dynalow

I'm grateful for any help you can give me in Buenos Aires and Santiago. What areas should I stay in to be closest to popular tourist sites? When I say "tourist site" I'm interested also in off-beat, charming, and scenic sites not just monuments. And, what are the best areas to stay without regard to tourist sites and why? Can you suggest a 4 or 5 star hotel in these areas? I'll be in BA over Easter weekend. Know of anything I shouldn't miss?
Candy

drdawggy

There are basically four zones or areas in Buenos Aires in which tourists stay....the downtown area/Retiro, Recoleta, Palermo and San Telmo. Each area has advantages and disadvantages. The most interesting areas in terms of charm and being off beat are San Telmo and <palermo Viejo. The crime rate is higher at night in San TElmo, so I dont usually stay there....In Palermo Viejo, the Bobo and the new Home Hotel are worth checking out....

dynalow

drdawggy you're everywhere! I've read some great postings from you. Thanks for the headsup on Bobo & Home. I've googled to find their web sites to no avail. Do you know it off hand? Would you say Recoleta is much more upscale than Palermo Viejo or just more residential?
-C

macarena93

In Santiago a good location is Providecia, a residential and commercial place, very calm, with many green areas, underground train, near restaurants “Aquí esta coco“ http://www.aquiestacoco.cl/english.htm is a excellent restaurant of seafood.
In this locality there are good hotels of four stars like: Hotel Torremayor y Eurohotel , A good company that can help it with transfer and trips by the city are www.enaturchile.com A visit that you cannot lack is to the vineyards “Concha y Toro”.
The old part of the city is an interesting place with constructions of century XVII, where is the Government House ,
Mercado Central is a place where the fruits and seafood of country are commercialized, there are good restaurants of seafood and they are not expensive and of very good quality. near this place this La "Plaza de Armas" it counts with a really beautiful Cathedral
The new part of city is: the state of "las condes" and "Apoquindo", a good sector of these states is AV. El bosque and the "pueblito Los Dominicos" that are a place of craftsmen.
Santiago is a safe cleaning and very organized city. worthy to be visited.
excuse my English is not very good
I hope to have been able to help

IgorVodov

I would say that Palermo Viejo is more residential than Recoleta. But Recoleta is definetely more upscale with quite a few 4 and 5 star hotels. It is also safer than Palermo.

rickker20

In Santiago I would stay in Providencia area lots of stores to shop. or you can find a nice hotel in las condes.

Giovanna

We stayed in Recoleta at the Hotel Plaza Francia and thought it was a terrific location. We could walk to many sites we wished to visit, cab rides from there to other areas were quite inexpensive, and there were restaurants and shops galore nearby.

Some have complained that the rooms at Plaza Francia are tiny and we saw a couple that were. I reserved a Jr. Suite (Room 90) and it was very large, with a terrific view. One of the nicest rooms we've ever had. If you are concerned about noise, it might not suit you, but we enjoyed the traffic and sounds of the city.

I've never posted a trip report on Fodor's, but may very well do so for our recent visit to Buenos Aires. We had a wonderful time and BsAs is now a favorite city.

IgorVodov

We stayed at Loi Suites Recoleta and thought that the hotel was wonderful. It is on a somewhat busy street but if you keep your windows closed, the noise should not bother you. The room we had was an executive studio and it was huge. very nice hotel in a wonderful city.

Marseus

I just booked three nights in a suite at home buenos aires in mid-January--$170 a night. Looks nice and they have a pool. The website is:

http://www.homebuenosaires.com.

dynalow

Such great replies! Thank you all. I haven't figured out where to stay in Santiago yet...seems many hotels (like Plaza San Francisco) are booked up. But I will try to stay in Providencia. Most of the hotels I've been checking on are in Las Condes so...back to the drawing board. Maybe Four Points Sheraton or Park Plaza...they're in Providencia. And I'll check the ones you've mentioned. As for BsAs, I've asked WOW Argentina to book Loi Suites Recoleta. They quoted US$125 standard, US$175 executive.

IgorVodov

I have heard that Standard rooms at Loi Suites recoleta are small. Executive studios are very nice and huge (40 sq. meters). I would choose executive studio.

AtlantaTraveler2

We are traveling to Santiago and Buenos Aires in Jan-Feb and are staying at Hotel Orly in Providencia in Santiago and 1550 Malabia House in Buenos Aires in Palermo Veijo.

Any thoughts on these properties, folks?

thevoigts

We are taking our two teens to Buenos Aires this spring break. We thought it would be fun to stay at a nice B & B since it gives one more of a flavor the city than a hotel. Has anyone stayed at one they can recommend? We came across one on the web that is located in Colegiales,any idea where this is, and is it convienent to all the places one might go to? This B&B is called "B&B OLLEROS 3000".

drdawggy

Colegiales is not exactly in the midst of the tourist attractions.....but a safe enough middle class part of town..

I would recommend staying there only if a. you speak decent Spanish, b. you really, really, want an immmersion experience away from any tourists, and c. you don't mind a 20 to 30 minute commute to tourist areas.....

tom42

In Santiago, we stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Las Condes. It was an excellent hotel and in a great location - there is the El Gulf subway stop right outside the door of the hotel - very convenient for getting to all areas of Santiago - including the downtown area, Providencia and Bellavista. If you are looking in the Las Condes area, I think the Ritz Carlton is much more conveniently located than some of the other hotels in the area, including the Hyatt.

equinox

No question about it, the newly remodeled Hyatt in Santiago is the class of the city!

macarena93

AtlantaTraveler2 on Dec 13, 05 at 06:21 PM
We are traveling to Santiago and Buenos Aires in Jan-Feb and are staying at Hotel Orly in Providencia in Santiago and 1550 Malabia House in Buenos Aires in Palermo Veijo.

Any thoughts on these properties, folks?


Hi AtlantaTraveler2

The hotel orly is in an excellent location, near restaurants, commercial centers, you can walk calmly by the place, I believe that it is a good election.

bsasexpert

Hello,
I would say San Telmo, its one of the 4 most popular tourist districts (Palermo, Recoleta, Puerto Madero and San Telmo), its got more charm than the others... Personally I find P.Madero very generic and too modern. In BA there are lots of not-to-be-missed sights: La Venta Tango, San Telmo market on a Sunday, a trip to the Palais du Glace and the park next to it-excellent exhibitions!

avrooster

The question is from almost 4 years ago......