THE PROYECT / CASA DEL BOSQUE Apart, Suites & Spa in Villa La Angostura, Puerto manzano, Patagonia, Argentina

The project

Maria and I decided we deserved to live in a place where life is privileged. We chose Villa La Angostura, a village leaning on the Nahuel Huapi Lake and at the foot of The Andes range, a paradise in the Neuquen province.

Within it, this is a refuge only some meters away from the Bay, in Puerto Manzano. We have had this project in mind for long time, and slowly but continuously, we progressed on it.

About the Casa del Bosque project

The project of the Boutique Hotel was given to one of the most important Architecture Bureaus of Patagonia, the one of Ruben Sidoni and Nestor Bello architects. It proposes a building which is completely different from those already existing in the Villa, built on a natural slope, reflecting the beauty and natural charm of the forest that surrounds it.

The building itself was built by the well-known company Robles SRL, from Junin de los Andes. The building was designed with materials that respect the tradition of the place; wood, blown up stone and glass which, carefully combined, produce a new concept of space and a complete integration with the landscape that surrounds it.

The main volume has leaning roofs and has been developed in two floors, comprising common areas; the reception, a living-room with a wide fireplace, the bar-dining room, the area of services.

Showing the mountain land topography, the eight suites were built in steps on one of the sides; the suites were also designed in two floors, the first floor with a middle one, finishing in a wide lucarna window with a view of the forest.

The terraces of the first floor suites form the roof of the ground floor rooms, and in the common area there is a big deck which opens as a link with nature.

Each suite was designed having in mind tourists’ pleasure, with areas developed without any divisions and that are connected among them and with the landscape. Fireplaces, round water massage baths for two people and different levels provide the visitors with much more comfort.

The project of enlarging our apart... A swimming pool and Spa!

At the beginning of 2005, we already had 3 years experience with Casa del Bosque, and the certainty that we should offer more services to our passengers. To achieve this we decided to take advantage of a higher area in our plot, with a wonderful view of the Nahuel Huapi Lake, the Quetrihue peninsula and Cerro Bayo.

We are already well-known in Villa la Angostura, an article has been published about us in the Clarin Arquitectura supplement and several times we appeared on the cover of architecture magazines. Even at a survey performed by the W. Tracking Group, an important number of consulted people said that Casa del Bosque was one of the “brands” they most remembered from the time they were at the Villa. That is why our aim is to improve our competitiveness, widening the capacity and our services offer so that we could even ask for a new categorization of our complex to 4-stars.

So we decided to develop a swimming pool area with a gym and a SPA and, to take better advantage of all of these services, we plan to build four new units, two of them will be VIP Suites and the other two, family apartments with two bedrooms, a hall and dining room and two bathrooms.

We had to put on paper our ideas and therefore made a small private contest among the architects of the area. The one that best interpreted our needs was the Marcela Montheil and Fabian Arévalo bureau, and thus we hired them.

We got to December 2005. Our plans were already approved by the City Hall and, being more and more enthusiastic about our project, the Neuquen Province Bank (the financial branch in our province) told us that they had granted a loan for us. With all the joy this meant, we realized that we were in movement again, and we worked a lot during the best months of summer to begin the building.

Short description of the Enlargement:

Central area: 4m x 9m in-out heated swimming pool, with an aluminum and glass opening which is open so that you can swim without stopping. The Gym overlooks the swimming pool and looks over the lake. There is a running machine, a fixed bike and a multi-gym bench. On that floor, there is a supporting kitchen with a bar, toilets and dressing room. In the wide deck on the outside there is a solarium with a view to the lake. In the basement, there is a Massage room, a dry Sauna, a Scottish Shower and a Finnish steam bath.

The Apartments (2): They are on the ground floor, looking over the lake and the Cerro Bayo and with a direct access to the pool. There are two bedrooms, one with a double sommier-bed, the other with the option of a double sommier-bed or two Twin beds. Two bathrooms, water massage bath. There is a living room with a sofa that makes it possible to have two extra little beds. There is a fireplace, a small kitchen with anafe, microwave oven and refrigerator, tableware, table and six chairs, two 21”color TVs with cable TV (one of them has a movable base so it can be seen from the living room and from the bedroom), audio equipment with CD.

VIP Suites (2): On the higher area, there is a first floor looking over the Lake and Cerro Bayo and with direct access to the pool and the Gym. Wide open area (loft) with a hall (armchairs, coffee table) and fireplace, round water massage bath for two in the area close to the bathroom with a view to the lake, small kitchen with anafe, microwave and refrigerator, table ware and breakfast bar with two stools. The room has a King Size sommier-bed, en-suite bathroom, toilet, 29”color TV with cable TV, audio equipment with CD.

Services Area: boilers, central heating (through the floor and with hot air flowing for the pool area), water pump, extra water tank, emergency power generator (three-phase 30KVA), services room.