I will be in Buenos Aires in January 2010. My girlfriend will be leaving earlier & so I will continue to stay on in Buenos Aires but alone so safety & location are paramount.
Please oh wise fodorites,if you could help me re accommodations in Recoleta.
I have been looking at 2 places & welcome your input: there is the Art Hotel & the Recoleta Apart Hotel(Guido St). In terms of location and safety ,which would you consider first? Would anyone have any other suggestions-I do want to keep my costs as reasonable as possible and of course,location is important.
Many many thanks

Yes, you made a great choice of barrios. I've stayed in Recoleta on two of my four stays while I've been in Buenos Aires and have felt very safe while walking.

As for as your immediate neighborhood is concerned-- send an email to my private independent guide who lives there; run it by him. His name is Marcelo, and his web address is: www.ciceroneba.com.ar. I think he has a place at his site for one to write to him and/or send an email.

You and your friend just might wish to hire him to give you a tour for orientation. He was such a superb guide and professional young man that I told him that I would recommend his services to others. He gave me the go-ahead signal; I "get nothing from this monetarily," just smiles when others have appreciated what he has rendered!

Although I now feel comfortable meandering throughout Buenos Aires on my own or with my traveling friend-- I plan to engage his services when I return to this city in October of this year!

I hope this helps!

Hello Eddwarm and a big thank you. The Art Hotel is located on Azcuenaga & the Recoleta Apart Hotel is on Guido-both in Recoleta. I am hoping that someone here can advise me as to which one or if theyhave something else in mind in this area.
I'll get in touch with Marcelo.THANKS

Good air conditioning is important in January, pattysuericia.

You don't say how long you are staying. How about renting an apartment, if you are staying at least a week?

Hi Avrooster-Thank you for your help. That's a marvellous idea and you're absolutely right-air conditioning is essential.
I would like to rent an apartment as I'll be there over 2 weeks for sure. I would like to rent in Recoleta-do you have a suggestion please??

I can't choose for you, Patty, so I have to suggest you do some more research on the subject. The Recoleta and Palermo are both good areas.

There is A LOT about apartments, both here and on http://tinyurl.com/nw9f4

After you do that, you can ask more specific questions and we can help you better.

Don't worry, you'll have a great time in our town.

Hi Avrooster-yes,I narrowed it down to Recoleta. I will rent for 2 weeks in January so air-conditioning is a must. Having an elevator is necessary for me as well as something that is quiet. Has anyone heard of Ulises Recoleta Suites on ayucucho?
thanks

An elevator is standard here, so no problem there. Quiet is another matter, but car traffic is below average in our town during January, so our town should be less noisy than at other times.

I cannot answer the rest of your questions, because I am a local and, therefore don't know much about hotels or short-term rental apartments, except what I read here and elsewhere.

However, I expect other forum members will be able to answer those questions.

Avrooster-thank you for your input-I appreciate it.

pattysuericia:

My wife and I were in Buenos Aires for about 5 weeks last Feb/Mar and stayed at the Art Hotel for our first night.

It was fine. We were warned that the rooms were small, however, we only wanted to sleep there and spend our time sightseeing in this wonderful city.

We had an apartment that was just fine. At that time the rate was $700 per week and $1700 for a month. It was a two bed room duplex unit with 2 1/2 bath rooms - no waiting. Friends said it was on the high side, but they are not tourists so I feel that their comment is unfair.

The economy was going to hell long after we had made our arrangements and I expect you should be able to do better than we did.

The apartment meant that we were near to living as at home and I would certainly go that route again.

I hope this is of help.

Woodie

Hi Woodie-thank you! Can I please ask you what the Art hotel charged? Is it well-located as I will be alone then(and will be walking around by myself)?
Your apt-was it in the Recoleta area? Please excuse me with all these questions-I appreciate the help. Which company did you use to rent your apt? Again-many many thanks

pattysuericia:

I recall that the Art Hotel charged us around $100US for our one night. We had Argentina Escapes book it for us and I feel that we got a better rate than had we booked directly. In addition, I feel that booking through an agent locks in the promised reservation better than for an individual.

If the hotel dishonors an individual, well it is one person that they get a bad name with. On the other hand if they do that to an agency, they stand to miss a lot more business.

Art Hotel was good. The location was very good and our apartment was only a few blocks away.

Following is my opinion of our apartment with reasons that both satisfied us and that we were not happy with. But i hasten to add that one will NEVER find perfection, so take the following as only my opinion.

Apartment rental in Recoleta

We rented from www.discoverba.com contact Alfredo Candal at [email protected]

I will post the pros and cons so you can decide for yourself based on my experience and your own research and gut feelings. Perhaps others can also give their comments on this outfit.

The Pros:

For early February into mid march 2009 we paid $1700US for the month. Compared to a hotel this is very reasonable. We did not have to pay a large damage deposit, $300. I paid the deposit, $300 by credit card. Another company wanted $1800US cash damage deposit which would have meant my cost for exchange, Canadian to US and then back to Canadian again, plus carrying that cash around in addition to the rent for all our travel beforehand.

We rented the unit referred to as Rec 05. You can get the advertised details on this apartment from their web site. It is a 2 bed room duplex unit. That is, it is on two floors with the stairs inside the unit. 2 1/2 bathrooms with a small washroom close to the entry. Great because we would wash our hands when ever we came home.

