In corresponding with a travel agent in BA, I was told that many of the newer hotels, especially in the Palermo district, are not properly licensed. The Travel Agent said that the "licensed" hotels and boutique hotels they deal with do not meet my budget of about $175.
I have not read anything anywhere about looking out for licenses. Even the Fodor's guide book does not mention it.
Hotels that I am looking at that seem to meet my budget goals are:
Palermo Suites, Malabia House Palermo, Ayres de Palermo, Art Suites, Tryp Buenos Aires. Looking at their web sites, I can't tell if they are licensed or not.
Is this licensed thing something I should be looking out for?

Trip Advisor has a lot of posts with good information on licensing of hotels in BA. I excerpted this from 1 TA post:
"The only reliable sources to check if a hotel / B&B/ boutique hotel is licensed are:

-the Buenos Aires offical website: www.bue.gov.ar,

-the hotels' associations websites: www.aht.com.ar and www.ahrcc.com.ar

If u go to TA and google hotel licenses u will find a lot of additional information in many posts.

We stayed at Miravida Soho (which is licensed) and I believe with the 10% discount they did for paying in cash, u could stay under $175. I believe Malabia House is licensed also. U could always email them and ask. Travel Agents don't always work with the smaller hotels/B&Bs. I am sure there are a fair # of places u could find that are licensed and in your price range. U can book online yourself with them. Good luck!

There is a Buenos Aires local, named Marulandia who posts on TripAdvisor Buenos Aires forums. She works in the industry and can tell you if a particular hotel is licensed. You can ask this question there if you like.. she is extremely helpful on those boards.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum..._District.html

With the tourism boom it is true that there are more than one hotel, b&b and even so called "travel agents" that might not be licensed. Everything is fine unless something goes wrong...

Hi, BillJ!

I saw you have not received, so far, a reply to your similar question on TA.

I imagine Marulandia, one of their "destination experts" must be on holiday, because she is certainly an expert on the licensed vs. non-licensed subject.

I feel a place can be licensed and not so good and non-licensed and great.

The only real advantage of a licensed place is that, IN THEORY, if you have a problem, you have somebody you can officially complain to.

Yestravel correctly states that "Travel Agents don't always work with the smaller hotels/B&Bs."

IMHO, what you can read in the forums is a much better guide about the quality (or lack of) of a hotel than its licensed or non-licensed status.

Have a great time in our country.

I agree with the above statement...and read the comments of travelers who have stayed at different places along with reviews written by travelers, of which I've even written a few reviews on places.

I don't know if the apartment building, that I just stayed at, in BA was licensed or not, I just know that it was a great building. Happy Travels!

Thanks, all. I think in general TA's have a problem booking the smaller hotels in that they don't get paid enough, or perhaps not at all. Have the same situation in Europe and French Polynesia.
I don't blame them, nothing wrong with that; they need to make a buck or two to stay in business. It is what it is, so I will haunt the boards and look for deals with the hotels I have selected. Thanks again.

I am no expert but as the former owner of a boutique hotel in the US, let me tell you that to operate a hotel in the US we had to be licensed and that meant a lot of things: fire sprinkles and protection against fire, exits duly marked, elevator under severe control, everything related to neatness, cleanness, products used to clean and keep everything sanitarily
acceptable, etc etc. A proper insurance in case someone fell or was hurt in the premises is mandatory ...etc etc I imagine it is similar situation in Argentina ,obviously if the place is NOT licensed all these requirements might or not be in place.
The same thing with Travel Agents, and this I believe is easy to double check, if they have a licensed I believe that they are bonded like in the US. They are someone that can be responsible and that will most likely respond in case of a problem, in case of a denied refund or things like that.
The big question is which hotel or Travel Agent that is not licensed is going to let you know that they do not have a license>?
I guess it is up to each person to take the risk.
.

Graziella

Information about whether a hotel is licensed may or may not be found on the hote;'s web site. If not, Licensed hotels are listed in one of the web sites linked earlier in this thread.

hi drdawggy,

You might wonder why the subject of non licensed Travel Agents and non licensed small hotels is dear to my heart. Simply because I know how hard it to keep up with taxes and BUREAUCRACY when you have a licensed business. Even here in the US is hard , I do not wish to imagine in Argentina ¡¡In our casein our hotel in the US on top of everything we paid
Federal , state, and city taxes and on top were taxed also for the construction of a Convention Center... in Argentina I know that smaller Travel Agencies are punished by the system in many ways. In this particular business the Government , I understand ,taxes up right the money paid for a package through a credit card like Visa or Masters and obviously the travel agent gets only a tax credit for the part of the payment that they have to channel to hotels and transportation. So although I can sympathize for the entrepreneurial spirit of those free lance TA or improvised little hotels I feel it is very unfair for those paying all taxes, license fees ,plus those amazing social fees to employees and so forth. That is why, let me expand myself, that in Italy for instance, you can see a huge beauty salon with no employees, only the owner. The system is difficult to navigate.

I am a tour guide in Buenos Aires and I worked for a travel agency until last December when my baby was born and I am a full time mom now.
I can talk from my experience and in my opinion it is very important that a foreigner knows where to stay at. In Palermo and San Telmo there are many boutique hotels and B&B which do not even have a sign outside. This is very suspicious! All the hotels must be licensed and must have a sign outside. This proves that the hotel has a legal operations permit and that it has undergone rigorous sanitation and safety inspections, same as it happens in other countries including United States of America.
I always found surprising why many foreigners didn't care about this when they travelled abroad but they cared a lot in their own country. The hotels without a relevant license are unregistered businesses so contrary to your impression, the commission that they offer is usually high and very attractive. This is because they can't use the legal marketing channels to promote themselves so they need to attract and retain travel agencies. I think this is a problem that affects the countries where the travel industry is boosting but you can protect yourself by doing good research and relying on experienced people.

"The hotels without a relevant license are unregistered businesses so contrary to your impression, the commission that they offer is usually high and very attractive. This is because they can't use the legal marketing channels to promote themselves so they need to attract and retain travel agencies"

R u saying the unlicensed hotels generally use travel agents in BA to get business?