Aregntina June 2007
Jul 8th, 2007 | 08:37 PM
#1
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Aregntina June 2007
This is a report of our first trip to South America and Argentina. We have traveled extensively through Europe and Asia as well as Australia and New Zealand so something new was in order. We are two adults with two teenage daughters. I have been taking the family abroad since the youngest was about 7. We like to travel off season if possible for more temperate weather and less crowds. I have lived as an ex-pat in my younger days in Asia, Europe and the Caribbean so travel perhaps is second nature to me. You must excuse my poor grammar and writing as this report will come out as a flight of thoughts and memories that I have little time to polish.
I made an error when I started this vacation planning and booked SFO-EZE with a 45 minute connection in IAD so we left home early to standby on a flight 1:45 earlier than our booked 1245 flight. Was too quick to grab the $966 RT fare with minimal flight times after being stuck in LHR last summer for 6 hours. Rented a large car from Avis for the drive to SFO. $86 one way is better than paying for parking at SFO and worrying about your car. I cannot remember what the car was but I think it was a Buick. Drove like a boat. Will have to apologize to Lexus for claiming that their cars drive softly. Left home at 0715 and made it to SFO in about 2 hours as traffic was quite light on saturday June 9 and traffic on 80 was fast as usual when there are not many cars on the road.
We usually only fly international out of SFO which is quite easy so we were shocked at the lines at United for domestic travel on a saturday morning. Looked like hundreds of people in line. Luckily we are premier thanks to two overseas flights a year and the premier line was very very short. Easily got on the 1100 flight on a 767 to Dulles and had 4 nice economy plus seats on the right side of the plane. A few more inches in coach makes for a much more comfortable ride. Seats were 2/3/2. Flight looked to be only 1/2 full which is the lightest load I have seen on a plane anywhere for decades. Individual screens with a choice of about 6 movies for the flight.
Arrived on time in Dulles to find that our flight to EZE was delayed due to fog in Buenos Aires. This must be the worst major airport in the developed world for passenger comfort and interests. Had hamburgers for dinner at some mediocre restaurant.?Finally, after 5 hours we got on our 767 at about 0045 for a 10 hour flight to EZE. Usual airline dinner, $5 for a glass of red wine and a Lunesta. Slept a few hours. Arrival in EZE at around 1230 on June 10. Baggage and customs were quite easy and fairly quick. Stopped at Manuel Tienda Leon to your left right before you exit the security area to book a mini van to take the four of us to our hotel in Buenos Aires. Cost was around $40 US and we had a 30 minute wait to get the mini van. Weather was very nice with clear skies and temps in the mid 60’s. Drive into BA was easy and about 40 minutes until we reached the Hilton in Puerto Madero.
The Hilton is a new hotel constructed in the usual new Hilton way. Looked like a larger version of the Hilton in Dubrovnik. Very modern. We had two rooms connected with a queen bed in one and two twins in the other. Clean. Walk in closets. Nice bathrooms with marble and combo shower/bath. Solid 4 star hotel. Cost $160/room plus 21% VAT with breakfast. We all showered up and put on new clothes. Called Isabel of Buenosaires-tours to let her know that we had arrived late but safely and we arranged to meet downstairs at 1600.
I should note that I choose to use a local travel agent to arrange much of my travel in Argentina at the advice of many on this board. I originally e-mailed 4 such agents. One did not return my e-mail for two weeks and was eliminated from consideration. Another asked many questions and sent me a proposal for two weeks in BA/Northwest/Iguazu. Cost for the four of us including unnamed hotels and Argentina airfares but not food was $20,000. As there was no itemization of costs it was impossible to budget this down. I should note that we travel quite a bit as a family and usually stay at 4 and 5 star hotels and eat quite well with forays into Michelin starred restaurants and we never come near these costs even in Europe. I politely declined this offer. The third travel agent told me that they did not work with people who might want to stay at an apartment in BA as they only work with the better hotels. I was considering using apartmentsba for our long stay in BA.
This led me to Isabel who basically let me know that her fees were $50/person for travel arrangements in Argentina. We had many discussions on hotels and apartments. She let me know when she could get better rates at some hotels than I could and when she could not. We settled on the Hilton PM due to the ability to cancel at a late time (2400) from the US if we were to miss our IAD connection. We also choose the Sofitel Arroyo for our long stay in BA. What I really liked about Isabel was her willingness to work with me to give us the best vacation possible. All options were open if they were available. I asked about a new boutique hotel in Palermo and she stopped by on her weekend to check it out. She reported back that it was nice but not in a good neighborhood. She was always available for advice. Isabel reminds me of what a travel agent might be if she were your OCD mother. I plan all of our trips abroad and after about 20 trips over the last 10 years to Europe and Asia I have definite ideas as to how we like to travel. Isabel was easy to work with and I would use her again in a heartbeat.