Located 1 block from La Heras. Here it is away from heavy traffic but close enough to get around quite easily. The unit is rear facing which was fine with us. We prefer as quiet as possible and Bs. As. Is a very noisy city.

Lots of buses and taxi are readily available.

Wide screen TV and a DVD player.

Air conditioning in every room. We only used them when we were in the apartment. Electricity has become very expensive so if we were out, we did not want to waste unit resources.

The unit is close to good grocery shopping but be prepared to walk a few blocks. The good news is that the larger and therefore outlets with the best variety will deliver for a nominal price. And wonderful bakeries and small stores selling fruit and veggies too. Actually too wonderful, I still have weight to lose. Lots of good restaurants nearby.


Full fridge with a good sized freezer section.

Full size stove with oven.

Coffee maker and kettle [we did not use the kettle], small microwave.

The “table” is in fact a room divider and is solid, unlike one we had at one time with Apartments BA that was so shaky I was afraid it would fall down. The divider table was narrow, less than 2 feet wide but not so bad to be unlivable.

Our neighbors were a young couple with two small children and for the 5 weeks there, we heard them once in the hallway during the day. They were extremely quiet.

We had a problem with the answering machine at first but that was quickly resolved.

One feature of Discover BA that I greatly appreciated was Alfredo’s willingness to drive us to the AMEX office where we could cash cheques to pay our rent.

We left home on January 8, 2009 and went to Quito. From there we went to the Galapagos, back to Quito, to Lima, on to Cusco and Machu Picchu, to Puno and Lake Titicaca, then back to Lima before arriving to Bs. As. at the end of the month.

I did not want to carry US dollars cash to pay our rent all this time. I got my best rate for American dollar AMEX cheques at home and could cash them at AMEX at 1% fee if I took US dollars or 0% fee if I took Argentine Pesos.

Alfredo drove us to AMEX and I paid him in peso right there. I did not suffer any exchange nor was I subject to carrying cash anywhere.

My wife and I try to travel safely so you can understand that I greatly appreciated this service.

The Cons:

Our unit looked over another building which was quite close. We were on the 6th floor and that building roof must have been at the 5th floor. After a short while, that roof was renovated into an outdoor barbeque and recreational area.

The Friday night after it’s completion, they had a barbeque with loud music and screaming that lasted until 04:30 AM. I had already been asleep when their party started but it woke me up, and I do not hear well. In fact, I need hearing aids!

The building had one washer and dryer so getting to it was no easy task. These machines require coin but coin in Bs. As. is hard to come by so save yours.

There was no phone book so we asked for one but got only the white pages. I could not look up stores and places according to category. One had to have a name but being a visitor, I knew no names.

The wide screen TV had no English news channels. There was an odd movie in English but I missed getting the news. I was particularly keen to know what Obama was doing in his first 100 days. I do not travel with a computer but nearby outlets at about 1.50 peso per hour gave me access to Google News so I was not entirely out of touch.

The maid service, once per week, was very poor. One time she did not change the bed linen. My wife called DiscoverBA and was told to wash it ourselves! Our contract was to include weekly maid service and not a do-it-yourself arrangement.

One time we came home and the maid was just finishing. She dumped the dirty floor water into the kitchen sink. Well, my wife then washed the sink after the maid left. Good service in my mind does not mean clean up after the maid and my wife would not wash our fruit and veggies in that dirty sink.

Inventory was listed on a sign in sheet but not reviewed when we checked in. On check out it was not reviewed then either. I requested that Alfredo sign that he received the apartment in good order which he did.

Garbage disposal was in a can behind a dark doorway, no light so one of us had to hold the door open to allow the other to see where they were going.

The kitchen knives were very dull but I have found that to be the case everywhere and carry my own.

The phone would not allow cell contact. DiscoverBA mostly received calls by cell so we had a hard time reaching them.

Hot water was sporadic.

There was no doorman as advertised.

Conclusion:

Expecting perfection is a dream. Reality is that the apartment was quite comfortable, well located, away from heavy traffic so most noise was not a problem [other than that bbq].

Am I sorry that I went to Rec 05? No.

I have tried to be as honest as possible on my comments of this unit. DiscoverBA have other units as well.

Overall we were mostly satisfied.

Woodie

Thank you, pattysuericia for getting georgewoodie to tell us all this!

Could we hope for a great trip report from you, George?

I certainly hope to meet you upon your next stay in BA, George & DW!

I missed you this time, because first I was away from town and then you were very busy, as you seem to have many friends in BA!

Could we set a meeting date right now? Just kidding. I'm not big on planning ahead, which is why I missed you this time. LOL!!!

Woodie-you're a gem!! I'm leaving for Toronto -just a few days but when I get back(on the weekend) I'll be able to take my time to read your most thoughtful input!
THANK YOU and thank you again!

I am very glad to post our experiences but hope that I do not discourage anyone when I note the "not so great" aspects of our experience. Reality is that nothing is 100% perfect and to expect that will always result in disappointment.

I do not like to be surprised and decide what is acceptable and what is not. Then I find that I am mostly satisfied.

This and other travel forums is a place to discover those facts and having received much good information, I owe similar reports.

Please temper my comments with your own needs and expecttions.

Woodie