Buenos Aires Apt. Agency sites?
Sep 11th, 2006, 01:46 PM
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Buenos Aires Apt. Agency sites?
There was a post in the LA forum listing some URLs for apt. agencies in BA.
The first one was bytargentina.com, which I've checked out. But forgot the others and can't find the post again.
I know about apartmentsba.com, which seems much higher.
Anyone have some of these other sites? I'm leaning towards staying between Pl. St. Martin and Recoleta, closer to Pl. St. Martin. Plenty of listings for around $200-250 a week on bytargentina.com. Could go for more but the ones listed for the lower price seems to be more than sufficient.
The first one was bytargentina.com, which I've checked out. But forgot the others and can't find the post again.
I know about apartmentsba.com, which seems much higher.
Anyone have some of these other sites? I'm leaning towards staying between Pl. St. Martin and Recoleta, closer to Pl. St. Martin. Plenty of listings for around $200-250 a week on bytargentina.com. Could go for more but the ones listed for the lower price seems to be more than sufficient.
Sep 11th, 2006, 05:38 PM
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Some others are
http://www.4rentargentina.com/
http://www.adelsur.com/
http://www.alojargentina.com/section...apartments.php
There are lots of others. I have no experience with any - except studying their web sites. Bytargentina gets good reviews in various forums. I find their site easy to navigate. Using the advanced search feature, you can zero in on what you are looking for.
Do a search here and also on Trip Advisor. There are some excellent posts on what to what out for and also various personal experiences with the various companies.
Good luck.
raquel
http://www.4rentargentina.com/
http://www.adelsur.com/
http://www.alojargentina.com/section...apartments.php
There are lots of others. I have no experience with any - except studying their web sites. Bytargentina gets good reviews in various forums. I find their site easy to navigate. Using the advanced search feature, you can zero in on what you are looking for.
Do a search here and also on Trip Advisor. There are some excellent posts on what to what out for and also various personal experiences with the various companies.
Good luck.
raquel
Sep 11th, 2006, 06:08 PM
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Thanks will check those out.
Hmm, never used Tripadvisor for apartments.
Only see listings for B&Bs and Inns. And some hostels.
It would be nice to cross-check some of the apartments from the agency sites with tripadvisor but most apartments are described by their location, not so much some name like Casa Exotica.
Thans again.
Hmm, never used Tripadvisor for apartments.
Only see listings for B&Bs and Inns. And some hostels.
It would be nice to cross-check some of the apartments from the agency sites with tripadvisor but most apartments are described by their location, not so much some name like Casa Exotica.
Thans again.
Sep 17th, 2006, 07:44 AM
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Is there anyone out there who has stayed at any of these apartments on any of these sites? They look very attractive from their pictures and are fairly reasonable. I noticed that byargentina.com does not accept credit cards, wants cash only. Is that typical? Is there much recourse and quick repair if for example, the sink clogs or the toilet breaks. Any feedback on this would be appreciated. Thanks very much for allowing me to join the discussion.
Sep 18th, 2006, 06:06 PM
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It seems like they all prefer cash, and in dollars, not pesos. Or send the deposit via Western Union.
bytargentina has a wide range and especially lower-priced accommodations. One thing is they don't require a deposit but they want a credit card number to secure the reservation. But their web site doesn't use secure pages to convey your credit card and other personal info. So be careful.
apartmentsba.com has nicer places, it appears, and generally larger apartments, appearing better-furnished by the pictures. They want higher deposits as well.
I went with bytargentina so we'll see how it goes. They do reply promptly to your inquiries by email.
bytargentina has a wide range and especially lower-priced accommodations. One thing is they don't require a deposit but they want a credit card number to secure the reservation. But their web site doesn't use secure pages to convey your credit card and other personal info. So be careful.
apartmentsba.com has nicer places, it appears, and generally larger apartments, appearing better-furnished by the pictures. They want higher deposits as well.
I went with bytargentina so we'll see how it goes. They do reply promptly to your inquiries by email.