We met Isabel for coffee in the lobby of the Hilton and spent an hour going over details of our trip. Afterwards, we left the hotel to explore the Puerto Madero area which is a new development at the old port area of Buenos Aires. Lots of very modern office buildings and shops and apartments. Lots of police security everywhere. Many nice touristy restaurants along the Alicia Moreau de Justo. We decided to eat at the Cabana las Lilasas as it was one of the few restaurants open early at 1930 and we were hungry and tired. People here eat late as in Spain or Greece etc. The Cabana was quite nice with professional English speaking service. Traditional Argentina steak house. Expensive for Argentina standards but not bad by American standards. Certainly much less expensive than Mortons. Table cover of all sorts of appetizers. Entree steaks about $20. Extensive wine list of wine from Argentina. Bottles wee mostly in the 100 to 300 peso range. As I had no clue as to what to order I had a glass of the house Malbec which I would describe as drinkable. Good food and we especially liked the empanadas of spicy beef.
The next morning we awoke fairly early and had our buffet breakfast downstairs. Breakfast quality was continental plus and similar to what one would get in a similar hotel in Europe. We than took a taxi over to the Sofitel on Arroyo to make sure we had made a wise choice for our extended stay BA hotel. We found the Sofitel and the rooms to be to our liking. We than walked into the Recoleta past the Four Seasons, Park Hyatt etc to explore the area. As we had a late check out at the Hilton we ate at Cumana on Rodriguez Pena. Cheap empanadas, pizzas and cazuelas. Taxi back to the Hilton to finish packing and check out. Message from Isabel that Aerolineas Argentina has gone out on strike due to some passenger striking an employee and all flights canceled for the day. We had 1700 flights to Salta. Isabel arranged for a refund of our Aerolineas fares and booked us on the Andes flight at 1900. We took a taxi to the AEP airport at 1700 where we were met by Isabel with new tickets. She made sure we were ok and put us on our new 2 hour flight to Salta.
I made an error when I started this vacation planning and booked SFO-EZE with a 45 minute connection in IAD so we left home early to standby on a flight 1:45 earlier than our booked 1245 flight. Was too quick to grab the $966 RT fare with minimal flight times after being stuck in LHR last summer for 6 hours. Rented a large car from Avis for the drive to SFO. $86 one way is better than paying for parking at SFO and worrying about your car. I cannot remember what the car was but I think it was a Buick. Drove like a boat. Will have to apologize to Lexus for claiming that their cars drive softly. Left home at 0715 and made it to SFO in about 2 hours as traffic was quite light on saturday June 9 and traffic on 80 was fast as usual when there are not many cars on the road.
We usually only fly international out of SFO which is quite easy so we were shocked at the lines at United for domestic travel on a saturday morning. Looked like hundreds of people in line. Luckily we are premier thanks to two overseas flights a year and the premier line was very very short. Easily got on the 1100 flight on a 767 to Dulles and had 4 nice economy plus seats on the right side of the plane. A few more inches in coach makes for a much more comfortable ride. Seats were 2/3/2. Flight looked to be only 1/2 full which is the lightest load I have seen on a plane anywhere for decades. Individual screens with a choice of about 6 movies for the flight.
Arrived on time in Dulles to find that our flight to EZE was delayed due to fog in Buenos Aires. This must be the worst major airport in the developed world for passenger comfort and interests. Had hamburgers for dinner at some mediocre restaurant.?Finally, after 5 hours we got on our 767 at about 0045 for a 10 hour flight to EZE. Usual airline dinner, $5 for a glass of red wine and a Lunesta. Slept a few hours. Arrival in EZE at around 1230 on June 10. Baggage and customs were quite easy and fairly quick. Stopped at Manuel Tienda Leon to your left right before you exit the security area to book a mini van to take the four of us to our hotel in Buenos Aires. Cost was around $40 US and we had a 30 minute wait to get the mini van. Weather was very nice with clear skies and temps in the mid 60’s. Drive into BA was easy and about 40 minutes until we reached the Hilton in Puerto Madero.
The Hilton is a new hotel constructed in the usual new Hilton way. Looked like a larger version of the Hilton in Dubrovnik. Very modern. We had two rooms connected with a queen bed in one and two twins in the other. Clean. Walk in closets. Nice bathrooms with marble and combo shower/bath. Solid 4 star hotel. Cost $160/room plus 21% VAT with breakfast. We all showered up and put on new clothes. Called Isabel of Buenosaires-tours to let her know that we had arrived late but safely and we arranged to meet downstairs at 1600.
I should note that I choose to use a local travel agent to arrange much of my travel in Argentina at the advice of many on this board. I originally e-mailed 4 such agents. One did not return my e-mail for two weeks and was eliminated from consideration. Another asked many questions and sent me a proposal for two weeks in BA/Northwest/Iguazu. Cost for the four of us including unnamed hotels and Argentina airfares but not food was $20,000. As there was no itemization of costs it was impossible to budget this down. I should note that we travel quite a bit as a family and usually stay at 4 and 5 star hotels and eat quite well with forays into Michelin starred restaurants and we never come near these costs even in Europe. I politely declined this offer. The third travel agent told me that they did not work with people who might want to stay at an apartment in BA as they only work with the better hotels. I was considering using apartmentsba for our long stay in BA.
