Located in Bella Unión, the northernmost city in Uruguay and the gateway to Rincón de Franquía National Park, Hotel Oriente is the kind of place that stays in the memory long after the birds do.

The owner is a painter and a cook, a combination that shows. Every room carries her artwork on the walls, and every breakfast carries her touch in the kitchen: homemade marmalades, fresh bread, biscuits, cakes and natural juices that set the day up properly.

En-suite rooms come with air conditioning, fan, Wi-Fi and maid service.

Lunch and dinner are served two kilometres away at a family-run countryside restaurant where the organic vegetables come straight from the family's own land, one of Uruguay's most respected organic producers.

Salads, barbecue, pasta, vegetarian dishes and good desserts, all fresh and entirely worth the short drive.

For agencies programming the northwest of Uruguay, this is the kind of accommodation that adds genuine character to an itinerary.