Sep 20th, 2006, 10:46 PM
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I used www.apartmentsbaires.com.ar I had to pay a deposit in advance and the ballance in US $ on arival.
I went with this one because the price included electricity, telephone and gas. A lot don't so check that.
I mixed up the address and went to the manager's flat instead. His wife was lovely - put me in a cab to the right place.
The appartement was clean and perfect for my needs. Daniel the manager was very nice - told me to call if I had ANY problems such as locking myself out.
I went with this one because the price included electricity, telephone and gas. A lot don't so check that.
I mixed up the address and went to the manager's flat instead. His wife was lovely - put me in a cab to the right place.
The appartement was clean and perfect for my needs. Daniel the manager was very nice - told me to call if I had ANY problems such as locking myself out.
Dec 7th, 2006, 04:24 AM
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Paraphrase: Ok, prospective renter...send us cash via Western Union...if we show up to rent you the apartment when you arrive, pay us a deposit and the rest of your rent in cash....when you leave we will return your deposit, assuming the owner does not identify any "damages" for which you will need to pay.
Buyer beware, indeed. Stick with a reputable rental company with a proven track record for honesty.
Buyer beware, indeed. Stick with a reputable rental company with a proven track record for honesty.
Dec 7th, 2006, 11:07 AM
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We used bytargentina.com They reply promptly by email. You do need cash for rental and damage deposit and they want it when you get the key.
I thought the deposit was high for the amount of rent. We paid $690 for the apartment, $30 for the agent to meet us, maid service was not included in the rate, that was $10 per week and the telephone was not incuded. The deposit was $470. Everything else was.
My suggestion is to make sure the apartment manager you are dealing with, in case of problem or emergency, speaks some English or your Spanish is enough to get by. Ours did not speak a word of English and we speak very little Spanish. When we had a problem with our door locks, we were told we needed to deal with the manager. Great.
Outside of that, living in a local neighborhood was a nice experience and one we would do again, but a little more carefully.
Feb 23rd, 2007, 05:49 PM
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I am delighted to find this thread.
Does anyone know about "buenosaireshabitat". I have made a cash deposit but have been unable to get a confirmation.
When I telephone them I am told everything is fine, but, so far, cannot get an email confirming the apartment.
Does anyone know about "buenosaireshabitat". I have made a cash deposit but have been unable to get a confirmation.
When I telephone them I am told everything is fine, but, so far, cannot get an email confirming the apartment.
Oct 31st, 2007, 02:01 AM
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Hi i've recently returned from Buenos Aires and had an awful experience with ApartmentsBA. We booked through the website www.apartmentsba.com. Here's what we experienced:
Prior to arriving in Buenos Aries we thought the company were quite professional although i did feel a bit uncomfortable sending the cash deposit to an off shore account.
We arrived at our apartment Serrano 884 on a Sunday afternoon 7th October to be met by a young man in a stained track suit with the TV in the apartment blaring - he was watching the River Plate Vs Boca juniors game and seemed more interested in watching that than checking us in. The condition of the so called 5 star apartment was terrible. All the walls had scuff marks on them, the bath was filthy(black rings in the bath) as was the roof top jacuzzi. The water heater did not work properly (to have a shower you had to turn on one of the taps in the sink - this we had to figure out ourselves it was the same routine if you wanted to wash dishes in the kitchen downstairs). The outside fountain did not work- it looked attractive on the website. The sliding door to the balcony in the upper bedroom did not lock and it wasn't possible to lock it - meaning there was a constant security problem. The drawers in the wardrobe were not usable as the doors of the wardrobe prevented them being opened. The light in the bedroom was broken and the bedroom door would not close properly. The mechanism for the shutters came away from the wall when you tried to pull the shutters down. The bidet in the bathroom leaked constantly meaning the floor was always wet. The kitchen was badly stocked (no can opener - a basic provision) and we found broken glass in one of the saucepans.The only redeeming feature was that the bed was comfortable!