This led me to Isabel who basically let me know that her fees were $50/person for travel arrangements in Argentina. We had many discussions on hotels and apartments. She let me know when she could get better rates at some hotels than I could and when she could not. We settled on the Hilton PM due to the ability to cancel at a late time (2400) from the US if we were to miss our IAD connection. We also choose the Sofitel Arroyo for our long stay in BA. What I really liked about Isabel was her willingness to work with me to give us the best vacation possible. All options were open if they were available. I asked about a new boutique hotel in Palermo and she stopped by on her weekend to check it out. She reported back that it was nice but not in a good neighborhood. She was always available for advice. Isabel reminds me of what a travel agent might be if she were your OCD mother. I plan all of our trips abroad and after about 20 trips over the last 10 years to Europe and Asia I have definite ideas as to how we like to travel. Isabel was easy to work with and I would use her again in a heartbeat.
We met Isabel for coffee in the lobby of the Hilton and spent an hour going over details of our trip. Afterwards, we left the hotel to explore the Puerto Madero area which is a new development at the old port area of Buenos Aires. Lots of very modern office buildings and shops and apartments. Lots of police security everywhere. Many nice touristy restaurants along the Alicia Moreau de Justo. We decided to eat at the Cabana las Lilasas as it was one of the few restaurants open early at 1930 and we were hungry and tired. People here eat late as in Spain or Greece etc. The Cabana was quite nice with professional English speaking service. Traditional Argentina steak house. Expensive for Argentina standards but not bad by American standards. Certainly much less expensive than Mortons. Table cover of all sorts of appetizers. Entree steaks about $20. Extensive wine list of wine from Argentina. Bottles wee mostly in the 100 to 300 peso range. As I had no clue as to what to order I had a glass of the house Malbec which I would describe as drinkable. Good food and we especially liked the empanadas of spicy beef.
The next morning we awoke fairly early and had our buffet breakfast downstairs. Breakfast quality was continental plus and similar to what one would get in a similar hotel in Europe. We than took a taxi over to the Sofitel on Arroyo to make sure we had made a wise choice for our extended stay BA hotel. We found the Sofitel and the rooms to be to our liking. We than walked into the Recoleta past the Four Seasons, Park Hyatt etc to explore the area. As we had a late check out at the Hilton we ate at Cumana on Rodriguez Pena. Cheap empanadas, pizzas and cazuelas. Taxi back to the Hilton to finish packing and check out. Message from Isabel that Aerolineas Argentina has gone out on strike due to some passenger striking an employee and all flights canceled for the day. We had 1700 flights to Salta. Isabel arranged for a refund of our Aerolineas fares and booked us on the Andes flight at 1900. We took a taxi to the AEP airport at 1700 where we were met by Isabel with new tickets. She made sure we were ok and put us on our new 2 hour flight to Salta.
Jul 9th, 2007 | 05:07 AM
#4
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 34,738
Likes: 0
"OCD mother" sounds like she behaves like someones mother with Obsessive Cumpulsive Disorder which would make her extremely efficient and sure that every single detail is correct and good. IMO a very good person to have helping you 
Thank you for posting mjs, looking forward to more!
Thank you for posting mjs, looking forward to more!
Jul 9th, 2007 | 07:15 AM
#6
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 5,245
Likes: 0
My comments about mjs' first report:
1) I always advise using Manuel Tienda León's transportation service from/to our airports, particularly for first-time visitors.
You can reserve online (which probably would have helped to obtain that van with no delay) and prepay with your credit card.
http://www.tiendaleon.com.ar/home/home.asp
2) While I understand your reticence, mjs, I feel it would be helpful for future visitors if you tell us the name of the 3 travel agents you tried but decided not to use.
3) Cabaña Las Lilas is widely considered a tourist trap, which doesn't mean it isn't good. It just means that you can get just as good food in other BA restaurants for a fraction of the price. In other words, just like you said, "Expensive for Argentina standards but not bad by American standards."
Just keep the next several chapters coming, mjs!
I'll go on offering my wise (LOL!!!!) comments, if you don't mind.
1) I always advise using Manuel Tienda León's transportation service from/to our airports, particularly for first-time visitors.
You can reserve online (which probably would have helped to obtain that van with no delay) and prepay with your credit card.
http://www.tiendaleon.com.ar/home/home.asp
2) While I understand your reticence, mjs, I feel it would be helpful for future visitors if you tell us the name of the 3 travel agents you tried but decided not to use.
3) Cabaña Las Lilas is widely considered a tourist trap, which doesn't mean it isn't good. It just means that you can get just as good food in other BA restaurants for a fraction of the price. In other words, just like you said, "Expensive for Argentina standards but not bad by American standards."
Just keep the next several chapters coming, mjs!
I'll go on offering my wise (LOL!!!!) comments, if you don't mind.
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Jul 12th, 2007 | 03:59 PM
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Jul 16th, 2007 | 10:10 AM
#11
Joined: Nov 2003
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Thanks for posting this report mjs. I'm considering a trip to BA for November 2008 and this is really helping to "sway" my decision! It would be my first foray into South America and based on your comments it sounds like it would be a good choice for me!
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