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staying at art suites...dealt direct with them...excellent english...was all in for a standard room for 60 per day taxes included because of my extended stay. Asked how they felt about bringing in guests and they said point blank"what you do is your business"...how's that for Chica friendly...check in is 6/5...out 6/25..will be on lookout for postings of WSG members to monger with...yabba
I'm also staying there, 6/10- 6/21. I'm setting up details now. I haven't posted here before and don't really know how to make contact, so feel free to clue me in.
Saint--
Two things--
1) I can tell you all about the Hotel Manantiales in Mar Del Plata.....I highly recommed it. If you are interested I can send you an email or post my experiences here.
2) I think it merits you repeating exactly how much you paid in PESOS per night for your room at the Etoile in BA. I need some clarification just so I know if what you wrote isn't a typo.
Did you say 60 pesos per night? (That is $18 US Dollars approx)
If that is the case--then there is no greater Hotel value in all of world wide hobbying.
Aside from the bed--the price, the location, the staff, the girl policy--all add up to make it an incredible value.
I think I paid around $60 US Dollars per night at the Etoile--but I forget now (everything was so goddman cheap down there that I threw pesos around like a drunk soldier on shore leave.)
BUT 60 PESOS IS INCREDIBLE!!!
Lemme know--Thanks!
umgman...when you arrive at art suites ask Lucia at the desk what room yabba is in and phone me or leave message...we can monger around...I will clue her in that I am Yabba and awaiting some buddies.
Hi Larry. YES, I'd definitely like to hear exactly about that hotel you stayed at in Mar Del Plata. Please post or better yet email me at saintofba@hotmail.com I'd love to meet up with you sometime in BA. Sounds like we have similar tastes in girls.
** I didn't know I made a typo. If so, I apologize. NO, I paid around 155 pesos + 21% (approximately $60 US per night) for an executive suite at the Etoile. It will never get down to 60 pesos a night..LOL. If so, damn the crappy beds...I'd book a room and buy a new bed for the room.
Hopefully I don't talk anyone out of staying at the Etoile. What Larry said is exactly right. The location doesn't get better. The staff was incredible. The rooms were big but the decor wasn't the greatest. The only complaints I have with the Etoile to be fair is the beds in my opinion were really bad, the shower doesn't have a full "shower curtain", no alarm clocks or clocks in general, no radio, and no need to eat there. The staff was so good I would recommend that place in a second.
Yabba, please let us know exactly how your stay is at the Art Suites. I'm staying either there or the Design Suites. I'd really appreciate an honest assessment of the rooms, staff, etc. there. Thanks in advance.
Has one of the Argentina expert an experience of the new Four Seasons hotel in BA ....in fact, my question means : is it guest friendly ? :)
Thanks in advance.
LAL, Saint, Shiny and other BA pros... I've never been to BA, but I'm in the process of setting up a trip for late-Sept/early-Oct. I normally stay at Sheratons or Marriotts, unfortunately they haven't adjusted their rates to reflect the devaluation. OTOH, the hotel that citydude mentions, Plaza Francia, sounds and looks pretty good.
HOWEVER, since never I've seen a citydude post except to push this hotel, I worry that this is a self-promoting tout. Does anyone have any experience at this hotel? I'm most concerned about the quality of the facility and guest friendliness.
CA Traveler!
I got to tell you something CA--the situation in Buenos Aires when I was down a few months ago was such that I could basically walk into any hotel in the city (except the Alvear, the Sheraton or Hilton) and negotiate a great price. So that means that you might want to book a room for a couple of days in a reasonable place and then spend an afternoon inspecting various hotels in BA until you find one to your liking.
You pretty much can't go wrong. But it really depends on what your hot buttons are. Price? Location? Girl Friendly? Softness of the beds!
The Hotel Castelar will charge you around $25 US dollars for a small room in a grand old 4 star hotel. $50 dollars will get you a much bigger place.....It's located in the center of the city on Avenida de Mayo. and has a Turkish spa in the basement. It aint the Ritz but for the frugal hobbiest--you will be just fine. The staff is wonderful and understand your every need.
BUT I REPEAT: The best value in the city has to be the Etoile if you take everything into consideration....My good friend and partner The Saint had a legitmate complaint about the bed being too hard; I'm sure if he had wanted to break balls he could have switched rooms. But from the sounds of things, The Saint was too busy with other more important concerns to make a serious issue.
Let us know your budget and we'll try to steer you in the right direction.
Saint--
I will send you an email soon on MDP....I gotta set up a new email account since the only one I have now is shared with the wife.
CA Traveller,
I wish I was a Buenos Aires pro. Very far from it. I'll try to answer your question as best as I can but keep in mind it's only my opinion. As far as that post, I also agree that it could be a self promoting post. I always wonder when someone posts information yet they don't provide any details.
Maybe Jackson or any other guys that have been to B.A. several times can better answer your question regarding that hotel. I have no information on it. I didn't come across it and don't know what part of town it is in. What you might want to do is go ahead and book it if it's in the part of town you wanna be in. I'd also make another reservation for the next night at another hotel. That way if you don't like the room you have only wasted one night in that hotel.
I believe the LoiSuites will take a reservation without a credit card number but you might want to double check with them. A lot depends what you're used to. I'm like you... I'm used to staying in Marriott or Sheraton quality hotels. If you are used to that than I can tell you now that you're probably going to be disappointed with some of the rooms in B.A. with a cheaper price. Sometimes what you pay for is what you get. With all the good choices in BA, I wouldn't shell out American type rates for a room right now. There are tons of good quality hotels for a decent price.
