2002-2004 WSG Reports

Dazzler warning.

This may not apply to anyone booking through Utell. We stayed at the Dazzler the first 2 nights in BA. Quote price upon check in was $50 us for our double.

Upon check-out, they were trying to charge 267 pesos per night when the rate should have been about 175 pesos. I called them on it, but they insisted that the 267 pesos equaled $50us. It was my friend's credit card and he went ahead and paid the amount (over $75/night). Dazzler definitely rates a rip-off award.

There are too many other deals in Recoletta to stay at a place that tries to rip-off tourist.

Even booking a place at the last minute from Mar del Plata, we got a 1300sq. ft., 2 bedroom apartment in Recoleta for $70/day. One day rate was $80 and extended stays would probably be $60-65/day. James Bond told me about this place and it worked out very well.

Address is parera156 (www.parera156.com) and Silvina is the manager. 2 doormen. The afternoon doorman, Pablo, (1pm-5pm) speaks fairly good english. With advance planning, you can get better deals, but the apartments are nice. James Bond can tell you about the larger 1800 sq ft. 3 bedroom apartments. Location is on parera between Alvear and Quintana. It is across the street from one of the Kempinski Hotels. Geography is not my best area, but the apartments are about 3 blocks from Shampoo. I walked home from Shampoo my last night in BA.

Also stayed 4 nights in Bel Aire hotel. Nice hotel, clean rooms and good staff. Most of the staff does not speak english. Room prices are in pesos and are posted at the check-n desk. Price of our double room with a large bathroom was $146 pesos ($41-42/night). I Was not hobbying during that stay, but it is probably chica friendly. One night I went to the internet room. The gentleman using the computer was looking at the Area-Vip web site. Enough said. The hotel is popular with Argentinians, so using discretion for any hobbying activities would probably be a good idea.


More information on hotels outside of BA in a later report.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BA_ROBERT
[i]jamesbond,

You wrote that apparment is much cheaper than the hotels. Iam curious. How much cheaper. What about the standard of these appartments? Better, the same or worse?

[/i][/QUOTE]

I stayed in the Diplomatic Suite at the Etoile, a sensational room, underpriced for what you get at the Mayri discount of about $66/day or about $85, if you factor in my average mini-bar bill (thanks to Delores, who loves to raid it upon entrance) and telephone bill, high because I used it to connect to the internet on dialup at almost a peso a minute. As I mentioned before the Etoile has a policy of no chicas under 21 and no twosomes, as you have paid for double occupany, not triple occupancy. The big perk of the Diplomatic Suite is the oversized jacuzzi, which BA_Robert knows well, and the Health Club on the roof, which has a heated pool, a full exercise room and aerobic classes with model level amatuer chicas. Also the breakfasts that end at 11am are great (the breakfast opens at 7am, about when I go to sleep.) And the staff is GREAT. You can leave your laptop, digital cameras, even money on the bureau and nothing will be taken.

My total bill for the hotel for the month was a whopping $2,500, high but around the same for my relatively modest one bedroom apartment in Manhattan.

Now Johnguapo rented a two bedroom modestly furnished apartment with cable tv, balcony, telephone, kitchen, living room, fairly good security, since the room locked from inside and the entrance had an intercom. The apartment faced the back of the Etoile, that is, it was on the same block. Space wise my suite at the Etoile was probably a third bigger.

His total bill, $1,000 a month plus telephone and whatever he bought to stock his for his kitchen.

Was the room and the perks better at the Etoile? Certainly the Etoile was better.

Would I rent an apartment when I return to BA. Probably I would.

PS
Mayri tells me that the rates at the Etoile will come up in March.

$2,500 US a month is too much for any where in Buenos Aires in my opinion. I just leased a luxury apartment that is just a few blocks down from Black's. I'm renting it out to a VERY selected group of guys that I either personally know or have been referred by other guys that I know. I'm renting it for $1,000 US a month and I think it's much nicer than the Etoile. I stayed at the Etoile so I know what I'm talking about. Also, as is mentioned many times there are too many restrictions at the Etoile and other hotels. That is why I got my own place.

I'm providing a link but I'll probably take it down after a week or so. I just want people to see what they can get for a month at less than 1/2 the cost that you'd pay at the Etoile. Please do not email me about the apartment unless you personally met me or you know one of my friends.

