Estancia Hosteria El Ceibo

I booked just two days before and was made very welcome before I even arrived. After an easy bus ride from Montevideo to Florida Carmen had arranged a taxi to get me to the ranch. The taxi guy greeted me as I got off the bus. A charming setting with wide open views of the gently rolling farms around is the perfect setting . Food is plentiful and yummy. Over 3 days I did 5 horseback rides. A guided nature walk and several solo walks taking in the wide variety of farm life . Fellow guests were fun to interact with and the staff top notch. Mario knows how to match a horse to a rider. I would highly recommend El Ceibo as a great place to experience something besides cities and beaches in this charming country

To experience the beautiful Uruguayan countryside and gain an understanding of the rural life that covers much of the country, it’s hard to imagine anywhere better. So peaceful and calm, with wonderful hosts Carmen and Joselo, backed up by their amazing team. Gaucho Mario who seems to be everywhere with his sheepdogs, caring for the horses, sheep, gardens and grounds, and us on our horse rides; Lorene whose delicious home cooking was irresistible; and our ever-friendly housekeeper who took care of our rooms. Don’t expect a fast pace or a ‘hotel’ experience, but do expect friendliness, accommodation with comfortable rustic charm in a mid-1800s estancia, tranquility, birdlife, river and lagoon walks, beautiful starry skies, interesting books and artefacts and fabulous sunsets - and an honesty bar too. Joselo will likely fire up the wood stove and cook you an assado, definitely a highlight. He also drove us around the estancia, some of which we’d ridden over with Mario, explaining much as we went. Carmen happily shares her wealth of local knowledge of what to see and where to go on your Uruguay travels. This was all a wonderful and very enjoyable experience, though we probably ate too much of the irresistible food!

We stayed here two nights for my friend’s birthday. Maybe it’s because we were young or for some other reason, but it didn’t feel like we were treated like the other guests. The hospitality definitely was there with the regular staff, and even from two older guests who were siblings. But it didn’t really feel like the owners cared for us. It actually felt a bit cold when we were trying to make conversation. Uruguay is a very liberal country, but of course not everyone who lives there is. There were some comments told to us that were uncomfortable, such as how it was odd a guy guest had nail polish. Not sure how that is odd… The animals were beautiful here at least. I was in love with the two cats and all of the dogs. One cat chilled with me in the hammock! I got to feed the cutest lamb. We fed the crazy horses and rode them too. The food was good, although lacked variety as it was the same food for breakfast and merienda basically all of the days. They did cater to my vegetarian friend to make sure she could eat, which was nice. If you don’t fit the profile, maybe just do a day visit here, or find an estancia where everyone fits in.