Thanks to the great advice on this forum and others from AvRooster,Dr Dawggy and Sam in particular, our Argentine adventure (and Antarctica but that's another story)was a resounding success. We shopped, we ate, we tangoed,(OK watched),we walked. The best success story was our brilliant experience renting an apartment with Buenos Aires Habitat.I could not recommend them highly enough.Their response to emails from the first enquiry months before was prompt and professional which to me is always the best sign.Delfina was waiting at the apartment for us and it was better than the photos.Immaculate and extremely comfortable.Nothing was too much trouble, she answered questions, made bookings for us and gave us her mobile number in case we had any problems. The apartment was in an area called Las Canitas which is on the fringe of Palermo. It was quiet at night and there were heaps of restaurants and cafes in walking distance.It was considerably cheaper than equivalent accommodation in either Recoleta or Palermo and as the taxis cost next to nothing and are absolutely everywhere, it made a big saving.Probably US$200 a week I think.
There are many shops in Florida Ave and other places advertising Christian Dior men's clothes and they seem like such a bargain. The quality of the shirts, polos and suits was so bad that clearly they were fakes.They were too bad to be seconds. I had never heard this about BA.Just something to be careful about. Generally the shopping was great value with the leather best of all. We pay much higher prices for clothes in Australia than is normal in the US so maybe not such great bargains for others.
We went to the "Senor Tango" show instead of the more highly regarded "Rojo Tango" and whilst we loved it, in the end there was only about 20 minutes of dancing because the owner dominated the show singing and talking (in Spanish) which was a tragedy. I think if you can afford the very expensive Rojo Tango, it would be much better.
The San Telmo markets on Sunday were fabulous but I was glad we didn't stay there. It's quite a long way from the rest of the better shopping areas and it is quite seedy and run down.
We went to Iguazu Falls for 2 nights and left a lot of cases in the excellent left luggage arrangement at the domestic airport.This was a huge help believe me and a great service.
Again, so many thanks to all those BA and Argentina experts who helped me so much. I hope I can repay the favour.
Cheers. Sally

Thank you, Sally, for sharing your BA and Argentina experience.

I'm glad you had a great time.

Please tell us a little more about Iguazú, Antarctica and the restaurants and other places you went to, when time permits, so other forum members can benefit from your experience.

Congratulations to Delfina for good service!

When should we expect you back?

Be sure to send all your friends and relatives to visit us, even though you are so far away!

glad u had fun sally, we enjoyed Bs As and Iguazu as well and i hope to be back sometime
cheers
AndrewDavid

Thanks for posting salthegal!
Although we never shop on Florida Street...I have heard the same thing about Ralph Lauren clothing sold here..but then, quality here is sometimes iffy anyway.

Glad to hear such a good review of BA Habitat..I have a friend looking for an apt now, I will send her this thread.

Interesting to hear again about fakes.I expect to see fakes in Asia - actually much better quality than the Argentian variety - but had no idea to expect them in BA.
I am so happy to recommend BA Habitat as it had been quite difficult to get a consistently good review about apartments in BA. We always try to use apartments in big cities where hotels are such bad value and I am surprised that more people don't do this.Oh the bliss of a laundry and plenty of room to spread out! The 2 bed 2 bath apartment was US$985 per week which for the four of us is $35 per night per person.Unbeatable value indeed.
Iguazu is very special. We were glad we stayed at the Sheraton. It was lovely just walking out of the hotel and down the path to the falls.The Sheraton is certainly tired, but it was very confortable. They were most obliging about drying wet clothes and boots. Not only did we get drowned in the boat but it rained very heavily as well.We did the jungle tour which was a waste of money and a bone jolting and very uncomfortable experience.Unfortunately, there is just nothing to see in the jungle.We saw one toucan on the side of the road back to the hotel and that was it.
Cheers. Sally

Keep in mind that a "tango show" doesn't mean "tango dancing" necessarily - tango refers to the whole genre - dance, music, singing, even poetry, and it's not at all unusual to go to a tango show and have a mix of all of them.