I know other guys like Jackson rented an apartment there also for 2 years. I'm in the process of renting more. It's not as easy as you'd think renting apartments in Buenos Aires but now that I have a Buenos Aires address and met several people it's getting easier.

Good luck.

[url]http://hometown.aol.com/saintofba/index.html[/url]

Hi I mentioned on my posts on short stay hotels the other hotel nbext to my hotel has some kinky chicks living long term. I figure at these residencials lot of working type and sleazy girls. I frank beer with Werndy the other day her Korean boyfriiend pays her whole rent. Wendy is a sweety. I wish I could of banged her that night. Hey also I think the Big Titted Girl on floor 2 where I am at ios single. This dump for 4 bucks for two rules,Safe Not totaaly clean but no roaches or bugs not too noisy a fucking deal for me. Yeh Me and Juan leave then sunday 7.30 PM To Mendoza to change for a bus to Santiago or Valparaiso directly. Oki Man My friend is bnugging me and I am buzzed from drinking Mar De Plata Beer Kick ass and now I am drinking Bordolino White wine for less then 2 pesos What A Deal. Ok I now wait for fat Bastard and Havana Man to call me. Tommorow is the day You Dudes call me E Mail me or make a post here cagain I am staying in san Telmo at Ave. San Juan 818 The phone number is 4307- 4749 Ask for my friend Juan Carlos Muro Ok..... Yeh He is bugging me now. I think we head to see a HM Co9ncert tonight I will try to look for Schneider and Brahma Beer And Tommorow I shall hiit the sex Club in flores on Ave. artigas near the 7000 block of Rivadavia 50 pesos to enter with two free drinks.. They have two private rooms to fuck and I think a Public orgy room. FB and Havana Do you want to accompany tommorow Call Or E Mail me ctw30@hotmail.com or wipy1999@yahoo.com Sunday I am gone. I should be up my 2 Pm Tommorow and gone by 3 to shop at Florida and Lavalle. Juan said I am telling my life story now. Ok We Must Go,,,,,,,,,, NIBU R...........................

Hi,
I'm still looking for a place to stay while I visit BA from February 7 to February 24. Since I haven't recieved any responses to my queries on the Buenos Aires page yet, this is a repeat message. I am attending a school located at Avenida Eduardo Madero 1020 (near Puerto Madero)...anybody have recommendations for this location (a little over two weeks duration.) I've sent e-mails to Apart Recoleta and Hotel Crillon (both are chica-friendly,) and received cost estimates of U$S 680 and U$S 1400 respectively. I'm looking for a more convenient and perhaps more cost effective. Any suggestions?
thanks,
ER

el ricardo...

have you tried any of the apartment reservation services? alojargentina.com, bytargentina.com, or argentinago.com (Mayri's site)....there are other sites...do a search on google......costs are almost always much lower than hotels for longer term stays and several offer apartments in Puerto Madero.

If you are a member of AAA the Holiday Inn Express offers a rate of U$D48 per night, plus tax. This hotel is very near your desired location....also, try the Lancaster Hotel on Cordoba in the downtown area.....rates are very negotiable at this hotel.

You can get about the same rate at the Howard Johnsons Plaza on Florida if you contact the hotel directly........

buena suerte!

Thanks EZY,

Yes, I have some queries out to a couple of services that were suggested by High on Hobbying (alojaargentina and one other.) I've heard back from one of the services, and they would like between U$S 800 and U$S 1000 per month plus 10% commission. Both apartments sound really nice (designed for 4 person occupancy), but I'd like to find something for 1/2 the time period. I've sent a note back asking if shorter times are possible.
Stay tuned!
ER

ER, Most of the apartments can be rented by the week or even by the night....but the rate may be lower to rent for the month.....I usually spend between $200-300 for the week for a nice apartment.....Here is the url for another service:

http://www.bytargentina.com/

Also, if you have not tried argentinago.com (Mayri), that is where I suggest you begin.....she is great to work with...............

Met up with Andres last night for dinner and ice cream. Very good guy. I hope to meet up and hobby with him later in the week. I showed him both my apartments. He seemed to like them. Here is my second apartment if anyone is interested. I might get another one before I leave in two weeks.