Later that evening the guy who checked us in and who we gave all the cash to($1600 & $800 security deposit)(must say felt very uncomfortable carrying all that cash around) called to say he could not find the security deposit($800) and were we sure we gave it to him. I was furious and assured him in no uncertain terms that we did and that we were going to complain about it.
We complained about all of the above and the only thing that was fixed was the light in the bedroom and the bath and jacuzzi were cleaned..but only just- i had to point to the very obvious black dirt.
We were all mad as hell about it but we decided we would get on with our holiday and try not to let it affect us.
After about a week in the apartment on a Friday evening the toilet blocked up and we could not use it. Thankfully there was another downstairs. We didn't bother calling as it was the weekend, we had another toilet and going on the previous experience we didn't see any point. The monday was a bank holiday so it was the tuesday before anyone was in the office, by that stage the door for the toilet downstairs had come off it's rail and was difficult to open and close.
We called the office and they asked us could we stay in the apartment and they would send someone around. I said we were going out and they sent someone around while we were out. When we arrived back at 5.45pm there were two people in the apartment and we were told we would have to move as the water in the apartment was being turned off. We were due to meet friends at 7pm for dinner. They offered us another apartment on a very busy street (Santa Fe) and others that looked awful. I called my friend who managed to track down a hotel for us. We refused the apartment packed our stuff and went to the hotel, which we were very lucky to get. I asked the staff member of Apartments BA to come and meet us that evening with our deposit and the refund which they offered us and a small compensation(20%) but she refused saying that she had already stayed back in the office to deal with us. I was livid but knew i would get nowhere as she sounded like she didn't give a toss. We arranged to meet again at the apartment the next day at noon but nobody arrived. I called and they gave some excuse about the person who was meant to meet us was sick and there would be someone there in about an hour. I blew my top and they changed this to 15 mins. 45 mins later someone arrived. A very embarrassed office junior. We got our money back thankfully, which was my main concern.
I would never recommend such an unprofessional organization to anyone. The apartment was well below the 5 star it was touted as. The staff were completely incompetent and did not deal with our complaints to any proper standard and as regards and apology nobody from senior management called or sent an email to apologise. I know this sounds like a rant but it is exactly what happened. AVOID if at all possible.
Thankfully we managed to enjoy BA and the time in Argentina..a great country.
Martin Byrne, Dublin Ireland
Prior to arriving in Buenos Aries we thought the company were quite professional although i did feel a bit uncomfortable sending the cash deposit to an off shore account.
We arrived at our apartment Serrano 884 on a Sunday afternoon 7th October to be met by a young man in a stained track suit with the TV in the apartment blaring - he was watching the River Plate Vs Boca juniors game and seemed more interested in watching that than checking us in. The condition of the so called 5 star apartment was terrible. All the walls had scuff marks on them, the bath was filthy(black rings in the bath) as was the roof top jacuzzi. The water heater did not work properly (to have a shower you had to turn on one of the taps in the sink - this we had to figure out ourselves it was the same routine if you wanted to wash dishes in the kitchen downstairs). The outside fountain did not work- it looked attractive on the website. The sliding door to the balcony in the upper bedroom did not lock and it wasn't possible to lock it - meaning there was a constant security problem. The drawers in the wardrobe were not usable as the doors of the wardrobe prevented them being opened. The light in the bedroom was broken and the bedroom door would not close properly. The mechanism for the shutters came away from the wall when you tried to pull the shutters down. The bidet in the bathroom leaked constantly meaning the floor was always wet. The kitchen was badly stocked (no can opener - a basic provision) and we found broken glass in one of the saucepans.The only redeeming feature was that the bed was comfortable!
Later that evening the guy who checked us in and who we gave all the cash to($1600 & $800 security deposit)(must say felt very uncomfortable carrying all that cash around) called to say he could not find the security deposit($800) and were we sure we gave it to him. I was furious and assured him in no uncertain terms that we did and that we were going to complain about it.
