I've stayed at many Four Seasons and the suite we had in this hotel was amongst the best rooms I've ever stayed in. The food, helpful staff and relaxing spa were wonderful. The room was cleaned and looked after to perfection. I thoroughly recommend this hotel for visitors to Buenos Aires. The location is convenient too and within walking distance of all the major shopping areas and Recoletta.

My wife and I (both near 50 from Atlanta, GA) just returned from Buenos Aires in April 2006. My wife speaks fluent French and very good Spanish. We stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel for 6 nights.

We had purchased the Shopping & Tango Promotional Package for $280 USD plus tax per night. This included the full breakfast for two each morning. (We didn't use the 10% off coupon for Patio Bullrich Shopping Center.)

Our room was even numbered (312, 314, 316, etc and therefore overlooks the front of the hotel or looking onto the main thorough fare and the river loading docks beyond. Not a very attractive view, but for a big city, fairly typical.

If possible, ask for an odd numbered room (i.e. 411, 413, 415, etc) and the lower levels up to say the 4th floor providing the best feel of being in an exclusive neighborhood with the mansion as your neighbor. It is very quiet and peaceful in this area and the mansion is magnificent. This area includes the beautiful swimming pool and loads of fresh towels and beautiful wooden lounges. We never noticed any noise from the pool area; just peaceful bliss.

Our room is what I would call their "basic room". The king size bed was superb with its down comforter, lounging chair & stool, work table, 27" TV, and couple of nightstands plus a dresser. Very tastefully done but not extravagant. Ceiling are 10' perhaps 11' high with some nice crown molding. The room has a Berber style carpet and the walls are sparsely decorated, but again, very tastefully done with a full size mirror included. The room is very clean and feels like "new". The main room size is roughly 13 feet x 18 feet.

The closet area includes a room safe and storage for shoes. Very nicely arranged and classy looking (for a closet). We had to ask for more hangars and no problem.

The bathroom was truly exceptional for this "class" of room. The shower stall is solid marble and roughly 40" x 60" with a big round shower head. This dumps water on you at a fantastic rate. None of this "water saving" mist but a Niagara Falls type flow. Hot water is almost instant and lots of it.

Towels are super thick and they'll give you all that you want. The soap claimed to have 20% milk in it. Sounded good to me.

The bathtub is really oversized and can fit two grown adults with sufficient ease. Deep and wide and again surrounded by marble.

The sink/counter top area was a little small (only 1 sink) and the counter area extends out over the bath tub area making it somewhat inaccessible. Very attractive faucets.

Commode and Bidet in another separate area and surrounded in marble as well. Very efficient exhaust system that was virtually quiet.

Lighting is excellent and has an under the sink light for nighttime use. Very nice and thoughtful.

Breakfast:

Included in our room rate. The buffet is beautifully laid out and includes many choices. Melons (watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, etc). Cereals including hot oatmeal and all kinds of toppings for these cereals, hot eggs, breads, croissants (excellent flavor and texture), meats of ham, bacon, wild boar, etc., cheeses (at least 5 varieties of cheese).

They will seat you and provide you with American coffee, tea or espresso. Orange Juice is offered but they also have melon and "juice of the day" so ask about it.

Waffles are also available but must be asked for along with other hot items. The rate charged for breakfast is 60 pesos per person (ours was included).

Service was very good but not excellent. You will need to wave your hand on this occasion more than at any other time during your stay. It appears the wait staff is less experienced and under-staffed for the number of patrons. They are working very hard and always on the go but generally move with their heads down and rapidly.

The restaurant is just off the main lobby and called Le Mistral. You won't miss it. Very pleasant but not opulent nor extravagant.

Spa:

My wife had an 80-minute deep tissue massage and it cost $95 USD. The spa is very, very peaceful and designed to put you at your ultimate peace. Really first class and very high quality. A top-notch spa and worth the money.

Sunday Brunch:

The Mansion CANNOT be missed. This is where the brunch is held and the opulence of each room is magnificent. The crown moldings in the room with dark paneling is just magnificent. There are guest rooms in the mansion and I can only guess what beauty they must hold. Be sure to look up and around in the room where the buffet is laid out. Take a few moments and calmly place yourself at the entry of the three rooms used for the brunch.

