Cavas Wine Lodge

Mendoza's original vineyard hotel features discreet villas set on acres of agrarian splendor. Cavas Wine Lodge promises excellent food, exceedingly warm service and complete relaxation (along with options for total Andean adventure).

• The lodge's location within biking distance of Luján de Cuyo's most prestigious wineries
• Rooftop sunsets, watched fireside with a bottle of Cavas Gran Malbec
• The standalone villas set in the vineyards

The last leg of the 40-minute journey from the airport to Cavas Wine Lodge is an unpaved country road into the heart of viticultural Luján de Cuyo. Thick curls of dust and the steady crack of gravel signal the approach, and upon arrival, guests are welcomed inside a whitewashed Spanish-colonial style building.

They will sleep in freestanding adobe villas between rows of Bonarda, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon. From the main building's terrace, only their distinctive triangular chimneys are visible above the vineyard canopy—like so many sunlit fins above water. The villas are linked to it and to each other by trails through twisting vines and dangling grapes. Founders Cecilia Díaz Chuit and Martín Rigal wanted the vineyards to blend seamlessly into both the property's design and the experience of their guests; when Cavas opened in 2005, there was simply nothing like it.

Since it opened, other hotels have popped up, especially further south in the Valley de Uco. But Cavas remains the most soulful of Mendoza's wine country properties. Its staff knows all guests by name and can recommend (and arrange) all sorts of adventures in and around wine country: Tastings at the area's best vineyards, of course, but also hiking, biking and horseback riding in the nearby Andes mountains, including to Aconcagua, the world's tallest peak outside of the Himalayas.

The villa interiors feel relaxed and contemporary, with natural tones, eclectic décor and colorful touches, but on Mendoza's golden afternoons, it's outdoor space that matters most. In addition to plunge pools and ivy-covered garden showers, all 17 villas have finished rooftops with wood-burning fireplaces and rapturous 360-degree views of wine country. This is where siesta-hour often finds guests reading or sun-worshipping with a bottle of Cecilia's Becquignol rosé; after dark they'll be back for fireside stargazing (if they haven't stayed to watch the sun melt into the mountainscape). For an evening off from the restaurant commute, the hotel will even set up a rooftop dinner table for two.

The main building itself houses a handsome library, the lodge's namesake "cava" or wine cellar, its restaurant (the kitchen packs a decadent picnic basket) and a Moorish-style "vinotherapy" spa, where guests can book Torrontés wraps, Bonarda baths and crushed Malbec seed scrubs.

Cavas caters primarily to couples and does not accept children under twelve; however, some accommodations offer expanded living spaces, like the two-bedroom Grand Villa, which is ideal for families traveling with teenagers.