The other thing you need to do is email the hotel. Ask them what part of town they are in. What their guest policy is. Go ahead and tell them you have "female friends" in B.A. and you want to be able for them to spend the night. Ask if there are any problems and what their rules and procedures are. Then when they answer, print it out and take it with you in case there are any problems. I've found that the majority of hotels I emailed were very upfront and honest regarding their policies.
Personally, I wouldn't shell out the money to stay at the American owned hotels. Too many good choices in my humble opinion. Hope that helps. Good luck.
P.S. I just posted this about 1 minute after Larry posted..so I'm adding this to his statement. He is 100% correct. The Etoile is in a GREAT location. No means a 5 star hotel but the staff as I mentioned several times is the best! I also complained about the beds but I'm very picky with beds and have a back that gets sore easily. I would suggest you do the same thing. Book an Executive suite or the best suite there for a night or two and if you don't like it just switch hotels.
Either that or email me and I can give you the name of a girl in BA that speaks English. I'm sure if you tipped her she would walk into a hotel for you and negotiate a very good price since she is a local. (Locals tend to get the best rates on everything).
Price increase at Etoile? Here is the email I just received from Maria:
Dear Sr,
Etoile Hotel appreciates your contact.
The rates are the following:
STANDARD ROOM: $198 PESOS + TAX ( 21% )
EXECUTIVE SUITE: $225 PESOS + TAX ( 21% )
DIPLOMATIC SUITE: $250 PESOS + TAX ( 21% )
INCLUDES AMERICAN BUFFET BREAKFAST, ACCESS TO THE HEALTH CLUB AND FREE
PARKING.
If you need any further information, please contact us.
Best regards,
Maria Julieta Maldonado
Reservations Department
Marie just reconfirmed the higher prices at the Etoile, even after I mentioned the quote she gave Saint a couple of weeks ago. I guess all good things must come to an end.
Just my 2 cents on the hotel situation in BsAs.
I agree with everyone about the Etoile. I stayed there last month and everything was perfect except the f--king beds, which gave me a backache.
Last week I stayed at the Ulises, which was okay but I didn't like the game where they wanted to quote the rate in USD.
I'm going back to BsAs next month, and I just received an email from Loisuites wherein they also quoted a rate in USD inspite of the fact that I specifically asked for a rate in Pesos. I just sent them an email advising them that if they come to the US we don't quote our hotel rates in Pesos, Reals, Marks, Yen or any other currency except USD because that's the currency here.
The absurdity of all this is easily illustrated by considering a reverse scenario. Imagine for a moment that the dollar was falling in value against the Japanese Yen. Would American hotels start quoting rates to Japanese visitors in Yen? Would local, state or the Federal Government permit hotels to perpetrate this kind of arbitrage against tourists with the hope that their bill would convert into more dollars when they checked out as opposed to when they made their reservation? Would sophisticated Japanese travelers tolerate this obvious discrimination and insult on their intelligence? The answer is NO on all counts.
They're playing a game here that I don't like because I suspect that businessmen from Argentina are getting rates in pesos, and at a lower price. I don't want to play by the hotel's rules. Right now with the strong dollar I get to win, but you can bet that if the dollar starts to fall they will start quoting rates in Pesos again.
Another issue I have with the hotels is that they've been "less than vigilant" about updating their websites with new USD rates. Many of the websites still have the original Peso=USD rates from last year, figuring that many international business travelers aren't cognizant of the difference today.
What galls me about all this is that their mortgage, and thus their mortgage payment, was converted into pesos last January, and their other expenses, which are also paid in pesos, haven't gone up that much. Certainly they aren't paying their employees more, so this game of displaying the former peso price as the current dollar price, or quoting prices in dollars, is just a windfall for the owners of the hotels because they have a lot of international guests who don't know any better.
Anyway, I can play this game too, usually by negotiating at the front desk while my taxi waits out front with his motor running. However, I also suggest to everyone that in your emails to the reservations desks that you start protesting these USD rate quotes and start insisting that you get the same prices quoted in pesos as the local businessmen and visitors.
I wholeheartedly agree with Jackson. In the grand scheme of things the hotels can charge what they want but we can decide if we are going to frequent them or not. The hotels try to charge as much as they can based on their perception of how stupid they think we are. (And the reality is that many travelers are stupid, could care less about money, or their companies pay all expenses so they don't care).
Always ask for a rate in pesos no matter where you are. This is specifically why I stress to pay the girls with pesos if at all possible. By paying or asking for quotes in dollars you are only reinforcing the fact that they shouldn't be accepting pesos.
I think it all stems from the fact that the government royally screwed the Argentines and now the businesses are out to screw everyone else and get the most they can. In the short term they will make more money but in the long run they will lose out to other hotels with better customer service. That my friends is the same no matter what country you are in.
Also, for all the guys emailing me asking for information...take the time to go back and read all the information that other members and myself have posted. Most of the questions you are asking are all found in past reports that are only less than a month old. If people take the time to post, Jackson takes the time and money to host the site and not charge you a fee, the least you can do is not be lazy. Good luck.
Saint
Thanks for contact us.
We do have availability for the dates you mention. About the rates, we can only offer them in dollars. To turn them into pesos, you have to take the daily exchange.
Studio Junior (25 m2) 130 usd
Executive Studio (40 m2) 150 usd
These rates are per room per night. Do NOT include VAT (21%).
They gives the following beneffits:
* Wellcome drink
* Buffet Breakfast
* Acces to sauna, gym and indoor swimming pool
* Acces to Business Center
Please do not hesitate in contact me if you need further information.
Best regards,
Daniela Fianuchi
Sales Department
Te. 54 11 5777 8950 int. 3500
Hotel update. Per email from Mayra Brill. The prices being quoted for hotels are cash prices. Hotels are adding 14% for use of a credit card in addition to the 21% tax.