I just returned from a vacation in Buenos Aires. We had two rooms at the hotel and stayed for 6 nights. We had asked for adjoining rooms as the hotel advertised that they were available on its website. However, we were assigned rooms on different floors. We told them that this was unacceptable and they finally gave us two rooms close together on the same floor, but they were not connected rooms. The rooms were a nice size and they had the usual amenities. The hotel is centrally located and is close to many restaurants.
August is winter in Buenos Aries. The weather while we were there was between 50-70 degrees, not cold by North American standards. When you turned on the air, only hot air would come out and it got incredibly hot in the room. We had to keep the air off and open the window in order to have air circulating. The only problem was the noise from the open window. The traffic in the city is very heavy and there are always people on the sidewalks.
The linens are very hard, poor quality. The maids did not replenish the supplies. They failed to re-stock the toilet paper and did not give us washcloths after the first day. We had to call down many times to get the right items. If you stay here, be sure to hang the do not disturb sign. I forgot to do that some days and the maid came right in without knocking.
If your coming to the city on business or to visit someone, I suppose it's o.k.. I would not recommend this hotel if you're a tourist coming for a vacation. There is no concierge to help you plan trips or to give guidance about the city. The front desk can book tours, but they will only book through one tour company, "Traveline". We booked two tours from them and they were horrible. The guides were not knowledgeable and they used small cramped buses. Also, the hotel quoted a certain price for the trip, but when the tour company picked us up, we were quoted a higher price. I'm not sure what was going on here. When we asked the hotel if they could book us tours through a different tour operator, they were unwilling to do so.
A buffet breakfast was included with the price of the room. It was the same everyday. They had a good selection of fruit and juices and assorted breads. They had a small selection of yogurt, cereal and cheeses. They had scrambled eggs which were runny and undercooked, bacon which was virtually all fat, and potatoes and sausage.
Buenos Aires: If you're considering Buenos Aires for a vacation, you may want to think again. I consulted many articles and travel books before I went and was truly disappointed once I got there. There is simply not much to do in this city. Hardly any museums or interesting sights to see. Travel books I read compared BA to other European capitals, but I found a real lack of culture in this city. I've vacationed in London, Paris and Amsterdam and no there's no comparison. Buenos Aires is very congested, full of traffic and polluted. The streets are littered with trash. Also, there are homeless cats and dogs that just roam and city's streets and parks.