In terms of the designer brand "fakes" - it's not generally that they're fakes, but that they're... "seconds" - often stuff that didn't pass quality control for sale "back home" and is passed on to various other countries to sell at a discount; or in some cases, designs that have been licensed by the designer company in question to be made by a local company (usually stuff like last year's fashions), and the quality control is totally left to the local company.

Hi salthegal: I have a couple of questions for you about Buenos Aires Habitat (I've been reading trip advisor, but I wanted to get your thoughts since you just returned).

I noticed on their web site that they say that have to pay 20% to reserve the apartment, and then you also have to provide a security deposit of "two weeks rental rate." I'm considering BA Habitat as an option, but this gives me pause - as "two weeks rental rate" would be longer than the amount of time I'm actually staying!

Can you tell me how you went about reserving the apartment? E.g, did you email them first, or did you just fill out the form on the web site?

Did you use the paypal option for the 20% reservation?

Also, when you arrived and gave them your "in cash" security deposit, did they return it to you in cash? (and promtply?).

I'm just have a bear of a time with accomodations, so any insight you can provide would be helpful. It's really great to read a good review of BA and of your apartment experience, so I'm really interested in your response. Thanks!

One more question Was the 20% deposit for the reservation applied toward the rent, or was that just a 20% extra fee? I've asked them these questions (still waiting for a response), but I wanted to see what your experience was. Thanks!

M: of course, "the 20% deposit for the reservation applied toward the rent".

Magellan,
We rented 2 apts before moving into our home, here in Buenos Aires.
The first was rented over the internet with a ReMax agent.
What we did seems to be what everyone has to do:
You pay the deposit in cash.
You put it in an envelope , with your name on it ..
(this you carry on you when traveling)
We also had the rent, payable upon arrival, in cash in another envelope.

We were met at the airport by a rep of the agent..we were moving here so we needed a bit of help with luggage, dog, cars etc.

Upon arrival at the apt, we were shown the apt for our final approval then signed the documents and handed over the rent envelope..
They count it .
Then they counted the deposit and took down all the serial numbers and put it all back in the envelope and sealed it.

When we moved out, they looked over the apt then handed over the still sealed envelope with the cash in it.

This happened in the second apt rental also.

Hope this helps

Scarlett - Bless you! Thanks for clearing up this mystery for me. I just couldn't figure out the web site. This makes me feel a bit better. Now if I can just get over having that much cash on my person as a solo traveler! LOL I've started reading your posts on Trip Advisor too - they're really helpful. Thanks!

As someone who has used Buenos Aires Habitat, I can tell you that we had absolutely no problems with them. Everything that was stated on their website was in the apartment. Ines was delightful to deal with. We paid the deposit fee via a wire transfer at the time, and we given our deposit back in the same envelope with the same bills when we left. I am convinced that the reason Buenos Aires Habitat receives so little coverage on the forums is because they offer an absolutely seamless stay. There was nothing to complain about. They never promised to have anything in the refrigerator, such as sodas, etc. and yet it was stocked with sodas and bottled water. They don't charge an early check in fee or a late check out fee as long as the check in or out is within their office hours, and since their office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., if you are coming from the States, you are pretty well covered. It is not that there may not be problems in apartment stays, or hotel stays for that matter. It is how they are handled that makes all the difference between lack of responsiveness and good customer service. The afternoon after we arrived, our phone did not work and there was a recording saying that it had been disconnected. We called Delfina, and she called the owner, and the owner said that she had paid the bill long before our arrival. And it did take a day to get the phone working, but we never had to get involved again. About an hour after I hung up from talking to Delfina, the owner knocked on our door, with a cell phone in her hand, a prepaid phone card, and a copy of her paid bill and a thousand apologies. We did not have to make numerous calls back and forth to the office. We had a way to communicate with family, friends, etc. which was all we cared about and we went off to enjoy our vacation. We never spoke to the office again in the two weeks that we were there until they called to ask us what time we wanted to check out. They are also not unreasonable when it comes to wear and tear, etc. I broke a demitasse cup and showed it to the lady who checked us out and she shrugged her shoulders and handed us our envelope with the deposit. Enjoy your stay with them and in Buenos Aires!