We complained about all of the above and the only thing that was fixed was the light in the bedroom and the bath and jacuzzi were cleaned..but only just- i had to point to the very obvious black dirt.
We were all mad as hell about it but we decided we would get on with our holiday and try not to let it affect us.
After about a week in the apartment on a Friday evening the toilet blocked up and we could not use it. Thankfully there was another downstairs. We didn't bother calling as it was the weekend, we had another toilet and going on the previous experience we didn't see any point. The monday was a bank holiday so it was the tuesday before anyone was in the office, by that stage the door for the toilet downstairs had come off it's rail and was difficult to open and close.
We called the office and they asked us could we stay in the apartment and they would send someone around. I said we were going out and they sent someone around while we were out. When we arrived back at 5.45pm there were two people in the apartment and we were told we would have to move as the water in the apartment was being turned off. We were due to meet friends at 7pm for dinner. They offered us another apartment on a very busy street (Santa Fe) and others that looked awful. I called my friend who managed to track down a hotel for us. We refused the apartment packed our stuff and went to the hotel, which we were very lucky to get. I asked the staff member of Apartments BA to come and meet us that evening with our deposit and the refund which they offered us and a small compensation(20%) but she refused saying that she had already stayed back in the office to deal with us. I was livid but knew i would get nowhere as she sounded like she didn't give a toss. We arranged to meet again at the apartment the next day at noon but nobody arrived. I called and they gave some excuse about the person who was meant to meet us was sick and there would be someone there in about an hour. I blew my top and they changed this to 15 mins. 45 mins later someone arrived. A very embarrassed office junior. We got our money back thankfully, which was my main concern.
I would never recommend such an unprofessional organization to anyone. The apartment was well below the 5 star it was touted as. The staff were completely incompetent and did not deal with our complaints to any proper standard and as regards and apology nobody from senior management called or sent an email to apologise. I know this sounds like a rant but it is exactly what happened. AVOID if at all possible.
Thankfully we managed to enjoy BA and the time in Argentina..a great country.
Martin Byrne, Dublin Ireland
Oct 31st, 2007, 03:16 AM
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I had already seen your posts on this subject on tripadvisor.com, Martin.
Some comments on your posts, which just represent my personal honest opinion on the subject:
1) I feel readers of this forum would have been better served if you had started a new thread with your experience, instead of adding your comment to an already existing thread.
2) I have also seen you are posting this in many threads on TA. While it is your privilege to do so, I feel it works against your "cause", as some readers may react with a feeling of sympathy towards apartmentsba.
3) I wonder why you titled your post on TA "dcgirl" and a frequent poster on that forum also asked the same question, so far without a reply from you.
4) You say the person who checked you in "called to say he could not find the security deposit($800)". However, even though it sounds as if this problem was solved, I feel you should clearly explain HOW it was solved. Besides, if you had a proper receipt, as I must assume you had, this should never have been a problem.
5) You also say you got back your "deposit and the refund which they offered us and a small compensation(20%)". This is a key part of your review and I don't find it clear enough. You got back your deposit ($800?). Fine. But did the "refund" cover all the days you didn't use the apartment or not? And about the "small compensation (20%)": 20% of what?
In case the above sounds as if I'm defending apartmentsba, rest assured that is NOT the case, as all regular readers of this forum (and the TA forum) well know.
What I'm trying to do is help you to make your review as clear as possible, for the benefit of readers looking to rent an apartment in BA.
When should we expect you back in BA, Mr. Byrne?
Some comments on your posts, which just represent my personal honest opinion on the subject:
1) I feel readers of this forum would have been better served if you had started a new thread with your experience, instead of adding your comment to an already existing thread.
2) I have also seen you are posting this in many threads on TA. While it is your privilege to do so, I feel it works against your "cause", as some readers may react with a feeling of sympathy towards apartmentsba.
3) I wonder why you titled your post on TA "dcgirl" and a frequent poster on that forum also asked the same question, so far without a reply from you.
