Argentina, Chile Family Trip Review: Bariloche, Torres del Paine, Glacier Hiking, Eight-Night Tour

Review by traveler

Duke D.

1.8.2024

General Info

Traveler Review

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

Argentina

Chile

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

The trip was excellent. A bucket-list item we really enjoyed. Zicasso's agent and the team were very helpful, and through WhatsApp, the responses to almost every question were immediate. Everything was turnkey and simple. All dinner reservations and transfers were taken care of. We barely had to lift a finger.

There was only one issue. The last hotel we stayed in was not good. There was no air conditioning and it was in a shady part of town. The reason I bring this up is because of the amount of money we paid for this trip. I think the total cost was in excess of $26,000, which, when you think about it, does not make sense with the fall of the Argentinian peso.

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

The entire trip was memorable.

It would have been nice to stay in Bariloche longer, but we had limited time.

I would have probably skipped the white-water rafting, but it was so much fun.

The stay in Torres del Paine was incredible and the family wants to go back.

The glacier hiking was incredible as well.

Everything was on the bucket list, so mission accomplished. Excellent!

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

Honestly, everything (except the last hotel) was incredible.

I would better understand the tip process and would have kept more US dollars.

Additionally, we are planning a trip to Turkey. This time I plan to look at you guys, but price it with a local tour group. I know your service will be excellent, but I know the costs will be higher, so I may need to shop around.

Our agent and his team were excellent.

Travel Company Comments:

Dear Duke,

Thank you very much for writing the review and we’re delighted you had a great trip. We were however sorry to read about your problems with the hotel in Calafate. This is the first time we've received a comment like this and I wish I had known at the time because when things go wrong during a trip we try and do everything we can to make things right as quickly as possible.

I've not stayed at the hotel personally though my business partner has and he was surprised you said it was in a shady neighborhood as this was not his experience. However, it has been a while since he visited, and places of course change so we wanted to confirm the details of this with you before we remove them from our accommodations in the region.

Then, regarding the air conditioning, this is unfortunately a problem that most of the hotels in the region have as historically the temperatures have been so low it was not necessary.

I also wanted to address the fall of the Argentine peso: unfortunately, political and economic crises are common in Argentina and those of us who live here are very resilient to them. As I'm sure you noticed during your trip, life here is continuing much the same despite the drop in the value of the peso. This is because we are so used to it and each industry has figured out ways to learn to live on a ground that is constantly moving. The most obvious way is to simply dollarize, which is what has happened in tourism so a fall in the value of the peso does not have any effect on the value of a trip. If it did, it would be impossible to cost a trip several months before the start date.

Ok, I'd very much appreciate any further thoughts you have on the above, our goal is for our guests to have the most wonderful trip and enjoy their time in our home country and we clearly dropped the ball with you, so any further feedback would be invaluable.

All the best.