lizF

I have just come home after a 6 week holiday in South America in Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. This is the third time I have been to South America and I speak some Spanish but a problem in Argentina has left a sour note in an otherwise great holiday.
I booked a Apartment Hotel on line in a reasonable suburb of Buenos Aires and had a confirmation of the cost and booking from the agent. I printed out this booking and on arrival at the hotel I presented the booking form to the clerk who already had my details etc. The Hotel had been on the net at the time together with other listings and I chose this one because of situation.
At checkout, which was unfortunately at 3.30AM one morning, I presented myself to the Reception and was given an invoice which showed the cost of the room at twice the rate that I had on my printed information so I disputed the account. To cut a long story short I refused to pay the account but offered to pay the amount stated on my piece of paper ( which had been accepted on arrival) but the clerk refused and so I refused to pay the bill and walked out. I have been billed for the higher amount on my American Express and am in the process of doing a chargeback on the that. I did not sign anything and therefore either someone has signed for me or forged my signature.
The hotel is Suipacha Apartment Hotel in Recoletta in Buenos Aires.
It seems strange to me now that the previous night I had asked Reception if I could settle the account then and they said no and that it would not take too long in the morning, I now wonder if that is something they do in the hope that you will not have time ( needing to catch an early flight) to argue about an account at that time of day.
I have been in B.A. each year for the last 3 and watched as it has gone from bad to worse during that time. I conduct business in Argentina but am rethinking that now in view of the increased difficulties in doing business there, safety aspects, filth and whether or if you can trust normal business arrangements now.
I hope that if anyone does use a booking service they will copy the website information they used and also any correspondence with anyone regarding anything.

Graziella5b

Hi lizF, i am so sorry to hear about your bad experience with the hotel >Suipacha Apartament, frankly I have not heartd about it.
Was the rate they offered initially to good to be true? if not I am sure American Express will help you out.
I am glad that at least you had the chance to pay with AMex which gives you a good chance to win at the end.
I came yesterday from Bs As and again had a great stay at the Bel Air Hotel , and again an excellent meal at a place I highly recommend, this place is called Resto located in the Sociedad de Arquitectos, in calle Montevideo, close to the. corner of calle Paraguay. The young chef ( a woman) is excellent and prices are so good. At night they have a couple of set menus. ATt lunch, main couse fish is $20 pesos that is a little over uS$6,
steak is aprox. us$4 and chicken us$3.Each dish cooked to perfection with different
contorni or side vegetables. Very good selection of wines at aprox $2 us by each cup. Desserts aprox us$2.50. I found the cuisine delicious and could match the best bistro in Paris.
Also bread is home made and comes with a delicous spread.They only accept cash.

lizF

Graziella, thanks for your reply. No the price was not " too good to be true" as it was listed with a lot of other apartment hotels which were about the same or similiar costing but as we only needed a studio apartment the hotel that we chose was the one that could fit the bill, so to speak.
My thoughts are that these offers were put on the Net at a time when the hotel needed customers and perhaps they forgot to take off that offer. BUT they were happy to accept me and that offer when I arrived at the hotel so to me that is a contract and that is what I stand with. Actually I have not SIGNED anything, Amex or otherwise so someone has done something not quite legal. However today will tell when I speak to American Express.
The difference in price I think is that I booked for one week which was supposed to be the "special" and they charged me a night rack rate for each night.
I also spent 10 days in Bariloche in a similiar establishment for half the price that I should have paid in B.A. Sure Bariloche is not B.A. but the hotel I stayed at was right on the lake and my room had views over the lake and and was really beautiful.
I could perhaps accept this treatment a bit better if I had had a communication from the Manager of the hotel or at least their finance section but I have not heard anything from them at all.
If Argentina is looking to tourism to help it out of the dreadful economic situation that it is in right now this is not the way to go about it. I won't be going again. I also sent the English written Buenos Aires Herald a copy of my email to Fodors because unless Argentina wishes to become the worst of the third World countries things have to change and very quickly.
One thing I must say though in defence of Argentinian tourism is that Bariloche is one of the most beautiful places I have had a holiday in and the Patagonian BBQ will spoil me for the rest of my life when it comes to eating meat in any other way. At least though I can still get to Bariloche via a direct flight from Santiago and avoid B.A. like the plague.

ThinGorjus

You are absolutely ridiculous. You are blaming an entire country for a dishonest hotel???????? That is absurd.

Could you imagine someone stating that they won't travel to the US because Martha Stewart is a liar???????????