4) You say the person who checked you in "called to say he could not find the security deposit($800)". However, even though it sounds as if this problem was solved, I feel you should clearly explain HOW it was solved. Besides, if you had a proper receipt, as I must assume you had, this should never have been a problem.
5) You also say you got back your "deposit and the refund which they offered us and a small compensation(20%)". This is a key part of your review and I don't find it clear enough. You got back your deposit ($800?). Fine. But did the "refund" cover all the days you didn't use the apartment or not? And about the "small compensation (20%)": 20% of what?
In case the above sounds as if I'm defending apartmentsba, rest assured that is NOT the case, as all regular readers of this forum (and the TA forum) well know.
What I'm trying to do is help you to make your review as clear as possible, for the benefit of readers looking to rent an apartment in BA.
When should we expect you back in BA, Mr. Byrne?
Oct 31st, 2007, 03:36 AM
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This much seems clear to me
Martin paid dearly for what was billed as a first class apartment offered by a first class rental service, complete with a concierge.
Apartmentsba is known as the Rolex, Mercedes or Ritz Carlton of rental services, offering an alternative for those who might otherwise stay at the Four Seasons or another luxury hotel.
In this case, he would have been better served if he had booked a hotel or saved a bundle of money by reserving an apartment through bytargentina or another less expensive service, offering Seiko, Cheverolet, or Holiday Inn service at a fraction of the cost of apartmentsba.
My own experience with Apartmentsba was very positive, but that was back when the business was a one-person operation run by the founder/owner. One of the challenges of growing a business is to find employees who share the dedication of the owner. In this case, it appears some of the employees are less committed to the mission and business plan than the owner.
I am sorry to hear about your experience Martin, and I was pleased to read that you did not let this experience soil your adventures in Argentina...still one of my favorite places on earth!
Martin paid dearly for what was billed as a first class apartment offered by a first class rental service, complete with a concierge.
Apartmentsba is known as the Rolex, Mercedes or Ritz Carlton of rental services, offering an alternative for those who might otherwise stay at the Four Seasons or another luxury hotel.
In this case, he would have been better served if he had booked a hotel or saved a bundle of money by reserving an apartment through bytargentina or another less expensive service, offering Seiko, Cheverolet, or Holiday Inn service at a fraction of the cost of apartmentsba.
My own experience with Apartmentsba was very positive, but that was back when the business was a one-person operation run by the founder/owner. One of the challenges of growing a business is to find employees who share the dedication of the owner. In this case, it appears some of the employees are less committed to the mission and business plan than the owner.
I am sorry to hear about your experience Martin, and I was pleased to read that you did not let this experience soil your adventures in Argentina...still one of my favorite places on earth!
Nov 1st, 2007, 02:41 AM
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Yeah sorry i should have been a bit clearer with my review but i'm new to the review game and were furious with the way we were treated so i probably should have taken a step back.
The security deposit suddenly 'reappeared' after we complained about the call with absolutely no apology. We did have a contract but no receipt that's why i was worried about the security deposit - i know we should have got one one but we were all exhausted. We did get the money back for the days we did not stay plus 20% of the days we did stay.
DrDawggy is right we paid for a 5 star service and we did not get it or anything close to it!!
Yep i will be back BA is a great city and we had a great time but next time i will not be staying with apartmentsBA. I say it will be a while before we are back it's a long way from dublin! Thanks for the advice
The security deposit suddenly 'reappeared' after we complained about the call with absolutely no apology. We did have a contract but no receipt that's why i was worried about the security deposit - i know we should have got one one but we were all exhausted. We did get the money back for the days we did not stay plus 20% of the days we did stay.
DrDawggy is right we paid for a 5 star service and we did not get it or anything close to it!!
Yep i will be back BA is a great city and we had a great time but next time i will not be staying with apartmentsBA. I say it will be a while before we are back it's a long way from dublin! Thanks for the advice
