Hey {{first name | reader}},

Happy Friday!

Today’s post is a little different.

Last weekend, instead of getting on a plane, I drove about 45 minutes from home to spend a night at Estancia El Colibrí, a tiny Relais & Châteaux property in the countryside outside Córdoba, Argentina.

And I brought basically my entire family with me.

We were celebrating my dad’s birthday, so there were 11 adults and five children. It turned into one of those short trips that reminds me you don’t necessarily need to fly halfway around the world to have a great hotel experience.

If you’re not familiar with the name, Relais & Châteaux isn’t a traditional hotel chain.

It’s an association founded in France in 1954 that today includes around 580 independently operated hotels and restaurants across 65 countries. Properties retain their own identity, but the idea is that they share a focus on hospitality, gastronomy and a strong connection to their destination.

Argentina has only eight Relais & Châteaux hotel properties, and El Colibrí has been a member since 2016.

The property itself is designed around the idea of a traditional Argentine estancia. It’s small, surrounded by the Córdoba countryside, and the experience revolves around horses, food, nature and spending time outside.

Because there were so many of us, we booked La Maison, the hotel’s private villa.

It’s a huge 600-square-meter house with five bedrooms, a lot of bathrooms, a private swimming pool, fireplace, kitchen and its own quincho and parrilla. It accommodates up to 12 guests and was actually the family home of El Colibrí’s owners, Raoul and Stéphanie Fenestraz, for many years.

Since we didn’t fit at Le Maison, we also booked a Junior Suite in the main hotel, which is where I slept.

And since I basically spend every day arranging travel for other people, I love when I get the opportunity to do it for myself. So, naturally, I had been speaking with the hotel beforehand and making sure everything was thought through.

The staff were lovely from the beginning.

When we arrived, there were cookies and handwritten welcome letters waiting for us at both La Maison and my Junior Suite. The kids found little toy animals waiting for them in the rooms.

And then there was my dad. I had told the hotel we were celebrating his birthday, but they went beyond anything I had requested. They prepared a branded knife as a gift for him. I haven’t asked for that! Those are the details I love.

Our rate included full board and activities, so at around 5 PM, we went horseback riding.

The hotel had prepared 10 horses for us, and we spent around an hour riding through the estancia with their team.

There’s something particularly fun about doing this at an Argentine estancia rather than treating horseback riding as some random excursion you’ve booked separately. It feels like part of the property itself.

That evening, we went to the hotel restaurant for dinner.

Because El Colibrí is so small, the menu is largely fixed, although they can prepare alternatives if there’s something you don’t like. We had a five-course dinner, and both the food and table setting were superb.

When I eventually got back to my room, it had been turned down and they had left alfajores for the evening.

And for anyone who hasn’t been to Argentina: alfajores are the best sweet treat in the world. I will not be accepting counterarguments.

Meanwhile, at La Maison, the team had already lit the fireplace in the living room.

It was such a simple thing, but walking into the house with the fire going completely changed the atmosphere. It felt incredibly cozy and, again, thought through.

The following morning, I had arranged for everyone to have breakfast together at La Maison rather than going back to the main hotel.

When we woke up, the chef and our lovely Clara were already there with the table completely set.

We had pastries, fruit, cold cuts, cheeses, eggs prepared however we wanted them, avocado toast, coffee, tea and orange juice.

This was probably my favorite thing about staying in the villa.

You have the privacy and comfort of being together in a house, but you still have the service of a hotel.

After breakfast, we did the hotel’s Farm Day activity.

El Colibrí grows a lot of its own produce in its organic garden and has a farm with goats, horses, chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, peacocks, sheep and more.

The kids absolutely loved it.

They could interact with the animals, explore the garden and run around outside. For a multigenerational family trip, it was perfect because it wasn’t an activity designed only for adults that the children had to tolerate.

Then came lunch. It was Sunday in Argentina, so obviously there was only one correct answer: asado.

Since our group was basically occupying 60% of the hotel, I had asked if they could prepare a proper family-style asado for everyone.

They absolutely delivered.

We had something like 14 different cuts of meat, an amazing salad made with fresh produce from the garden, French fries, potato gratin and more food than any reasonable human being could consume.

It was one of the best asados I’ve had, and believe me, I had a ton.

And then came one final surprise.

I had asked beforehand whether the hotel could arrange my dad’s birthday cake. I specifically requested a pavlova, because it’s his favorite.

Not only did they make exactly what I had asked for, they did it complimentary.

I love stays like this.

It wasn’t a week-long vacation. We didn’t fly anywhere. We spent one night just 45 minutes from home, but we had an amazing experience.

And what made it memorable wasn’t one enormous gesture. It was dozens of little ones: the handwritten notes, toys for the kids, my dad’s gift, the fireplace already burning when we came home, breakfast waiting for us, the horseback riding, the alfajores at turndown and the exact birthday cake I had requested appearing after lunch.

That’s also one of my favorite parts of what we can do through our hotel booking service.

We don’t just want to reserve a room and send you a confirmation number.

When we know why you’re traveling, who you’re traveling with and what matters to you, we can speak with the hotel beforehand and try to personalize the stay around you.

Sometimes that means an upgrade or hotel credit. Other times, the things you remember most don’t have a dollar value at all.

This weekend was a very good reminder of that. If you would like to tailor your stay, send your request!

Catch you in the clouds,

Tomi from Points Master

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