I am not a fluent writer but one word correctly describes our experience here --- WOW. Casa Glebinias, or more correctly, Alberto Aristarain family's estate and gardens, was one of the highlights of the 5 1/2 week vacation my wife and I spent in Chile, Peru, and Argentina. We HIGHLY recommend Casa Glebinias to everyone visiting Mendoza. One suggestion we would give to virtually anyone visiting the area, and especially those wanting to visit the many wonderful wineries, is to GET A DRIVER. The entire area is poorly marked for street signs, exit ramps, etc.
Thanks again to Alberto, his wonderful wife, and his ever attentive daughter.

We arrived at the Mendoza airport at 8 in the evening and rented a car. We had a few different maps, but still got lost on the city streets. After much time circling on different round-abouts ten times trying to figure out which branch to take, we finally got on the small local road that led to the small suburb of Mendoza. The trip to Chacras de Coria should have taken just over half an hour, but all in all, it took us about an hour and a half. If you’re driving in the dark, the key is to take route 40 south, and then exit Araoz or Castro Barrio, driving to San Martin to Pueyrredon.

After the confusing journey in, driving through the wooden gates of Casa Glebinias was a huge relief. Alberto, our host and the owner of the country lodge, helped carry our bags to our cottage and even helped us order take out food for dinner.

Casa Glebinias was the highlight of our trip to Argentina. The efforts that owner-hosts Alberto, Maria Gracia, and Florencia take to make you feel like part of the family are amazing. Every day they ask you how your stay is and want to hear about your travels. They are happy to act as travel advisors, helping to make reservations and answer every possible question a tourist can come up with. For our first few days there, they spent at least an hour every night answering questions about activities and transport. In the mornings, they would help us call different wineries to make reservations. We witnessed the care that the family has for all of its guests one night when we found Alberto pouring over a Spanish-English dictionary. Although his English is excellent, he explained to us that sometimes some words have nuances that he likes to understand before replying.

The cottage was beautiful, with custom woodwork and antique window frames. It had two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchenette (no stove, but microwave and kitchen sink). The cottage was furnished and decorated in a Tuscan-country style, and was simple, elegant, and spotless. The property consists of the principal house surrounded by four cozy cottages. The garden is intimate and much begging for petting and attention by the family’s animals (three dogs and several cats) made us feel at home. Bountiful breakfasts were easily turned into two meals and included fresh squeezed OJ, pastries, breads, sandwiches and the best medialunas we had in Argentina.

We did many different things during our stay in Chacras de Coria, and there was enough to do that we wished we could have stayed for another week. We spent a day exploring Mendoza, which has the warm, sleepy feel of a wine town. We spent some time in Chacras de Coria, which is as charming as Casa Glebinias; we enjoyed wandering through the town square, perusing the antique market, and listening to the Sunday police band. We spent another day driving the Alta Montana, taking the roundtrip route that goes past Villavicencio. Most of the tourists go up and back on the highway, which takes a couple hours each way. The dirt road that we took past Villavicencio was twisty and slow going (20-30 km/hr max), but the views of the Andes were amazing. If you’re going to make the effort to do the drive, we recommend taking that route. We spent several more days exploring wineries in the area. See our post on wine tourism in Mendoza.

From the moment we arrived to the moment we left they we the absolute......100% most gracious hosts you could EVER encounter. Alberto and Maria Gracia are there for anything you need. Reservations in town, a remis(cab),sightseeing or wine tours etc.
The inn itself is tucked away down a quiet sidestreet. Once you are through the front gate you immediately start picking up on the "homey vibe". The grounds are absolutely beautiful. There is a huge yard that houses 3 (soon to be 4) guest houses. Maria Gracia has flowers everywhere and there are tables with chairs to relax outside the guest houses (we relaxed with wine after a full day of tours). In the morning Maria Gracia shows up at your door with a wonderful breakfast and and a motherly smile. Its awesome! We stayed on the second floor of one of the guesthouses and the room was great. Very clean and comfy and it had a small terrace that we sat on to get some air. It had an apartment like feel. Its a TOTALLY relaxing stay. Sadly, we only had two days there (as we were bouncing around the country) and both days were filled with tours or going into town. Thus, we did not have enough time to enjoy the grounds there or the company of our hosts. Do yourself a favor....set aside down time to enjoy the place and talk with the hosts. They are the warmest and most receptive people you can encounter when traveling.
Maria Gracia and Alberto.....thanks for everything! We were totally bummed out when we left. That says a lot!
Hope to get back there.

What can I say...we were not at all shocked when we recently learned that Casa Glebinius was just awarded tripadvisors "South American Hidden Gem" title! This place is just amazing! Each Casa is totally unique and every detail was meticulously chosen by Alberto and Marie Gracia, (the owners) to provide their guests with a charmingly warm and comfortable retreat. Our family rented the two one bedroom apartments and both units were designed and decorated in a manor that made me feel I was in a french cottage (the owners are from Argentina but lived in France for 7 years and their love of French culture is obvious). While the three guest casa's (a fourth is under construction) are relatively close to one another, they are designed so that each is very quiet and private.

The grounds are large and peaceful, with a plethora of color from the varied trees and landscape choices. The pool is lovely and there are a number of places scattered around the grounds for guests to lounge, play cards, or take a meal outside.

While the accommodations were wonderful, the hospitality made the visit one of our most pleasant during our month of travels. Alberto, Marie Gracia and their three adult children, Florencia, Gabriele, and Martin were more than helpful, they made us feel like old friends that were merely visiting. They were warm, informative, and went out of their way to help us arrange activities in the area.

They also went above and beyond by inviting all of their guests to participate in Christmas Eve dinner. Since we have never spent Christmas away from family and friends this was a much appreciated gesture and was a fun (and delicious!) way to celebrate the holiday. It was quite fun to be sitting at the long dinner table in their garden, hearing conversations taking place in English, Spanish, French and German! Gabriele bar-b-q'd in the traditional Argentina way (asada) and there was an abundance of beef, pork, choriso and blood sausage to accompany the fabulous meal of salads and potatoes.

The town of Chacras is quaint, with tree lined streets, many excellent restaurants and several nice shops.

There are many activities in the area. We rented bikes one day and just took leisurely rides around town and in the wine county surrounding the area. Another day we went zip lining (they call it canopy in Argentina), and another day we visited several wineries. If you book the zip-lining activity we don't suggest you also book trekking on the same trip. We did and had to wait 2 hours between the two activities. Plus, the trekking was not very long and it was combined with a repelling activity. Since we didn't book the repelling activity we had to sit there and watch while others repelled (we would rather have been hiking).

We can't say enough about Casa Glebinius and we HIGHLY recommend it!