The hotel currently has 392 employees, all of whom belong to the Argentine Union of Tourism and Restaurant Employees (UTHGRA). From what I read, the collective bargaining agreement for last year included a minimum pay of 6,000 pesos ($700 at the time) and a bonus of five 900-peso gift cards for different retail stores (food, gas, etc.).
It's modest pay, of course; but in Argentina (at least, as of last year) it's enough to keep a small family out of poverty. And it must be hard work: the hotel has 200 rooms, sits on 35 acres, and includes a small harbor on the lake and an 18-hole golf course.
The hotel was originally built by the state in 1940 by way of promoting tourism to the Argentine lake country. And it succeeded; one if first guests, in fact, was Walt Disney, who stopped there on the way to nearby Los Arrayanes National Park (on which he based the setting for Bambi).
The dictatorship, penny-wise and pound foolish as they were, closed the hotel in 1979. Menem privatized it in 1993 (he practically gave it away to Citigroup), and today it's owned 50/50 by the Sutton Group (the largest hotel firm in Argentina, best known for the Alvear Palace in Buenos Aires) and IRSA (one of the leading real estate developers in the country, although its finances were nearly driven under recently by a bad investment in Israel).
Among the Llao Llao's many famous guests over the years were Presidents Eisenhower (March 1960) and Bill Clinton (October 1997), both of whom specifically asked to visit Bariloche during their state visits.
Thanks, Ghost Dog, for thinking of the people who made all that possible: its (overworked and underpaid) workers.
= new reply since forum marked as read
