurant I went to was less than 10% full, there used to be a queue out the door...
 
Thanks, your site is much more informative than those of the top hotels. Interesting that given the ongoing problem, Llao Llao and similar do not seem to be discounting the way you'd think.
 
The 5* Hotel Edelwiess has a 30% discount if you book 60 days in advance or stay 3 nights and get two free nights in: Buenos Aires, Salta, Mendoza, Córdoba, Calafate, Jujuy, Mar de las Pampas, Mar del Plata, Cariló, Iguazú, Salta, Tucumán y Tierra del Fuego.

Did a google search for the 5* Panamericana and it seems they were doing a promo for residents on Argentina...

Called the Llao Llao but it appears there is no one answering phones at this time in the morning!
 
Can't wait to know what a local will find! We're in the states now, checking the airfare to Bailoche from BA from here, the cost is 3X what it is from within Argentina. But from what I've seen, this is the AR way, half full hotels not trying to fill up through discounting.
 
The slopes might be open, but this place is a freaking mess. The city asked for the residents to go help downtown to clean up the ash..and hey screw everything else. The city is covered in what looks like a blanket of beach sand. If I were a tourist and I paid to come here in this filth I would never return. There are giant piles of ashes along all the roads. Everyone we talked to yesterday was so happy it was snowing so they didn't have to look at the ash anymore.
 
Nicole_Ramirez said:
The slopes might be open, but this place is a freaking mess. The city asked for the residents to go help downtown to clean up the ash..and hey screw everything else. The city is covered in what looks like a blanket of beach sand. If I were a tourist and I paid to come here in this filth I would never return. There are giant piles of ashes along all the roads. Everyone we talked to yesterday was so happy it was snowing so they didn't have to look at the ash anymore.

I think is was great that the community got together to clear the centre of Bariloche, after all that is where the majority of the tourists stay. If it was possible to clear the entire city and km's I think they would have done it.

Central Bariloche may have looked as if it was covered in a blanket of 'beach sand' 2 months ago but I haven't seen any blankets/piles of sand walking around the centre; yes it may be different in the Km's. Cerro Catedral hardly received and ash. When Argentines stop avoid paying taxes they may get what they pay for....

If tourists come here expecting pristine streets I would say they should have done a bit more research before coming, yes I you can still see the effects on the ash, but the few guests that have stayed in my rental apartment this season have all had a great time in Bariloche.

Bariloche was covered in Ash, and today there is a huge difference:

jez-albums-bariloche-picture500-changes.jpg



jb5 said:
We're in the states now, checking the airfare to Bailoche from BA from here, the cost is 3X what it is from within Argentina.

Even in Argentina (for residents) Bariloche is the most expensive destination in the country :(

"En relación a las tarifas aéreas, Barberis afirmó que su precio se fija no sólo por la cantidad de kilómetros y minutos de vuelo, sino también por la demanda del destino. Producto de esa relación, Bariloche “es el destino más caro del país”.
Participó de la presentación el empresario turístico Adrián Dannemann, quien brindó un detallado informe sobre los costos de los distintos destinos, en comparación con Bariloche. Allí, precisó que desde Buenos Aires a Bariloche se demora 120 minutos y tiene un costo de 835 pesos, mientras que a Calafate –con un vuelo de 193 minutos- sale 613 pesos. A Ushuaia (215 minutos) 701 pesos, a Comodoro (147 minutos) 556 pesos."
Source http://anbariloche.com.ar/noticia.php?nota=23198 -


jb5 said:
Thanks, your site is much more informative than those of the top hotels. Interesting that given the ongoing problem, Llao Llao and similar do not seem to be discounting the way you'd think.


They may not be advertising it on their website, but just called the Llao Llao Hotel and they offered me: "pay for 3 nights, get the 4th night free"
 
There are also A LOT of tourists that stay outside of town or I wouldn't be here building cabins and there are piles of ashes all along Bustillo which is the street the tour buses go on (don't even get me started with the the fact that they must be what, waiting for a bus of tourists to drive off the cliff before they decided to put some asphalt back on Bustillo).
I do think it is great the community got together to help out the center. But is the rest of Bariloche supposed to be covered in ashes for the rest of it's life? The least they could do is come and pick up the piles of ashes people are putting out in front of their houses. Perhaps it doesn;t matter to you because you don't see the mess everyday. Where I live their is no difference whatsoever from 3 months ago.
Tourists do go other places than the center, so just letting them know what to expect.
 
Nicole_Ramirez said:
There are also A LOT of tourists that stay outside of town or I wouldn't be here building cabins and there are piles of ashes all along Bustillo which is the street the tour buses go on (don't even get me started with the the fact that they must be what, waiting for a bus of tourists to drive off the cliff before they decided to put some asphalt back on Bustillo).
I do think it is great the community got together to help out the center. But is the rest of Bariloche supposed to be covered in ashes for the rest of it's life? The least they could do is come and pick up the piles of ashes people are putting out in front of their houses. Perhaps it doesn;t matter to you because you don't see the mess everyday. Where I live their is no difference whatsoever from 3 months ago.
Tourists do go other places than the center, so just letting them know what to expect.

Poco a poco, starting with the most densely populated areas first... maybe it will stop there (?) hopefully not, but again it goes back to money/taxes.

I'm not saying tourists don't go outside the centre. Quite of opposite, the reason for visiting Bariloche certainly isn't for the ugly city; but the Centro Civico is the heart of Bariloche, the home of the information centre & where the Snow festival take place etc...

There is nothing to stop property owners hiring skips and removing the ash from their own property, I have a friend who did just that (4 skips to be precise). From what I see the vast majority of people living here don't take pride in where they live. The day following the ash I was outside clearing the building entrance & the pavement/sidewalk of both the buildings where I have an apartment, nobody came out to help me, nobody even said thanks as they entered the building....

I'm saddened to see such a beautiful area (the reason for living here) in such a bad state but closing Bariloche because there are piles of ash on the side of the road isn't the answer and there will be piles of ash on the side of the roads for years. Welcoming every tourist that comes here and helping them get the most out of their stay is my aim, my website has a update on the ash situation and when someone enquires about my apartment, the first thing I say it that I don't expect to see the airport open any time soon...I never hear back from them... Those that do arrive by bus have received up to 40% discount on my apartment.

Yes it does effect me, My apartment rental is my only source of income and I lost 70% of my winter income this year & I only have u$s 240 (two hundred & forty) of reservations for the rest of the year. My business is dead!
 
No one here has any pride in where they live. It is very distubing to me. Everything you said is true, but the question asked was is the ash still impacting Bariloche. I think it still is very much so. There are days when their is so much ash flying through the air we don't go outside. I try to look at it if I were the tourist. Maybe I am the spoiled American but if I paid a lot of money to go somewhere and it looked like a shithole I would want a refund.
 
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