The architecturally successful resort by the coast resembles a country club
Cariló is the most exclusive, and expensive, beach resort in Argentina, and you’ll soon see why. It’s a huge area of mature woodland right on the beach, where luxury apart hotels and very chic cabañas are all tastefully concealed, so that its visitors have complete privacy – something which inevitably appeals to the many celebrities, sports stars and politicians who visit. The balnearios are neat and exclusive – Hemingway (T02254-470578) is the place to be seen for wealthy Porteños. Around the tiny centre, on Cerezo and Carpintero, there are good restaurants and chi-chi arcades with upmarket clothing shops where you can browse for top Argentine fashion labels among the usual international designers. You might find Cariló less friendly than Pinamar if you’re in search of nightlife, since the emphasis is on exclusivity, but it’s a good place for couples or for a quiet retreat. There is a tourist office (Boyero and Castaño, T02254-570773, www. carilo.com and http://www.parquecarilo.com (both in Spanish)) .
In between Pinamar and Cariló is Ostende, a small town founded by Belgian entrepreneurs in 1908. Little remains of the original resort, as it was abandoned when the settlers returned to Belgium on the outbreak of the First World War. The only building surviving from that period is the Viejo Hotel Ostende, formerly the Hotel Termas, which was a favourite of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. This is a wilder part of the coast and there are plenty of campsites. Another old hotel, Atlantic City, unfinished in 1914, now functions as a youth hostel. On the beach is the much-photographed old stone and wooden walkway, the rambla. For information on Ostende and surrounds, see http://www.pinamarweb.com (in Spanish).
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