My wife and I recently stayed at Casa Bolivar, and were very impressed with the quality of the rooms, and the service we received the entire time we were there.

We arrived at around 11.30am and were very pleased to be offered breakfast, even though this usually finished at 10.30am. We stayed in what I am sure was the largest apartment, which made us feel like we were in a home rather than a hotel. The rooms are decorated in a retro chic style, and are fun and clean.

There was secure access via magnetised cards, and our room door was also lockable. Free internet access, guide books, all day coffee and a pinball machine were great additions, as was the cell phone use.

The cultural streets of San Telmo were only a very short walk away, with the shopping areas of Florida and the undergound in easy walking distance.

We enjoyed numerous evenings out only a few blocks aways from Casa Bolivar and never felt unsafe in any way.

The staff on site, especially Gabriel, went out of there way to help us in everything we did. This including the booking of restaurants, Tango shows, taxis, and most important of all, they organised for an item we had purchased to be mailed back to New Zealand. This was actually done once we had already left the hotel!

We will definitely return to Casa Bolivar one day, and will recommend it to our friends.

I don´t understand why this place is getting such a high-placing in the reviews! My wife and I booked in for a week, but promptly left after our first night.

The first reason we left is that our street-fronting apartment was extremely noisey - too noisey, in fact, for our usually sound-proof earplugs. So, contrary to an earlier review, even if you bring your earplugs, you still won´t block out the traffic noise, if you get a street-facing room. And, if you think you may want to relax in your room in the middle of the day ... forget it!!

The second reason is that the location appears to be really bad, run-down, and not safe. Their website says it is only a "15 mns walk to the...heart of San Telmo". The problem is that, at night time, we were told by a number of people never to walk in the area and always call a taxi first.

There were some other minor problems with the room, which may not trouble too many people. But, given the feeling of arriving and your taxi driver saying "You´re not staying here, are you??", it does not bode well when you find there is no safe in the room (nor one in Reception - which, by the way, is only open til 1pm at the weekends), and although the outer doors are secure, the inner doors could easily be tampered with.

Other than security/noise concerns, the owners have a strange system of asking you to sign a contract, pay in advance, and leave a deposit for the duration of your stay. Now, that´s fine if you are sure you will be staying for the full duration, but that system does not allow for you changing your plans after a couple of days. It seems like they are trying to run a cross between a "serviced apartment" and a "rental apartment".

They are nice French guys, but only at it a year or so. I don´t think they have quite figured out their target market yet !!

We loved our stay at Casa Bolivar. The rooms were wonderful. We stayed in two. I particularly loved the Contemporian studio. It's so well-done with beautiful and practical design. The other room (Vintage) we stayed was also great, but I prefer my bed to be on the same level with everything else. The Vintage room however is much more spacious. Everything was great at Casa Bolivar. The owners were so wonderful and helpful - they helped us with our travel, stored our suitcase for a week long and on top of that loaned us a cell-phone while we went outside BA (and helped with many more). They were so nice and trusting. Thanks so much for a great stay and your wonderful hospitality.

Bolivar is run by the two French owners, and there service was just exceptional - would easily beat that of the concierge of a 5 star hotel or a tour guide. They literally help us plan all the activities and booked reservations for us.<br><br>

Building itself is old colonial style mansion - definitely with style and class. The owners renovated the interior deco and gave it a modern design taste. We stayed in two rooms and both rooms were clean, spacious and comfortable.< br><br>

Only downside was that hot water starts get lukewarm after about 15min of shower with full capacity. But, if adjust by not turning the hot water tap all the way, it's not a problem.

There's really nothing much you can ask.