Seeksocean- If our flight leaves late, then make sure you ask your hotel if they will allow a late checkout and if so what is the EXACT time that you can have the room until. AND make sure that if they say it's OK for you to check out late, then make sure that they aren't going to charge you for it.

I made my reservation, to stay in Soho, at the end of my 8 days due to the late checkout that I've been told that I can have. I have the e-mails and will be taking a copy along with me to make sure that things are clear when I get ready to check out. Have it in writing.

Some places charge half of a day's room rate for late check out,while others expect you to pay for a whole extra day. Others will sometimes extend late checkout by a few hours as my apartment building did. The checkout time was to be at 11AM, but the check in time at my hotel, in Recoleta, wasn't until 3PM. So, for free, my apartment building extended the check out time to 1PM, and with no charge. It's only a 20-minute taxi ride to Recoleta.

So, you need to be clear when you reserve. So try to find a flight that leaves Buenos Aires early and leave for the airport 3 hours before your flight is to take off. Hope this has helped and will save you some money. Happy Travels!

Not to belabor the Home Hotel... But my experience with both the Mine and the Home is that, first of all, they grow in you while you stay there. When I walked into both of them, my first reaction was, "what's the big deal?" With Home in particular, the pictures beforehand did not really turn me on, but we had decided we wanted that barrio and a small hotel, and two years ago the options were limited.

I can tell you from experience at staying at both places, is that something happens while you are staying there, and you just really get into the whole feeling of the place and the design esthetic.

I also know that the breakfast at the Home Hotel is really a special experience as is hanging out by that pool. Just a real oasis.

for the record, I am middle-aged.

Staying at these hotels is not like staying at a chain or a large hotel. They do have their foibles, like very little storage at the Home Hotel.

And, I did tell seeksocean about the bar noise at Home, and to be careful not to get a room over the bar. ours was overlooking the street - no noise; our friends over the bar -- noisy.

it may have been longer than 10 minute walk. I can't remember. but half hour sounds too long. crossing the RR tracks did feel a bit skeezy.

I have heard that there are alot of restaurants and a growing number of shops around Home now, so if seeksocean stayed there, they might only end up heading over to Soho once or twice anyway. I am sure they will be busy going off to other barrios and sites anyway.

Sorry this post is so long, but having actually stayed at both hotels, I did want to set the record straight on our experience.

To be perfectly honest, Mine attempts to imitate Home, and doesn't quite get it as good. I communicated with someone on TA who had recently stayed at both, and she said that if she had only stayed at Mine, she would have thought it was fantastic, but having stayed at both, she preferred Home, and would have built her next trip around staying there

Anyway, this is all much ado about nothing since you will be perfectly fine no matter where you pick, Seeksocean. We were very happy at Mine, and there are also a ton of other new boutiques in Soho.

I guess I just wanted to vent.

Whenever I travel I am like you and spend alot of time planning out the hotel. It's tough when there are alot of good options!

Guenmai:

I am with you! I lived thru the mid-century/Danish modern look and don't need to see it again.

That is what I loved about the Legado Mitico. The interiors were stunning. Be sure to stop in when you are in Soho.

Wow! Thanks! I can never thank all you enough. I have to say that all my Fodors research really pays off...time after time...country after country. I have stayed in remarkable places and seen remarkable things. I hope to see more!

I know there are forums on other sites like Tripadvisor, but I just don't have the patience for more than one of these.

I am really glag that I have the late check-in info now, as well. Thanks again!

This is for a sense of location of Home Hotel. Mott Restaurant at 4685 El Salvador is located in the "heart" of Palermo Soho to my way of thinking. Home is located at 5860 Calle Honduras. 12 blocks.

Weekender- I lived in Denmark, for 20-plus summers ...1973-1993 and then 2003 and 2004.

I also had my bungalow, here L.A., area, done in Danish style. I changed the style as of 2000 to S.E. Asian-style as I had had many decades of Danish style. Smiles.

