Best BA neighborhood to stay in?

Old Mar 26th, 2017, 05:18 PM
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Best BA neighborhood to stay in?

My husband and I plan to stay 4 nights in Buenos Aires after a Cape Horn cruise in March 2018.

There are so many interesting neighborhoods. Which is a good area to stay in? I'm looking for quiet, safe, and central for tourist attractions. We enjoy walking, but aren't interested in going out to bars or clubs at night. I also would like to rent an apartment or stay at an aparthotel.

I've heard a lot about Recoleta, is that a good hotel area?
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Old Mar 27th, 2017, 03:17 AM
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Considering what you are looking for, the Recoleta area would seem to be your best choice.

Considering you are only staying in BA for four nights, an aparthotel would also seem to be your best choice.

Have a great time in my town with your DH, susiesan.
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Old Mar 27th, 2017, 08:06 AM
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Recoleta was where we stayed on our first visit to BA .. we stayed at the Art Suites Hotel on Azcuenaga ..2 rooms to a floor with balconies, it was affordable and very pleasant.
This is the sort of hotel that avrooster is recommending .. they are great.

the good thing about Recoleta is that there are parks and museums and it is safe ( compared to some other neighborhoods) and centrally located for getting around to the other areas. Being next door to Palermo Botanico etc ..

Have fun .. it is a fabulous city with wonderful people.
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Old Mar 27th, 2017, 08:13 AM
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http://68.media.tumblr.com/49b8a0d65...u3co1_1280.jpg

This is a typical street in Recoleta ..
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Old Mar 27th, 2017, 08:26 AM
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The Art Suites Recoleta is either already sold out for my dates, Feb. 28-March 3 2018 or not taking reservations yet for those dates. I made a reservation at Ayres de Recoleta. It is also an aparthotel, rates a bit higher on TA but cost is also more. I will keep an eye on availability at Art Suites. I may also look into a AirB&B apartment rental.
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Old Mar 27th, 2017, 08:48 AM
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Ayres is good too !
We stayed at the Sileo for 2 weeks before we left BA to move back to the US.
I forgot to mention them, very nice, affordable and new and clean .. in Recoleta .
http://www.sileohotel.com/home-c1atf
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Old Mar 27th, 2017, 05:35 PM
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I agree with Recoleta as well.

I think you are too early to book. I ran into that problem trying to book Art Suites ten plus months out as well.
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Old Mar 28th, 2017, 05:00 AM
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On our last visit we used Oasis Collections and were very impressed, both with the apartment and the service:

https://oasiscollections.com/buenos-...-03-03&lang=en

Our deal included limo pick up and drop off from EZE, services of a concierge for restaurant and tango show bookings, shopping etc. , cellphone, wifi and access to their private members club.

Last time in BA we stayed in Palermo Soho which was reasonably convenient for sightseeing restaurants and the Subte. However, I do of course defer to Avrooster's infinitely greater knowledge of his town
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Old Mar 28th, 2017, 08:23 AM
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Thanks, Clive for that web site for BA apartments. I'll check it out. Palermo Soho neighborhood looks to be a way out from the center of Buenos Aires. Is AirB&B working well in BA? I know some cities have crackdown on them.
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Old Mar 28th, 2017, 11:37 AM
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The Palermos ... Soho is farther away from Recoleta .. funky with fabulous boutiques and shops and restaurants.
A short taxi ride. Closest to Recoleta is Palermo Botanico, where the same parks you will see in Recoleta, stretch down ..
San Telmo is fabulous but farther away, always a taxi ride to everywhere else. Funky , brick streets, one fantastic antique shop after another and near the River and Puerto Madero. A place that is good for an afternoon lunch or dinner enjoying the sight of BA sparkling across the water.

http://jetsettimes.com/2014/08/20/8-...for-travelers/

Look at this to get your bearings .. have fun.
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Old Apr 8th, 2017, 10:53 AM
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I highly suspect that the Art Suites is just not open yet for reservations that far ahead. Do keep checking. I stayed there very recently and all went well with the exception of the numerous power outages. I am not sure if this was a fluke or something like a rolling brown out. If you stay there have dinner at the very local restaurant across the street on the corner if you turn right from the hotel. It opens for dinner at 8PM and fills up fast.
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Old Apr 10th, 2017, 02:31 PM
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I found Palermo Soho just a bit too "funky", so I'd also suggest paying a bit more for Recoleta. It also has an advantage of being closer to the port.

Enjoy your cruise.

I hope you are going to Iguassu Falls afterwards? I really regretted spending so much time in BA and not doing that instead.