M: milltown knows what she is talking about and will soon be back in BA, maybe at the same time as you.

milltown, how great that they stocked your fridge!!
We arrived to a bare kitchen, not even salt and pepper. and the coffee maker died the next morning..they told us to buy one and they would pay us back..gee, thanks! lol.

Magellan,
We were just told that we had to bring lots of cash, my friends that live here, told me to just get a good money belt..my husband found one that was silk at REI in Portland Or.
Silk made it soo comfortable, he forgot he had it on..and we were bringing sooo much money, we moved here so we needed a lot of cash those first months..

If I were on my own, I would do the same thing, carry your cash in some sort of under your clothes belt or money holder..as well as in your wallet.

We were quite the sight arriving here, all those suitcases, my carry on, huge handbag and Pup ((&amp)..who made his own sort of Grand Entrance lol

You are going to love it here..I have no doubt ~

magellan they have some real nice money belts at ebags, usually silk like Scarlett mentioned. I think mine is by Lewis & Clark and I can't even feel it on; it's nice to have when you have to carry a lot of cash!

Thanks milltown, av, scarlett and tully! I'm feeling better about this by the minute. This information is SO helpful. It's always good to hear firsthand experiences. I'm off to buy a silk moneybelt now

Magellan, if you are going the BA Habitat route, look at square footage. IMHO, anything under 35 meters, if you are alone, starts to feel small. Also, ask what there is in the immediate neighborhood in terms of grocery stores and cafes, and locutorios (where you go to make phone calls home and check your e mail, unless you travel wired with laptop and cell phones. We do not.)Oh, and most important, the laundries in the area. It is one of the joys of going to BA. We even come home with clean laundry because we have it washed before we leave. It is so cheap to have your clothes washed, and if you pack right, you can get away with a carry on only. Ines speaks excellent English, so do not hesitate to call her. If you get an international phone card, MCI, I think, it is pennies to call BA and ask about the location and the ammenities in the immediate area.
Scarlett, maybe you can answer this for me. Our original plan was to stay at Art Suites after your glowing reviews. In October, when we made our reservation, the price was $145 for the one bedroom for May 2008. We got a substantial discount for paying in cash. In the meantime, our plans changed for many reasons, and I canceled our reservations. We had to redo our trip a couple of weeks ago and ended up with an apartment through VRBO. But, I looked at Art Suites rates, and they are down to $119 through May, 2008, minus the cash discount. Is anyone seeing rates go down? Maybe the financial turmoil everywhere is having an effect. Magellan, Art Suites at that price is great. And since you will have the silk purse anyway to carry your cash in........LOL

Bookmarking, thanks!

http://artsuites.com.ar/ingles/rates.html

Hi
The rates look basically the same as they have been since we stayed there a year ago.

We had the executive suite on the top floor..we got a discount for cash & maybe because we were staying 2 weeks..(having rented a bunch of apts this past year while living here, things are a bit muddled but I am pretty sure that is the way the discounts went...but I won't swear to it )
I will say that after renting apts while our new home was being renovated- I wished I could just move into the Art Suites and live there while waiting!

"Financial turmoil" ?
Hotel rates/apt rental rates, go up and down according to the season and a tiny bit according to the inflation ..

The financial turmoil that I was referring to is here in the US, which at sometime will impact leisure travel, which will eventually impact the destinations people travel to. But I digress and do not want to take this OT.
About Art Suites, my original two week reservation for May was $145, less the extended stay cash discount. As it is today, the same apartment is $119, without the discount. I am familiar with the area, and the buiilding, but not the inside of the Art Suites, but that is a substantial savings for what I consider to be one of my favorite areas.