Guazapares accommodation from AU$175

We spent 4 great days at Hotel Oso and if you are prepared to forego some more conventional amenities, you will have a great time here. The rooms are large and ours had two double beds. The beds were a little stiff so we threw some additional blankets underneath to make them more comfortable. The rooms and the whole hotel are heated with woodburning stoves. We visited in early march and at 1600 meters of elevation, you will need that fire going in the evening and the morning. The staff keeps the wood box full and provide some kerosene soaked chips to start the fire. I find this charming. Other folks might think differently. Getting up at 6AM buck naked to start the fire is an acquired taste. The lobby/dining area has Wifi but the signal did not reach to our room. Again, this was great. If we needed to browse the interwebs, we could but it wasn't available for doom scrolling in our room. There is no cell service in this area. The food was terrific. My wife particularly liked that you didn't have to order from a menu. You sat at your table (ours was in the bar by a beautiful fireplace) and your dinner was whatever the cooks had in mind that evening. I suppose you could ask for something in particular but we were happy to enjoy what was set before us. Breakfast was equally delicious. Hugo, the owner, speaks very good english and was most accommodating. Raul and the rest of the staff have english skills equivalent to my own poor spanish but we all muddled through.