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"Hot Spots in Punta del Este, Uruguay\nWith new design hotels and a lively beachfront scene, Uruguay's Maldonado coast has never been more alluring\nHotel Fasano Las Piedras\n\n Punta's newest\u2014and by far its most luxurious\u2014lodging is the first foreign outpost of the Brazilian hospitality group Fasano. Resembling Donald Judd sculptures, the 32 minimalist concrete-and-stone bungalows designed by architect Isay Weinfeld are spread out over 1,200 acres of rock-studded hillsides dotted with flaming acacia trees and fragrant lavender hedges. The equestrian-chic interiors provide a warm contrast, with granite and polished-wood surfaces and overstuffed linen seating. Weinfeld also transformed the interior of an existing hacienda into a cozy book-lined lobby and caf\u00E9, and added a pool pavilion, a freestanding glass-walled lounge, a Zenlike spa, and an exquisite gourmet restaurant nestled into a craggy outcropping on the property's highest point. laspiedrasfasano.com\nPlaya Vik\n\n This new art-filled hotel, designed by owners Alex and Carrie Vik with noted Uruguayan architect Carlos Ott (known for Paris's Op\u00E9ra Bastille), is a piece of sculpture in itself. Six stone-clad guest pavilions, whose planted rooftops brim with colorful wildflowers, frame a sharp-angled titanium-and-glass structure with a communal living room, library, and bar/dining room. Upstairs, four suites overlook a narrow pool cantilevered dramatically toward the ocean. Complementing Ott's crisp, eco-friendly architecture are works by Zaha Hadid, Anselm Kiefer, James Turrell, and a number of contemporary Latin American artists. A nearby sister property, Estancia Vik, offers a horse-country counterpoint, complete with a private polo field. playavik.com\nGarz\u00F3n\n\n Celebrated Argentine chef Francis Mallmann put Jos\u00E9 Ignacio on the culinary map when he opened Los Negros in 1993. Though that much-loved restaurant closed in 2006, Mallmann's latest venture, Garz\u00F3n, now animates the dusty frontier town of the same name, about 20 miles northeast of Jos\u00E9 Ignacio. In a charming brick structure that once housed a general store, Mallmann fires up his signature parilladas and sears br\u00F3tola, a local fish, in what he calls an infiernillo, or \"little hell\" (it's an iron griddle suspended between two open flames). The best table is in the garden out back, wrapped around a giant date palm with lanterns hanging from its fronds. Upstairs are five small guest rooms. restaurantegarzon.com\nLa Posada Del Faro\n\n Situated among a cluster of villas overlooking a quiet fisherman's cove, this 15-room hotel looks as if it were plucked from an Aegean island. The accommodations, most with wood-burning fireplaces, have a breezy, informal style: bare hardwood floors, colorful woven rugs, timber ceilings. But the posada's biggest draw is the fashionable clientele who gather poolside, caipirinhas in hand, especially to watch the sun set over Playa Mansa. posadadelfaro.com\nFundaci\u00F3n Pablo Atchugarry\n\n One of Uruguay's best-known artists, sculptor Pablo Atchugarry, runs a museum, gallery, and sculpture park on 62 acres in El Chorro, north of the beachfront town of Manantiales. Atchugarry works here part of the year (the remainder in the Italian lakes). When he's in residence, visitors can watch him chisel huge hefts of marble into gracefully rippled, Brancusi-like monoliths\u2014otherwise, his assistants are on the job. Temporary exhibitions occupy the lofty, sunlit gallery at the foundation's entrance; its permanent collection of works by Atchugarry and other artists fills another space behind the main workshop, spilling out onto the sculpture park's expansive greens. fundacionpabloatchugarry.org\nParador La Huella\n\n Like many of the area's top restaurateurs, La Huella's co-owner Guzm\u00E1n Artagaveytia once worked with chef Francis Mallmann. But at Artagaveytia's idyllic seaside caf\u00E9 on Playa Brava, the see-and-be-seen vibe (heavy on models), rivaling the hottest bo\u00EEtes in Saint-Tropez, makes the perfectly grilled fish and local wines on the menu seem slightly beside the point. There's also an extensive sushi selection and cocktails galore. Consider yourself lucky to score a reservation during the peak season. paradorlahuella.com\nMutate\n\n Across from Jos\u00E9 Ignacio's picturesque main square is the town's most fashionable boutique, an outpost of Montevideo's cutting-edge Mutate (pronounced \"moo-TA-tay\"). Owners Santiago Barriola and Gonzalo Massa's eclectic offerings comprise men's and women's clothing (including their own house label) and midcentury-modern furniture, as well as vintage design objects, jewelry, and other accessories. At the front of the shop, in a former residence, is Caf\u00E9 de la Place, an intimate coffeehouse and bar outfitted with classic Scandinavian-modern furnishings. mutate.com.uy"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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