Maldonado, Uruguay
Punta del Este
The most social of them all, and the only one that lasts a whole month.
The house reading
Punta is not one town. It is three, and choosing wrong costs you the trip.
José Ignacio is the small village around the lighthouse, low houses and long dinners, where the people who have come from Buenos Aires and São Paulo for twenty years stay. La Barra is younger and more nocturnal. Manantiales sits between them, and the Punta peninsula is the town proper, with towers, a casino and more people.
The season keeps its own rhythm. Lunch on the beach that runs through the afternoon, dinner after ten, and the night starting when most places in Brazil have closed. At New Year it concentrates: the houses receive first, and only then does everyone go out.
The classic mistake is to assume the season ends on 10 January. It does not. Occupancy has held near 95% to the end of the month in recent years, and February brings the same sea with fewer people.
When
December and January, peaking between the 28th and the 4th
Where
José Ignacio, La Barra and Manantiales
Arrival
Punta del Este or Montevideo
For whom
Anyone who wants a long season, a table and a social life
The nights that decide the week.
In Punta, midnight is one night inside a season rather than the end of it. That changes what is worth booking.
Before ChristmasArrival
- The house open
Those renting by the fortnight usually arrive before Christmas. The house becomes the group’s meeting point for the whole period.
30 DecemberThe eve
- Dinner in José Ignacio
The best night for a table. The paradores and village restaurants fill up.
31 DecemberMidnight
- Dinner at home, a party after
Most people dine at home, with a chef, and go out after midnight. It is the format that works: nobody wants to be in a restaurant at eleven.
All of JanuaryThe season
- Polo, the beach and the nights in La Barra
The month stays full, with the polo calendar, lunches on the beach and parties spread across the beach clubs.
The ground
Where to stay, and what each place delivers.
The three addresses
- José Ignacio, the most wanted
- Manantiales, between the village and the noise
- La Barra, for anyone who wants the night close by
- The peninsula, more urban and busier
- Punta Piedras and the countryside, for complete privacy
What fills the days
- Long lunches at the beach paradores
- The polo season and the month’s tournaments
- Wineries and lunches in the countryside, half an hour away
- A boat by the day along the coast
- Dinner late, as the season demands
What the season shows in Punta del Este.
February keeps the sea and the infrastructure, at about 20% less and with far fewer people.
The parties
The parties of the season.
Punta has more than ten big New Year parties, spread across the peninsula, La Barra, Manantiales and José Ignacio. These are the ones that need booking, and the nights of the week around them.
Cipriani, Black Coffee
Midnight at the Cipriani Ocean Resort, Punta's new hotel, with Black Coffee on the decks. One of the most awaited announcements of the season.
31 December · San Rafael, Punta del Este
Pavilion Vik
The most sought-after night on the coast, capped at twelve hundred guests, facing the sea.
31 December · José Ignacio
Polo Medellín, Hot Since 82
The party on the polo fields between José Ignacio and Manantiales, with Hot Since 82.
31 December · Medellín Polo Club
MACA, Jamie Jones and Franky Rizardo
The electronic réveillon at the MACA sculpture park, out in the countryside.
31 December · Manantiales
Fasano Las Piedras
A Brazilian-style réveillon in the hills, gala dinner, everyone in white.
31 December · La Barra
Unique at Narbona
Midnight at the Narbona winery and hotel, halfway between the countryside and the sea.
31 December · Narbona
Casa Pueblo
The Noche Blanca: dinner on the cliff above the sea, and drones over the bay.
31 December · Punta Ballena
The private houses
Dinners on yachts and parties whose address arrives that night.
31 December · José Ignacio and La Barra
Cipriani, ANOTR
The warm-up night at the Cipriani, three days before midnight.
28 December · San Rafael
My Tribe
The sunset of the week, at Narbona.
29 December · Narbona
Marco Carola, Music On
The first big night of the new year.
2 January · Punta del Este
Cipriani, Hugel and the MACA sunset
Hugel at the Cipriani at night, Adriatique at the MACA sunset.
3 January · San Rafael and Manantiales
Note
2026/27 acts as first announced for the season, subject to change. Pavilion Vik and the Fasano réveillon follow the shape of the 2025/26 edition. Between 27 December and 2 January traffic grinds to a halt; a driver is logistics, not indulgence.
Villas and houses
The houses.
Where they are
- José Ignacio and the chacras towards Laguna Garzón
- Manantiales, between the village and the night
- La Barra and its chacras
- Playa Brava and the peninsula
How they are let
- By the fortnight, the unit of the season
- Christmas and New Year add about 60%
- If you prefer a hotel: Fasano Las Piedras, Vik, The Grand
Every house comes through our partners on the ground, with the service below around it.
Punta del Este
The coast, the road and the dinner hour.
Full service
The house is the start. The week is the service.
In Punta, the team is what lets you dine at home at midnight to restaurant standard, and what solves the logistics between three villages twenty minutes apart.
The house
- Daily housekeeping and laundry
- A house manager throughout the stay
- The kitchen stocked before you arrive
- Flowers and the table set on the 30th and 31st
- Maintenance and support on call
The table
- A private chef at midnight, if you would rather dine at home
- Market and cellar chosen with you
- Butler and waiting staff
- A barman and staff for the night
- Tables in José Ignacio and at the paradores
Around it
- Driver and car throughout the stay
- Transfers, flights and the crossing from Buenos Aires
- Discreet security, where it makes sense
- A nanny and support for anyone travelling with children
- A boat, polo and days in the countryside
One person coordinates all of it, and answers you directly.
You choose what is in and what is out, and we propose the right size in writing, item by item, before anything is confirmed.
In Punta, nobody leaves on the 2nd. That is the whole point.
Get in touchOr compare with Rio de Janeiro, Trancoso, Carneiros, Jurerê and Camboriú and St. Barths.