By the way Valparaiso is well worth the extra days if you ca swing that.
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Old Apr 14th, 2017, 07:47 AM
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mlgb: I have decided not to fly to Iguassu Falls due to cost of flights ($357 each RT) and cost to get a Brazil visa for one day. We will have 5 full days in BA. The first day Feb. 28 the ship docks and I have an 8 hour walking tour with Buenos Tours planned with 8 other people from the ship. Then we will disembark the ship on March 1 and transfer to a hotel or apartment. We have 3 more nights and then fly out of EZE at 8:00pm on March 3. My husband and I enjoy cities so I'm sure we can amuse ourselves while in BA.

I made a reservation at Ayres de Recoleta Plaza for 3 nights but it can be cancelled if I can find an apartment that will do a 3 night stay.

We arrive in Santiago on Feb. 11and I have 2 nights reserved at a B&B then 1 night at a B&B in Valpo before boarding the ship on Feb. 14. Those reservations can be changed if I decide to stay in Valpo 2 nights or in Santiago all 3 nights pre cruise.
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Old Apr 14th, 2017, 02:57 PM
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I went through the same calculations but Buenos Aires isn't much of a value proposition either.

The food was not my cup of tea (I don't usually eat steak, pasta or enjoy bland food, for example). I also occasionally felt ripped off by taxi drivers, and waiters demanding tips. The sidewalks are in terrible shape in Palermo, perhaps better in Recoleta. So walking wasn't really pleasant as you couldn't really relax as you had to watch out for dog poo and cracks (and sketchy guys in the parks). In fact, I can't think of a single thing that I'd recommend (since we had two tango shows on board, I also didn't want to do that in BA).

In Montevideo we enjoyed the Mercado del Puerto. When the cruise ships are in you'll find lots of people around and can ignore those who tell you it's dangerous downtown.

I did enjoy Valparaiso and felt that three full days and a half wasn't too much. I'd been to Santiago before and didn't feel I missed much by not returning there also.
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Old Apr 15th, 2017, 05:33 AM
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Too bad, mlgb, that you had such an unrelenting negative response to Buenos Aires. I do agree that many sidewalks require paying attention to - to avoid cracks or 'dog poo'- and that Porteno chefs tend to go light on spices. And oh yes, it is a noisy city.

Nevertheless, so many visitors (including me, my DH, my son and DIL and so many friends who visited with us in BsAs over the last few years) have LOVED walking the wonderful parks and streets of this intriguing city. We have, in fact, found the people, including the taxi drivers (given that we heed the good advice on this and other Fora to avoid those standing in front of major transports or tourist venues) to be kind and helpful and interesting. We have found the cafes and restaurants mostly good...not every one, of course, but with 3 month stays, we explore and find many that are really quite fine, in various barrios. Your suggestion to be careful of the part of Palermo to look to for lodging (and even some for walking at night) is sound. Palermo Botanico, for example, is a quieter, lovely neighborhood from which we walked to Soho and to La Recoleta.

So, SusieSan, I hope you will weigh all the opinions and advice and find a good plan for you and your DH - and have a wonderful stay.
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Old Apr 15th, 2017, 11:15 AM
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I recall from another post that MarnieWDC liked El Mirasol de la Recova in Recoleta, which was one of my bad restaurant experiences. Expensive, inattentive service and the steak was nothing special! That was supposed to be our final day celebration restaurant.. the only thing we celebrated was leaving! They have a nice patio, so if atmosphere is more important, I can understand why it's a MarnieWDC favorite.

I do wish there had been a wider range of opinions here on Fodors, all you tend to get is the Buenos Aires love fest!

Different strokes and all that....
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Old Apr 15th, 2017, 11:55 AM
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Yes, it's true. I have found El Mirasol to be an excellent restaurant on several occasions - expensive, but good value. If you do not eat steak, mlgb, I can imagine that you missed their stellar beef presentations. We went their with our friends from France who found the food and the service to be wonderful. As you say, 'different strokes'.
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Old Apr 15th, 2017, 01:29 PM
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My travel partner is a big steak eater MarnieWDC. He gave his assessment to me, thumbs down. He said the free cruise ship steaks were better, and the ones we had in Montevideo MUCH better.
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Old Apr 15th, 2017, 01:34 PM
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Just to clarify, I DO eat steak, and have done so throughout my life. It just is not a part of my preferred diet, for health reasons.

I did eat a few of those cruise ship steaks (Uruguayan also, which I understand is now considered to better than the Argentine supply).

Probably one of the many reasons I preferred Valparaiso to Buenos Aires is that there is a wide variety of fresh seafood available, and the preferred method of preparation isn't apanado "fish finger style".
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Old Apr 16th, 2017, 05:42 AM
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Happy Easter !
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