Hotel Embajador - Buenos Aires - good location?
 

I'm considering buying a package deal to Buenos Aires - RT airfare from NYC, all aiport transfers and taxes and six nights in the Hotel Embajador for $599 with a $200 supplement for being a solo traveler. Seems like a good deal and Virgin claims that it's a three star hotel but I've been unable to find reviews anywhere.

Location is Carlos Pelegrini 1181/85 "in the 9 de Julio Ave " and "close to the elegant Santa Fe Avenue". The hotel is then described as tourist class.

My needs are that it be clean, reasonably up to date in decor and either in a very convenient neighborhood or close to good public transportation with a short ride to points of interest. Coments on this property or suggestions for others will be apreciated.

I know the location of this hotel and it is the business center of BA, close to Gallerias Pacifico, a shopping center. You are not far from Recoleta, maybe a 20 minute walk from the cemetery. I can't comment on the rooms, however. But, I can tell you that BA hotels can post as many stars as they want to advertise their hotel. So, the hotel may have 3 stars, but may be a 2- star hotel by British standards. I wouldn't protest too much, though, at the price of of $799 for almost a week in fantastic BA.

I stayed at The Embajador last month and highly recommend it. The room was clean and comfortable and good size overlooking 9 deJulio, although the bathroom was teeny tiny but again, how much time does one spend in the bathroom? The staff was very helpful and breakfast was very very good and substantial. Its location was terrific and I walked to Recoleta Cemetery as well as to San Telmo for Sunday's antique fair....felt safe no matter time of day or night. Enjoy! Buenos Aires was beautiful!!!

I can also get the mericas for an extra $50 (total extra for the six nights). Not much more money but they are claiming to be standard class rather than tourist class and also directly in the recoleta barrio rather than near it. The description of the Embajador sounds as though it will meet my needs but location is important - better access to public transport and adjacency to restaurants etc. is desirable. Anyone familiar with the des las Americas? It is also on the 9 de Julio Ave.

Part of the first sentence was dropped. The alternate hotel is the Hotel des las Americas.

De la Americas Hotel (it is in Retiro, not Recoleta) is closer to Recoleta from Embajador by about 3 blocks, which is not much. It is, however, one block from the high street of Av. Santa Fe. This is a very nice shopping street, lined with cafes and restaurants.

I never quite know when I am in Retiro, Recoleta or the more inclusive Barrio Norte. Even Argentinos tell me different things about where one ends and the other begins! Travel agents and realtors seem to have the broadest definition of Recoleta, probably because they are trying to rent/sell me something and Recoleta has more prestige than the other areas...lol.

The Hotel de las Americas is on Libertad...in the same block is the Americas Towers, owned by the same people. The Towers is nicer than the hotel if you have it as an option.

p.s. I am going to BA in December...my airfare alone is more than the package price you have for hotel plus air! You have a good deal....

HI, drdawggy, We are also going to Bs As and Chile at the begining of December in our case we paid less than Owen package deal for our tickets.
Do you get your tickets at a wholesaler?, that is the way to go....do not get impressed by package deals, think prices are for people sharing a double room.
So considering Owen case, he is paying 799, is it including all taxes?, ....which we do not know, in my book he will be paying 300 dollars for a six night stay which brings it to 50 per night.
Which is probably the rate of the hotel, ....I am sure he got a good deal from his point of view, I do not like packages because I hate to pre pay, I like the possibility to be able to change anything on situs.

I am flying from Atlanta. I checked with Carbone Travel, since they usually have good fares...but this time it was less expensive to buy off the American Airlines site....still not a bargain though....which consolidator do you use?

Am going to BA the week of Feb. 22nd was thinking of the Chateau Park, Park Plaza or Etoile and thinking that time of year waiting till I get there to get Hotel. Any thoughts; any one

I used Vista Sudamerica in Miami.

Does Vista Sudamerica have a web site or 800 number? Also, do you get air mile for tickets purchased with them? What airlines do they use?

I plan to have lunch with Cintia and her husband during my December trip! Maybe you and your husband could join us?

Chi, I always reserve a room...even if I check out after one night and switch hotels....but since February is still summer, finding a place should not be a problem....Do you like to swim? If so, look for a place with a pool. It will be warm in BA.....

Hi drdawggy,
their phone number 305 266 3029
and email is..??I shall get it and post it later.
I guess they are wholeselers. Yes you get miles, they use all airlines.Personally I use United,American or Lan. I like Lan a lot.
As you know prices vary from day to day sometimes.
We shall be in Bs As a few days because we are going too to the South of Chile and Uruguay. But of course it will fun to meet with Cintia. She has been most helpful to us. We agree that Wowargentina does a fine job.

Vista, email is
reservations@vistasouthamerica.
com
I use them ONLy for air tickets they want to sell also the hotels but I prefer to do it with Cintia. I made all land arrangements for Chile and Argentina through her.

Thanks Dr for the thought. Whats your take on my choices of hotels?

I'll try to address all... FYI here is a link to the Virgin Airways page that has the package deal. Not even sure who really puts this together as I have seen the same deal through other folks like Gotravel.com - the only thing that changes is the logo at the top of the page. Virgin doesn't even claim that they fly you on their planes - it's listed as "on available carrier" or something to that effect.

http://www.virgin-vacations.com/vav_sa.asp

I've never purchased a package or even had a travel agent make arrangements other than air on my previous travels inlcuding trips to Belize, Mexico and Ireland.

The price for staying at the Embajador and departing from NYC area is $799 including all taxes and yes that includes the single supplement. The best airfare I could find was $652 but it would probably top out at about $700 with the extra international fees tacked on.

I recently relocated from NYC area to Syracuse (a four hour drive). For an extra $100 I can fly direct from Syracuse on this deal. Airfare alone out of Syracuse or nearby Rochester is about $800. Des las Americas is an extra $50 for the six nights and the Americas Tower is available for an extra $140.

if I can swing the righ deal for airfare I'm inclined to book it myself but the best deals for airfare seem to be out of NYC or Miami. The added cost of getting to either of those seems to negate the advantage.

Let's suppose I can get a good enough airfare deal to justify driving the four hours to Newark and paying $11 per day for parking (vs. $2 per day to park in Rochester and a 75 minute drive to reach the airport). What kind of hotel can I get for $35 - $40 total per night (US $)? Again.... I see the disadvantages of packages but this one is tempting.

Off topic - I'm thinking of taking Spanish language immersion classes while in BA - package of ten 45 minute private classes (two per day) is $160. Is this a fair price and can any of you recommend a reputable language school?

For $35-40 you can get what is generously called a three star hotel in the Congreso area.

Wonder if you bought your ticket. We bought the same packag from Virgin and are using the same hotel. It is close to the subway and about 10 blks from the infamous Florida St.
My only one word of advice is ifyou plan on extending your time and going to other countries and Brazil is one of them. You should get your international ticket into Brazil and not AR. I ti s very expensive to fly domestically within Brazil which is a huge country and they have one heck of a deal with the Brazillian Air Pass (which although "AR claims to have a similar deal-it really does not). The BR Pass if bought before you leave basically gives you flights anywhere within the country for around $100 US a flight. We bought the package iwth Virgin which is a heck of a deal and then went bankrup buying domestic tkts in Brazil. to qualify for the pass you must be flying internationally into Brazil.
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