4 Weeks in BA, Need Advice
 

Hi! I am going to be spending the month of September in BA and need some advice. Hre are my quesitons....

1. I am a single, 30-uear-old woman and want to know what you all feel is the best neighborhood for me to look for a temporary apartment. I would like to be within walking distance of fun places to eat/drink where I will still feel safe alone.

2. Does anyone know of a good way to find the temporary apartment?

3. How is payment usualy made for temporary apartments?

Thanks for you help!

First, there are some cautions about temporary apartment rentals.
Here is a post from another board that contains some of the best advice I have seen about apartment rental companies, which are more common in Buenos Aires than dog doo on the sidewalks:

"The two most important factors are: 1. Who holds the damage deposit? 2. Who is responsible for fixing broken items like the a/c? TBe answer you want is: "the rental agent". Leaving $$ with an owner or expecting him to care about your comfort is an unecessarily rinecessarilyion. It is not always a mistake, but the risk/reward ratio is not in your favor. Renting directly from an owner is even more risky. Maybe he has to rent directly because he has burned every agency in town by not returning deposits? The tourist has no way to know, and no way to defend himself. Two or three years ago, tourists came to town and visited several apartments before renting. They understood that soft beds, sprung couches, and noisy or dark apartments could still produce great photos. Those points seem to be lost on today's tourist."--Rshive

Ok, with that out of the way, I will respond to your several questions about where to stay and how to rent.

The trendiest part of town in Palermo Soho. The downside is that this neighborhood is still a work in progress....one block can be well lit with lots of restaurants and clubs and the next block can be somewhat dark or spooky looking. Recoleta. Generally, more upscale and the residents of the poshest areas in the zone are older, monied types. Lots of good places to eat and drink here too.
Palermo. I like Palermo. I have stayed in an aparment in this zone for the past two years for two-three months at time. I rented from the owner, www.shortstayinba.com and never had a problem. There are probably a dozen restaurants within a 10 minute walk, everything from Sushi to Italian and it is only about a 10 minute cab ride to Recoleta or to Palermo Soho or Las Canitas, another trendy area with restaurants and bars.

aparmentsba.com is a large agency that I have used in the past. They are reputable.

Ignore the link in my last post. I did something wrong while typing the url and that link will take you to a bogus site. Here is the right link

http://www.apartmentsba.com/

Drdawggy-

Thank you so much for your advice. Those links have some beautiful apartments but they are not within my budget. Do you know of any other sites that would have more affordable apartments. Also, I have heard good things about staying in the San Telmo area. What do you think?

Thanks, again!

drdawggy-

One other question...

I have been seeing a lot of sites for cell phone rental. Do you suggest going that routs, which I hear is pricey or are there pre-paid phones/plans that are more economical?

Thanks!

Hi,

One of the sites for apartment rentals that usually gets pretty good comments is Bytargentina
http://www.bytargentina.com/ They have less upscale choices than apartmentsba
I have no personal experience. However I find their site easy to use. By using the "advanced search" feature, you can zero in on what you want - area number of rooms etc.

God luck.
Raquel

About the phones, mbesc, it depends a little on what you want to use the cell for. Are you going to use it a LOT, use it only to receive calls, use it only for local calls, call a LOT abroad?

Raquel, thank you! The site you suggested seems to have a much larger selection.

Avrooster, the phone would be used only for local calls and since I really don't know anyone down there (hopefully I will make some friends) I really don't know how much I would use it. Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Well, mbesc, then perhaps it would be best for you to buy here a cheap cell phone which you "feed" with cards you can easily buy. Particularly if you expect to be back, that would seem to be the best alternative.

mbesc

Remember the advice offered by Rshive, regardless of the agency you eventually elect to use. Many agencies list the same apartments listed by numerous other sites and maintain very little quality control. Ask questions and if you don't get the right answers, don't rent with that agency...particularly if you have plunked down a large sum for a deposit.

Question, Doc:

You say: "...particularly if you have plunked down a large sum for a deposit."

I believe you mean: "...particularly if you have TO PLUNK down a large sum for a deposit."