February in Buenos Aires
 

In the research stages of looking for a place to go with my husband to celebrate his 65th birthday in late February and wondering what it's like in Buenos Aires at that time of year. I've heard good things about B.A. Might be able to use Marriott points. How is the location of Marriott in B.A.?

It's still a bit warm at that time of the year, but, besides that, it should be wonderful.

You can research the Marriott Plaza Hotel here:
http://tinyurl.com/6dqwgd

It is also mentioned in many trip reports, such as rhkkmk's http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...e-sa-board.cfm

It's the kind of great old refurbished hotel where you can get lucky or unlucky, depending on whether or not you get a renovated room. All reviews and reports consider its location great.

Have a great time celebrating your hubby's 65th in our town.

I have stayed at the Marriott several times...I think I have been in a total of four different rooms. In the style of grand old hotels, Each room was different in size and in how recently it had been renovated.

The Marriott was built at the turn of the 20th century, the first luxury hotel in Buenos Aires...I like it very much, but it is a bit quirky.....(one person's quirky is another's charm and historical character)....

Ask for a room overlooking Plaza San Martin and be sure to tell them you are celebrating a birthday. Do not hesitate to ask for a change of rooms if you are not happy with the room you are assigned...

We've been to BA a few times in February. We have had great weather. Hot and sunny. The city is also slower since many Portenos seem to be out of town on vacation. We have found a pool to be a great thing to have at the hotel at that time of the year. The Marriott has one, but it is very small. Dr's comment about the rooms there are spot on. A few years ago we had one that wasn't yet renovated and that overlooked the backs of a few apartment buildings and could hear the neighbor's dog getting very vocal. We fled.

The Regal Pacific hotel also has a pol, also on the small side, but that hotel is downtown in the MicroCenter. It does have modern rooms and has some good offers often. Have fun, you will love BA.

Great location if your a shopper.

February is great! Our city is deserted... no traffic comparing to the rest of the year. You will be able to enjoy Buenos Aires even more. Like tengohambre said, porteños go on holiday during January and February, that's why you will see many people taking buses to the beach side (Mar del Plata, Pinamar, Mar de las Pampas, Villa Gessel, etc)
The weather is sunny and very, very hot!
Regarding accommodation, Marriot is located on Florida Street, very good location in the Microcentro. However, you may consider other spots like Recoleta. This district is more far away from Florida but still within walking distance and it's more like a neighborhood, whereas Florida street is full of shops, banks... Like soulskier said: Great location if you are a shopper

We've got a trip to BA booked for late February and one of the reasons we're going at that time of the year is because it'll be hot! It's our winter - we want to go somewhere that it's summer!

When you say hot, how hot are you talking about? And it would be humid, too, yes? I would also like to include (as long as we would be traveling all the way to Argentina) a visit to an area where we could see penguins. Maybe Patagonia? Would this be a good time of year to visit Patagonia? And one more question; can you recommend tour companies for day trips out of BA? Thanks.

We are going to BA and all over Argentina for our 40th anniversary mid Feb. We are in the process of booking hotels etc. My kids have been there twice and found a local travel agent who we are also using. She is great so far. Books all the private drivers, hotels,etc. We were going to stay at Marriot but decided on Hyatt to use the points. My daughter in law is from Toronto so your comment caught my eye.We are going to hike the glacier in Patagonia as did my kids. (Only the 45 min hike not the 6 hr one!!!)Going to Salta, Iguazu and Mendoza too.

I just checked some airfares from PHX to BA. Ay, carumba! I think going in Feb is going to be out of the question. We'll have to wait till we can get enough miles for FF tickets. So I'll have to think of something else for February. I still think we'd like to go to Argentina at another time, though, and I'm going to start another thread since would also like to see the penguins.

clove7524: Could you share the name of the local travel agent you mention, so other forum members can benefit from your experience?

Orangetravelcat, we're using ff miles (Aeroplan miles). It meant I had to book really far ahead, but it gives me lots of time to get excited about it. And we're lucky - it's a direct flight from Toronto to BA.

SIT- I think we'll try and plan for Oct or Nov 2010 so we cna accumulate more FF miles.

October / November is a much better time as far as weather .. Spring here is just beautiful with amazing trees blooming and sunny warm days with cool crisp nights.
There will be plenty to do and things going on, which in summer (Feb) there are many people out of town for holidays, and a lot of places are closed or not doing much..

You will have a nice amount of time to research and plan :)

"You will have a nice amount of time to research and plan"

And save up money, Scarlett!

Maybe we can have a BA GTG.

I think October or November would be a wonderful time to visit BA - unfortunately I'd come home and still have to live through the Toronto winter ...... you know, I get 5 weeks of vacation a year and it's just not enough time to do everything I want to do!

OTC, February in Patagonia is top notch. Long warm days and good living.

Orange,
It is way too early to rule in/rule out a February trip based on current airfares for that time of year. As you know, airfares have been all over the map. Last year, if looking at February fares from NAmerica to BAires about 6+ months out the fares were pricing around $1,0000 U.S. Then, a couple months before departure, they were down around $700, or less if you were lucky. I would keep the dates open, for your travel planning, and turn to look at fares in early to late fall, unless you see a great fare deal in the coming months. It is unlikely that hotel reservations will be an issue, and there are lots of hotels in BAires and other ARG destinations. Good luck.

for avrooster from clove7524: I am using Isabel as travel agent. So far she is great. We don't arrive til early Feb then can share more.

Thank you for sharing, clove7524!

Isabel is the independent travel agent I usually recommend in this forum.

You can check her out by writing "Isabel" in the search engine of TA's Argentina forum http://tinyurl.com/nw9f4

Have a great time in our country.

Welcome to my city!! BA is exciting, vibrant and always ready to welcome you. I´m a travel agent very concerned in improving services to our guests. If you like, feel free to contact me at [email protected]. I will be very happy to help all of you. It´s tru, Feb is hot, humid but also empty wich is very pleasant! See you soon!