I've waited over a year after my stay to write a more objective review. The hotel is well situated at the edge of the Recoleta District near highway. There was construction under way during our stay. We reserved and paid for a deluxe room, but were assigned a standard un-renovated room eye and ear level with the nearby highway. When I complained about the room assigned, they agreed to move my wife and me to a deluxe room on a higher floor on the second day. Suprisingly, when I showed manager my written reservation and rate for the deluxe room, he stated that most rooms are the same configuration. Then why pay more for a deluxe room, I asked. No reply.

The climate system was not great. Rooms, even in April, got stuffy. You can't really sleep with window open since you'll hear the highway noise. Room size avarage FS. Bathroom very clean, but slightly dated, even with renovation. Bed was comfortable with nice sheets and pillows.

Front desk staff very proper but stiff. On the other hand, the maintanance man and housekeeping staff were incredibly attentive and nice. Housekeepers always kept rooms in perfect order with all amenities replenished.

Room service [the one time we used it] was prompt and person cordial.

Suggetion, tip the housekeeping staff for a more pleasant stay. The made absolutely sure that my wife had everything she needed [and she does not speak spanish].

The hotel has new and old wings. The older wing provides a nice seating area. But it appears to be used more for parties and to facilitate the suites therein. The breakfast served in hotel was extremely avarage, certainly not FS quality. The restaurant however, had a very nice club feel.

During our stay, the hotel was occupied primarily by Americans and other business persons. Which may explain why they penny pinch you to death. Everything costs exorbinant amounts by BA standards [and USA standards].

Again, location is okay at best. The new Park Hyatt is certainly in a better location off of Posadas. The Alvear Palace is in even a better location, but it looked tired and old [and is sometime way too expensive]. We visited someon in the Ceasar Park, and it seemed nice. May try CP or Park Hyatt next time.

If you're in BA, try food at Cafe Munich near the Recoleta Cemetery. Good food, and great crowd [mostly older BA residents].

Catastrophe upon check out. We had a 10pm flight back to USA. We checked out at 5pm and went to gather our passports and valuables from hotel safety deposit box. Key was nowhere to be found. Was informed that it would cost US$100 to drill open. Under the circumstances, and with no options, I said fine I'll pay, even though to this day, I do not think I was provided with a key to the the box [stupid of me I know, but its the truth]. Front office person said that they had to drill a box open at least once a week and they would have the box open in 5 minutes.

The same maintanance man that fixed our first room went into the office and for the next two & half hours sweated away trying to open box. When I say he sweated, I mean real sweat. He must have broken 5 drill bits and wore no gloves or eyewear to protect himself from the metal shards. Finally, at almost 8 pm he got box open with the help of one of the front door men. The front desk staff was sweating bullets throughout. I tipped the maintanance man and front door man $50 each and left for airport to make flight. We luckily made the flight, and got through a horrendous security line, with minutes to spare.

In all, I do not think that the the FS BA is worth the money. There are better choices in and out of the Recoleta District.

We recently spent a week at the Four Seasons in Buenos Aires. The service was excellent in almost very aspect. The one complaint about the stay was that the spa was under repair which required the use of jack hammers. The noise was deafening even eight floors above in our room. In a top notch hotel such as the 4 Seasons one would expect some prior warning of the week long repair effort. When I inquired at the front desk , the response was "it's noisy, you need to deal with it. It's not our problem".

Notwithstanding that problem, the staff was professional and in general more than willing to make the stay a positive experience.

The location of the hotel is perfect---in La Recoleta. Several excellent restaurant are in La Recova which is across the street.

After one week we moved to the Park Tower which has excellent facilities. However, the staff has no idea about the concept of consistent high quality customer service. Given a choice between the Four Seasons and the Park Tower, we would choose the Four Seasons every time---even with jack hammers included.

I stayed here, while taking a course, for 15 days. It was my first stay at a Four Seasons and I now know why this chain of hotels has such ardent fans!

The service was exemplary - nice touches like fresh fruit each day, a cellular phone charged and ready for local use, yummy Occitane smellies in the bathroom and a vast room (ask for Lake view, although the view is nothing to write home about ...) with oodles of space for me, my clothes and the suitcase of shopping I managed to accumulate. Staff were professional but friendly, the restaurant was nice (but go outside for a good, better-priced meal and better wine choices) but the real gem was the gorgeous gym with excellent cardio machines, each with their own screens and headsets and an equally impressive spa with Balinese touches throughout (that said, it's hard to justify paying US$85 for a massage when the room per night is just $50 more).
Tried the Mirasol, over the road from the hotel. Unimpressed. Much preferred Piegari, which is equally close.

The location is great - it took me about 25 minutes each day to walk to the Calle Florida and beyond, to take classes and the window shopping each way made it a lovely walk. Loads of antiques to wistfully gaze at. Recoleta itself is the upper-class (hanging on to pre-crisis niceties) apartment area of the city (there are others with stunning homes close to the Malba (museum of modern art)) and I suggest a stroll around to see some gorgeous architecture, a drop into Buenos Aires art, a Saturday or Sunday meander to the park by the Recoleta cementery (where you know who is buried) which has artisans galore selling great trinkets and "stuff" you don't need but can't leave at those prices ...

I shopped enough to reverse the 2001 crisis, and have some suggestions from 15 days of searching - feel free to email me for a few tips, but here's a sampler: yes to handbags and leather jackets/coats made in a day; no to shoes if you are anywhere close to a size 40 (9.5 US womens size) or over; don't be disappointed if you are a US size 10 and have to purchase XLs and above ... they are small folks down there.

All in all, would highly recommend. I didn't have time to do so, but given an extra couple of days would have headed over to the Four Seasons in Uruguay (a boat ride and cab ride away) which looked stunning too.

My teenaged daughter and I tried three different hotels in Buenos Aires during a weeklong stay, and the Four Seasons was definitely our favorite. It didn't hurt that they upgraded us to a suite for no particular reason, but there were so many other things that made the stay memorable. First, everyone in the place seemed to know our names and treated us like VIP's -- not fawning but with genuine kindness. We felt welcomed wherever we went. In the business center we checked our e-mail at no charge and were offered fresh juice, tea or whatever we wanted to drink. While watching TV in the evening, we heard a knock at our door and found someone from housekeeping with a tray of fresh fruit, popcorn and cold drinks. Again -- no charge. We felt very pampered in the ladies locker room and loved the pool. Room service food was excellent and not overpriced. The suite itself was elegant, quiet and comfortable. The bill was comparable to what we had paid at other high-end hotels, and we received a very nice note from the manager once we returned home -- inviting us back. I do hope we're able to take him up on that offer some time soon. By the way, if you're heading for Buenos Aires, consider a side trip to Iguazu Falls. It's magnificent. Argentina's main airline offers regular jet service from the domestic airport. Stay at the Sheraton -- right in the park -- and you can walk to some of the most beautiful scenery anywhere.