We meant to come back and take pictures during the off hours but kept forgetting to arrange this. They are willing to offer access if an event is not taking place. Put this on your "things to do" list and make arrangements upon arrival with the concierge to gain access. Magnificent photo opportunities that shouldn't be missed.

The Sunday brunch event deserves a high level of dress in my opinion. I wore a dress shirt, tie and blazer. My wife wore a black dress and this seems a perfect match for this location/event. You will see many people walk in wearing t-shirts, jeans but that seems an insult to the Argentine people who built this magnificent home.

The food was very good but below what is should have been. I have eaten better and with greater selections at many other brunches in my life. The meat in my view was the weakest offering and the sausage provided an aroma very unbecoming to me. All of the other selections were very good to excellent but simply not outstanding.

The cost was 252 pesos (tax included) for two.

Service:

Just exceptional throughout the hotel. You will often times be referred to by name. The bellman are excellent and many of them waiting to arrange your taxi, take a look around inside the taxi before entering, confirming where you are going to the taxi driver, and confirming the approximate fare should you ask, opening your door, and simply taking care of you. There is always someone to ask a question to and it will be addressed immediately.

We visited the Sofitel and Alvear and neither of these hotels had the staff greeting or bidding adieu the way the Four Seasons does it. Sofitel had two people out front, the Alvear had two as well. It is very common to have 4 to 8 in front of the Four Seasons.

Concierge:

If you need a taxi while your out on the town, call the concierge or front desk and they will arrange for a Premium taxi to pick you up from your location. This is done quickly and efficiently. All day long.

We arranged for tickets to Teatro Colon through the concierge. You will pay a premium for the tickets but if you read my posting on Teatro Colon you'll understand why.

Arrange your dinner reservations through the concierge to obtain the very best service from that restaurant. The "Four Seasons" name carries tremendous weight with the best restaurants and venues throughout the city. Far greater influence than handling this on your own.

I am hesitant to recommend their restaurant choices. Here's why. The very best restaurants in town are all pretty much housed in competing hotels. Le Sud, La Bourgogne, Tome Uno, etc are all in various hotels. They generally steer clear of these when you ask for choices.

This hotel will simply do just about anything to make you happen 24 hours a day. The attitude is very friendly and welcoming. This was not the case at Sofitel nor Alvear which ignored us or held their noses really high at our presence.

Communications:

They provide a cell phone for local use. Ours didn’t work for two days but they finally allowed us to use the business center phone until ours was fixed. This phone comes in handy when needing to call a cab. Our bill ran 109 pesos for three days and it was used sparingly. They do not post the cost per minute so be judicious in its use. A very nice feature to have however.

Charges:

They had added a breakfast charge to one of the days and removed it after questioning. They also quoted different seats/ charges for the Teatro Colon tickets so be sure to check your bill. Also they don't always state whether things are in pesos or US dollars so make sure to clarify on purchases. Their menus are little unclear on this so ask.

We spent 4 nights here before heading to Ushuaia to board a cruise. From the moment we arrived it was the essence of hospitality. Even a traumatic momemt of being stuck in the elevator was made less traumatic by a staff who seemed to know just how to handle everything. From the effusive cleaning lady who used tortured English to express sincere appreciation for a (what we though was) small gratuity to the extremely knowledgeable conscierge staff, service was outstanding. The location is excellent & cabs are very reasonable. It's close to a small shopping mall (near Caesar Park Hotel 2 blocks away) which has an above average "food court" if all you want is a light, or inexpensive, meal to take with you, or eat there. If you're looking for "export tango", we enjoyed the Astor Piazolla Theater.

We booked our stay at the hotel with our TA who is a Virtuoso agent, so we had a couple of extras thrown in.

There's not really much to say about this property that other reviewers haven't already covered. But I had to add my endorsement as well since we have just returned from a 3 night stay there and we can't think of anything that could be improved about the place. The location is great, easy taxi distance to most anywhere you might want to go. The rooms are large (we had the smallest room category and it was completely adequate). I had requested a high floor with a view when making the resrvation and we were put on the 12th (top) floor with a full city view. The bathrooms are luxurious marble with a large tub and the world's greatest shower (seriously). The staff, which is enormous, learned our names upon arrival and always addressed us by name throughout our stay. We had one small problem with the air conditioner (it wasn't geting quite cold enough) and after they fixed it very quickly they sent us some complimentary chocolates for our inconvenience. You will not be disappointed if you choose to stay here.