That is how ridiculous your comments are, Lizf.

Yes, you are angry, which is understandable, but let's calm down here.

How was the rest of your trip in Buenos Aires? Did you have nice weather? Did you have some delicious meals? Did you visit any of the wonderful museums?

Let's put your hotel problem in perspective here. Try and take a holistic view of your holiday in South America. One small problem doesn't ruin an entire 6-week holiday.

Cheers.

Graziella5b

Hi Lizf, I honestly believe that if you take a print out of their offfer in the web and explain your case to Amex they will back you up.
AS I said before wehave been extremely happy with our hotels all over Argentina.
It happened to you in Buenos Aires it could have happened anywhere. It is a good policy to get a confirmation of the rate on the moment of the check in. You can ask to have it written in a Hotel Card. Many hotels provide such a written confirmation on their own initiative.

lizF

Thingorg whatever! ARGENTINA HOTEL BOOKING WARNING is the caption of my post. The reason that I would not go to B.A. again is that it is 1/ dirty 2/ crime ridden 3/ polluted 4/ beggars everywhere 5/ why don't you read what I said instead of making a knee jerk reaction.

ThinGorjus

I have been to Buenos Aires and I know that what you say is being blown out of proportion, lizf.

For instance, you say that BA is a crime-ridden city. Yet, you don't mention what crime was carried out against you. Was your wallet stolen? Where you stabbed? Did someone push you down a flight of stairs and steal your purse?

How is the city dirty? You don't mention instances in your report.

How is the city polluted? You don't mention that in your report either.

You came here yo tell everyone not to travel to BA because you had an episode with your hotel.

You seem to want to compare one of the largest cities in the world with a rural, picturesque town. You seem to be upset because BA is not like Bariloche.

You are comparing apples and oranges.

As someone who has travelled all over the world, I think you should not be so reactionary in your trip reporting.

I have nothing against you, liz. I have devoted much time to Fodors.com over the years, and have helped many travellers. I don't want to see people scared off of visiting BA because of your one-sided report.

Please, calm down, liz.

Graziella5b

I agree with Thin Gorjus.
It is not fair to see everything black because of a misundertanding with a hotel. Besides these things happen all over the world.
I am right now in Buenos Aires and frankly it is not what you say.
I have been walking all day here, it is not dirty, not particularly poluted and no beggers except one.
I believe that Fodors is a forum for us to relate personal experiences .
.
The hotel was a bad experience for you, we all agree but again American Express will help you out if you are right. Amex will give you and tghe hotel a chance to explain what happened.

ThinGorjus

Thank you, Graziella. I have lived in London, NYC, San Francisco, and Philadelphia (currently). All of these cities have a HUGE homeless population. When I lived in San Francisco, I would be approached by at least 5 panhandlers a day. Yet, most people would agree that San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Manhattan smells like the back of a garbage truck from June to August, yet you must admit that NYC is one of the greatest cities in the world. To some, it is the center of the universe.

You have to learn to take the good with the bad when you travel. Keep your heart and mind open.

drdawggy

Sorry to hear of your bad experience, LIZF, but it sounds as if your bad hotel experience has caused you to look at the negative side of everything in Buenos Aires....

As one who has been in Buenos Aires for the past two months and who stays here over 100 days per year, I Can only say that my conclusions are not the same as yours....

Crime is lower here than in most large cities, including those in the United States. Granted there are high crime areas, but the areas visited by most tourists are not particularly dangerous....there are pickpockets, but they exist in every big city....and serious crime is minimal....IN the three years I have been coming here I have never been pickpocketed or victimized by criminals....although I DID observe one incident involving other tourists.....

Dirty....While not immaculate, I would not characterize Buenos Aires as a dirty city...at least not when compared to other large cities in Latin America.....The one big problem here is that almost everyone has a job and there is no enforcement of pooper scooper laws....so you have to watch where you are going....a mistake can be disgusting....

Begging.....there are some beggars here, with a poverty rate of 50% I suppose it is inevitable.....but even in this tragic situation, I find some positives...have you ever noticed how many taxi drivers, who themselves do not make a lot of money, frequently giv e a coin or two to the children who juggle at intersecitons to make a peso or two....or have you read about the non profit agencies that feed the hungry or provide funding for housing or microenterprises or the collectives of poorer people who exhange services and goods using a formalized bartar system....Maybe you could take a half day the next time you are here and volunteer at a comedor that feeds poor children or single mothers abandoned by their husbands....it will forever change the way you look at beggars....