Seeksocean- I'm sure you'll be fine wherever you choose and who knows how many other properties will pop up before you leave. I hear Buenos Aires is every changing. The property that I've booked is new and I can't even find any reviews of it.

Also remember that taxis are quite inexpensive in Buenos Aires. I took a lot of them. From my apartment building to the Hotel Alvear in Recoleta, took about 20 minutes, and cost less than 18 pesos. The exchange rate, as of Dec 19th, 2008, was 3.38 pesos to a dollar. It did go up to 3.4 pesos to a dollar while I was there. So, around US$5.30 for the ride.

According to my journal, in which I write every thing down, the taxi ride from Palermo Soho back to my building in Palermo Hollywood, on the day that I had the walking tour cost 8.50 pesos (US$2.52).

Just remember to only take Radio taxis. There's a box on top of the taxi and the words Radio Taxi are written on the side of the door. These are supposedly safer than the many random taxis that you will see roaming the street. However, the day that I was with my guide, he flagged a random taxi, but he rode back with me to my apartment building where I was dropped off.

And don't try to pay the taxi fare with anything bigger than a 20 peso bill. Also, since there is a shortage of small change, numbers are rounded off a lot. The taxi meter is located at the top, right side of the taxi, up where the visor is located. At first, I couldn't find it as I'm used to taxis in Bangkok where it's located below the radio area.

According to my journal, I took around 12 taxis and never paid more than 20 pesos for the ride and that 20 pesos was because I just rounded off the fare by 1 or 2 pesos. I also took two remises, but that was from and to the airport. Hope this has helped. Happy Travels!

To my way of thinking... Mott is still firmly located in Palermo Viejo.
Plaza Serrano is where you can say the heart of Palermo Soho is.
Of course, there will be someone else with another opinion on this but it is all a matter of a few blocks from one to the other and basically, remember, it was all just Palermo at one time, before they "broke" it up into sections. We walk everywhere here and if you are at all used to walking, you can easily walk everywhere in this area... we started out on Santa Fe in Palermo - walked in throught P Hollywood and ended up in P Soho one day..

Instead of counting blocks to this spot or that, in my opinion, you are better off figuring which area you would most like to be In.. and how far from the railroad tracks you want to be. That is my criteria.. those tracks are not safe even in the daytime.. really.

Taxi rates start at $3.80 now .. might go up again soon.
Bus and Subte rates are going up very soon.

seeksocean, I have an idea for you. If Home is still of interest, but this thread raises some concerns, why don't you go to TripAdvisor and send a private message to some of the people who wrote reviews there with your questions?

When we were there two years ago, the RR tracks weren't unsafe, but it wasn't a pretty walk.... You definitely cross the tracks to get to the Soho part.

skatedancer, 2 years ago when we moved here (to BA) a lot of places were less "iffy" .. with hard times came more desperate people.. around those train tracks- there have been people robbed at knife point in the middle of the day as well as other scary stories.

wow! That's really too bad. I would definitely opt for the hotels in Soho then. It is so wonderful to stroll around there!!

If you're going to stay in Palermo Hollywood, then just take a taxi to Soho! I wouldn't walk that train track area. I'd rather dish out the US$2.00 or so for a taxi than risk being robbed walking in a shady area. Happy Travels!

Thanks for the great suggestions. Don't forget that we are a grup of 6...maybe 8 now, so everytime we take a taxi, it's a bit of an ordeal. We were offered the Mine with vat tax for around $200 a night during a peak time. It was more than I had hoped to pay, but for a few nights, I'd rather pay a few more bucks and have a great experience. I figure that when we venture out of BA, the rooms could be cheaper.

The Home was still waiting to give us a rate...I was hoping they'd be cheaper.

Good idea about getting opinions from TA posters.

Thanks all you, for caring so much and posting. I really appreciate it!!