Oceano Patagonia by Nordic

We stayed for 3-nights in early-Oct at the Oceano Patagonia in Puerto Piramides ($308 Can/night). The hotel is located on the beach, one building to the left of the statue of the whale's tail at the end of Avenida La Primera Bajada (the street with all of the whale watching companies). Our 2nd floor room was long and narrow, with the king bed and side tables on one side, a long counter with the kitchen (mini-refrigerator, sink, cabinet, drawers) and TV on the other. Two comfortable chairs and a coffee-table faced the full windows at the end of the room, as did a small kitchen table and 2 chairs. The deck was wide and deep, with a view of the beach, but without any deck furniture – it was still quite cold in the early spring weather, so this was not a big issue. There were no whales visible in the bay in front of the apartment; it required a 20 min boat ride to see them. The bathroom was cramped but with adequate vanity space; the shower had low flows, and it took almost 5-minutes for warm water to arrive (not a plus when the conservation of fresh water is a concern). The refrigerator was stocked with breakfast supplies – ham and cheese, eggs, butter, yogurt and, as a nice touch, fresh-baked bread was delivered each morning in a bag hung on the door handle. There was plenty of parking, 2 spaces in front of the hotel, a couple of cramped spaces in the basement, and the street was empty after the day-trippers left. Everything in town was an easy 2 block walk – convenience stores, several reasonable restaurants, bars – and there is a gas station in town. The staff were friendly and helpful with restaurant and tour operator recommendations. So given all of the positives, why only 3-stars? The website photos show a new, meticulously-maintained building with modern, stylishly decorated rooms. This misrepresents the current status of the hotel; it shows its age and poor maintenance, with worn floors and blackout curtains, pock-marked and stained walls, wardrobe closets that barely closed, damaged trim, plugs that needed to be wiggled to make the appliance work. While everything was comfortable and the location was great, I expected much more from a hotel at this price.