I've met up with alot of business contacts here that know Americans so it's been nice.

http://hometown.aol.com/saintofba/libertad.html

Just booked my flight to BA for the 12th of Feb and was wondering if anyone knows anything about the Design Suites as seen on the Argentinago.com home page? LIke are they chica-friendly? Clean, safe, the usual. Really appreciate all the info I can get.

Just a little review of The Dazzler, 902 Libertad, corner of Paraguay.

PRICE: Booked a junior suite with sitting room for $34 (double occupancy; I registered Norma Jean Baker as the second name and then when I checked in I just said she had been delayed a bit. No one gave a shit) on Travelocity. When I got there, they said no rooms with sitting area were available. I wasn't sure if they were jerking me off or not and I was very tired so I wasn't sure if I was explaining myself well in Spanish. I had not brought the website printout that said suite but only had the e-mail confirm with the rate. I did not feel like pushing it as I was favorably impressed with the lobby, bar area, free computer (only one though, but it is very fast), etc. and did not think I would be doing that much sitting anyway. But then when I checked out and the rate morphed to $41, I asked for the manager. He said it is tax. I said, more than 20% tax? He said 19%. I said my math skills are good: (41 - 34) / 34 < 20%; about 20.6% in fact. Then I brought up the fact that I was supposed to get a sitting room and I said that my Travelocity print out said the rate included tax and it was in the trash can in my room if he cared to look (bluff). He lowered the rate to $34 total, no problem, and I said OK, now I will recommend the hotel to my friends but otherwise I would have told them not to stay here. He is very anxious for more spending, tipping Americans to stay here vs. weekending Argentinians. His English is good.

ROOM: 8th floor (I had requested a high floor when reserving and again when checking in, as I always do) and at the end of the hall so 50% fewer neighbors to annoy with moaning and screaming (the girls are even worse, ha ha). Nice big bathroom with clothesline, bidet, and good water pressure. Double closet with mirrored doors and plenty of wood hangers (wood is much better if you have nice duds which I don't). Good view of the park. Minibar (I think the beers were 4 pesos or so), dresser, one uncomfortable chair. Hell, maybe there were two chairs. I don't remember. Decent lighting. VERY GOOD BED. This is important to me on a trip of any length over two nights. It was very firm and was a true double bed. AC had two levels and was adequate even in the major heat wave that was occurring; in fact, the high level is too high to leave on for very long. The switch claims there are 3 levels but there were not. 19" TV I never touched and a radio with 2 or 3 staticy channels that can be controlled from the bed. The lights can be controlled from the bed too, which was handy. Excellent housekeeping and they leave the AC on when they leave, unlike many hotels which train the maids to turn it off to save money. 1 of the 2 maids I saw was doable and the other was 65 and all bent over (I'm OK with the bent over part but 65 is pushing it).

STAFF: Excellent rating. I didn't really like the guy who checked me in but I never saw him again. The two female desk clerks I saw were quite nice looking; one with lighter hair spoke very, very good English although I refused to speak any English to anyone there at any time, and one with darker hair spoke good English and thought my Spanish was very good or was polite enough to say so, anyway. One other guy was taller and very sharp looking, but his English was merely passable. Bellhop Mario spoke excellent English due to living in Oz for a while. Another very tall bellhop was very friendly although his level of English is unknown. Third guy was sometimes bellhop and sometimes worked at the breakfast buffet. I think his name is Mauricio. He was zit ridden and somewhat sullen and did not seem to appreciate me hitting on the two other breakfast gals who were doable. One is named Marianna and has rosy cheeks but a somewhat receding chin. The other is tall and friendlier but I don't recall her name. They were receptive to flirting, the tall one more so, although I never got around to actually asking them out or anything.

FOOD AND BEVERAGE: I never tried the restaurant except for the free breakfast. I have a policy against eating meals where I am staying unless of course it is included in the rate. Breakfast is: scrambled eggs that I never tried but they looked good and were replenished often (I don't eat eggs that are not cooked to order); nasty looking fatty bacon that my female guests thought was great but I avoided; two types of "medialunas" or croissant, one sweet and one not; fresh squeezed OJ, coffee, warm milk, cold milk, and a variety of teas for beverages; cold cereal; cut fruit consisting of apples, grapes, oranges, and ??; Wonder-type wheat and white bread for toast, disappointing; cold ham and Manchego cheese; whole fruit in a bowl, apples, pears, and bananas. I think that's it. I tried to eat enough every morning to avoid paying for lunch and was reasonably successful.

