Patagonia Expat

[mc kenna]

HEY! buying land?? I want in

 

[French jurist]

Too far South, close to El Bolson, which is a great place to visit, but I prefer a bit warmer climate in winter, while still having the ski area nearby. Good price though, there are some great lots in El Bolson.

I was under the impression that El Bolson benefited from a microclimate with summers not too hot & winters not too cold?

 

[lucha54]

I was under the impression that El Bolson benefited from a microclimate with summers not too hot & winters not too cold?

i want to know if that is true too.. can anyone who has actually lived there (or know someone who has spent at least a long while there) confirm?

 

[pitipur]

wow, all these pictures have me insanely excited for my trip in a few weeks! until then, off to iguazu for the weekend! nature is a beautiful, crazy beast, ain't she?

 

[liponlegs23]

I'd love to live in the south....the ideal for me would be to spend the winters and autumn here in the city and spring and summer somewhere in the Rio Negro province. I’ve spent a lot of time there as my Argentine partner is from Cipolletti and still has work there so we tend to escape the city and go there for some of December and January. I love San Martin de los Andes and we went to El Bolson for the first time in Jan (and it was super hot which was apparently quite unusual). I liked El Bolson, but it was the Lago Puelo area that I really loved. I was also told of the microclimate in this area but after speaking to locals, I heard that it rains A LOT and that kind of put me off a bit!

ps: we are in definite need for some Thai/korean/Indonesian/Surinam and/or veggie restaurant (hint, hint).

I was also wondering what businesses would do well in an already saturated market of tourist rentals, tourism activities, cafe's and restaurants in places like El Bolson, San Martin, Villa Angostura etc... Do you really think an Asian restaurant/cafe would do well in SMA...? It had crossed my mind....are there any Indian places?

 

[Patagone]

I was also wondering what businesses would do well in an already saturated market of tourist rentals, tourism activities, cafe's and restaurants in places like El Bolson, San Martin, Villa Angostura etc... Do you really think an Asian restaurant/cafe would do well in SMA...? It had crossed my mind....are there any Indian places?

If I am frank, then I would say probably no, but it depends on pricing, food and location.

I would at any good Asian restaurant at least once a week, but SMA is not BsAs. Most people here never eat spicy and and only go out to eat pizza. The tourists only come to eat steak and maybe some trout. Then again, it depends on the cooks and pricing. I was amazed that a nearby new pizza place is doing great. It is a few blocks away from the main area, so nobody passes it unless going there, there are dozens of better-located pizza places in town. It is the 3rd restaurant in the building in 3 years, but the first 2 were always depressingly empty. This one serves 'just' pizza, but from a wood oven and for good prices and with fast and friendly service and is full every night. So location alone is not the holy grail, nor a big problem.

There is a chinese restaurant (tenedor libre) since a year, but for me it is too 'Argentinean' too be tasty, i.e. too salty and too fried and no spices. There are a few places with Sushi, one super expensive, another more affordable and quite good and some mediocre ones.
We do cook Asian for friends sometimes and most love it, but people are simply not used to it and I am not sure if they would go out to eat it as much as we would. People love specials and good deals, so a lot comes down to good marketing. Note that most restaurants in SMA offer 10-20% discount for locals, which is nice.

 

[French jurist]

Let's not forget that running a restaurant is a very demanding business (working at night, lots of stress, many employees, little spare time, no guarantee of success -like for any business-, etc.).

I have a few business ideas for Patagonia, but my motto is "small is beautiful".
- Opening a shawarma place (1 or 2 employees, supervision can be done with a camera)
- Creating a plant maze (once created = one gardener, one cashier... that's it)
- Having horses + organizing tours in the mountain
- Buying a 50.000$ Cessna and sell tours (still need to have my pilot license...)
etc.