I only went to the bar once, although I have no policy against that. Bartender Gustavo is a great guy and well understands the needs of the male to screw many women. Happy hour is 2 for 1 on a featured drink each day from 9-11. It was a screwdriver the night I was there, with fresh OJ, in a tall glass, mixed about 50/50. I was completely sober when I walked in there and completely buzzed after 2 of those fuckers. 10 pesos. Other specials I remember from the card in the elevator were gin and tonic and martinis. I bet two of Gonzalo's martinis would fuck you right up. Don't really know his level of English but I think he does speak it fairly well. He has all kinds of girls hanging around him.

LOCATION: Less than 1 km to Suipacha with Hooks, Ness, etc. A long ass walk to Recoleta, though, maybe 4 km. I like to walk. Maybe 1.5 km to the Florida mall. About 4 blocks from Subte stations Tribunales (D line) and another one on another name by Marcelo T that I disrecall. 2 or 3 blocks from Avenida Santa Fe and one longish block to 9 de Julio. Park is great with lots of shade and I went in there at night plenty of times. People are sleeping/living in there like in all the parks in BA right now but really the only issue is a lot of dog shit. Maybe not the most convenient location if you are too old or fat or chicken shit to walk but cabs are cheap.

CHICA FRIENDLINESS: 100% if you register for a double room (which allows you to offer breakfast to your chica if you do a TLN which is not my thing). The elevators are right by the door but even though I told my repeats just to come straight up, they did not. Whether they were intercepted or didn't try I don't know. They just call your room and say so and so is here; should she come up or do you want to come down? The chicas appreciated not having to get the third degree. Some guys may say that it is good to have the chica register and leave her ID, and I see their point, but I don't give a running fuck and can take care of myself. Any chica who can find my money stash in the time it takes me to piss has my grudging admiration and I never have any camera or lap top or anything to steal so why fuck with it.

DRAWBACKS: I guess not getting the sitting area, but it made zero difference in my stay. Minibar could be a bit colder. Bathtub drained slowly, although not ridiculously so. One time they didn't leave me a fresh bottle of shampoo and maybe twice (I stayed 10 nights) they did not replace the half used bars with fresh ones but I think that is sort of stupid anyway. Poor radio reception could have been a mood killer the one longish session I did but that was with Maria the human vacuum cleaner and I would rather listen to her tongue vibrating on my dick than the radio anyway.

8 for quality, 9 for value. I would stay there again for sure. When I was checking out, the darker haired girl was checking me out and asked me how I enjoyed my stay. I said it was great. The lighter haired one butted in and said, "Well, you certainly weren't lonely!" with a big shit eating grin.

DH

loco......yes, Design Suites is chica friendly. clean and safe. Location, slightly out of the center of action. Rooms smallish but stylish.

I agree that the Design Suites is nice and the staff is the best. The only problems I've had there was that the walls are paper thin. I could hear the phone ringing in the next room and I could hear their conversations. As I posted back in November....the lady next to me could hear me every night. I'm sure I kept her up all night with my amigas.

Not good. Also, on several different occassions their internet connection downstairs was down. I was just there a few weeks ago visiting my friend and he kept typing long emails only to have the service go out. He was frustrated. But the staff there is great.

I've always used Mayri (mayra@argentinago.com) to book a room for me when I stayed there. She always got the best rates as I think she is personal friends with the owner of the hotel. Also, she booked several of my friends and one that had a problem she got him upgraded to one of the bigger rooms for no charge. She simply is the best in the business!

I covered this in my recent post in the Buenos Aires section, but it bears repeating that I was very happy with the everything about the accomodations at Hotel Dazzler, which I booked through travelocity.com.

Compared to the Etoile, it is like the Four Seasons.

-Uncle Otto

Uncle Otto,

Just sent an associate there based on the recommendations of yourself, DickHead and others. He is paying $30/day and reports it is top notch and very conveniently located for business in Centro.

Thanks,

BB