Budget Hotels

[Tourboys]

I am getting to BA tonight and need somewhere CHEAP to stay until the 15th of Aug. There are two of us. Where do you recomend?

[Hlover]

The Prince Hotel is a great value. The staff speaks enough English and is very customer oriented.

As stated, the location is exellent; walking distance to El Alamo bar, one block from Santa Fe Ave. (close to 1707 Santa Fe apartment) laundramat next door, internet access, etc. The rooms were large enough with a great split system and access to English TV channels. Highly recommended.

King Hotel is in a great location but the rooms are extremely small with an old style elevator with the gate and a shower with slow drainage.

IMO a much better option is the Liberty Hotel (disagree with previous criticism on the board) across the street.

Great lobby, common areas and excellent breakfast. Rates may be close to the King or even cheaper (2003 prices) For some reason the rates continually dropped during my 2003 visit.

[Jack 24]

Stayed there for a couple of weeks in May.

Price.

Was 130 pesos then for the small room (already 145)
Includes continental breakfast of croissants and coffee served in your room.

Room.

Very small, but nice.
AC, elevator.
Quiet, which I need and I was right in front.

Chicas.

Very chica friendly.
Chicas can just walk up to the room with you.
They don't have to stop at the front desk.
Don't have to show ID.
No joiner fee.
Brought in girls all hours of the day and night.

Hotel Guests.

Pretty old fogey and staid.
They wore a lot of clothes and had 5-10 pieces of luggage.
Some old lady kind of looked askance at me one day when I pulled Isabella from Cafe Orleans and brought her there in the middle of the day when the button-crowd was milling about the lobby but the staff never tripped on it.

Location.

I thought it was perfect.
Best part of town apparently.
Midway between the Recoleta Village and Cafe Exedra. Easy walk either way.
Taxi ride was 4.5 pesos from either location.
Great restaurants all around that area.
One block off of Cordoba.

[BundaLover]

This one has a posted web site below. I stayed there about 1.25 years ago. This is old school kind of place designed with British tradition. Forget about TV and internet access. Very formal entrance. Great location off of Florida Street. Reservations are kept in a hand written registar as computers are 'new school'. Rooms are smallish with solid dark hardwood furniture and tiled bathrooms. It is not a converted office building or house cum hotel. Well maintained and better than several of the off Florida places with respect to value / cleaniness. Prices include tax. My reccollection is that the rooms are a level above the photos shown for the Marbella posting. Reccomended if you like pre-internet 1960's kind of places.

[StrayLight]

This little pension-like place is located on Juncal between Larrea and Azcuenaga, in lower Recoleta.

http://www.juncalpalacehotel.com.ar/

Last time I checked (a few weeks ago) rooms are about $120 pesos a night.

I haven't seen any of the rooms, but I've poked my head into the lobby a few times to check out the ambience. I like it. Plus, not far from the Pueyrredón subte stop...just a short walk to the clubs...and relatively quiet. In my younger days, I would've stayed here in a heartbeat.

If anyone actually does decide to stay here, please post a review. I'm always looking for "off the beaten path"-type places for some of my visiting friends and acquantances, and I'd like to get a first-hand report sometime.

Enjoy

SL

[Artisttyp]

I thought I'd share two weeks worth of work with you guys. I would consider myself a budget traveler but not too cheap as to make myself uncomfortable. My hotel budget is usually in the $30 - 50 range. Here is what I found searching through the internet and guide books.

I'm going to break it down for you. You are probably going to want to stay in recoleta or the downtown area next to the obelisco (palermo is cool but a little out of the loop for my taste) Recoleta is more expensive and the center is noisy. Do the math. There are a few hotels downtown which I will mention that you can ask for a room off the street but you face a empty shaft with little sunlight. Again do the math.

The cheapest hotel I found was for $14 in san telmo. I can't remember the name but its on the list. Also remember the weather. You want somewhere that at least has a fan in the summer and somewhere to provide you with enough blankets in the winter. Lets not forget a safety deposit box.

Please excuse the repeats from other lists but I think they are worth mentioning again.

www.hotelvedra.com.ar (has gotten ok reviews from ny times and trip advisor) get a room off the street.

www.hotelmarbella.com (good reviews from travel library.com)
www.hotel-internacional.com.ar
www.hotel-principe.com.ar (recoleta)
www.hotel-lyon.com.ar (has gotten great reviews...best kept secret...not for long) located on riobamba not far from recoleta and I think close to 24 hour privado 392 riobamba 2nd floor.
www.cphotel.com.ar
www.hotelecuador.com
www.hotelgranvia.com.ar
www.milanhotel.com
www.hotelparlamento.com
www.kingshotel.com.ar
www.novelhotel.com.ar
www.terminehotel.com.ar
www.panamehotel.com (.ar ?)
www.hhispano.com.ar
www.ahrcc.com.ar (great website for BA hotels)
www.dorahotel.com.ar (great reviews from lonely planet ) 2 blocks from florida street
www.hotelgransarmiento.com.ar
www.eurohotel.com.ar

I can't vouch for any of these places and you must ask about guests. I'm pretty sure they will try to charge you or say no. Its ok I do privados anyway. I asked and will be charged $15. Ok as long as I don't have to pay for the chica.

Thank you to those that have posted before me to give me the kick start.

[Artisttyp]

The info is great but you have no idea how wonderful it is to have a link to a website. It makes all the difference in the world.

The hotel nontue seems good but they sit right on top of a subte station. I live above one in New York City but on the 13th floor. I hear nothing. I doubt its as quiet in BA.

[BundaLover]

I know of 2 family hotels in a much better area then this.

They are located one street back from Santa Fe (direction away from river) and one and 2 streets beyond Callao (direction towards Palermo) Sorry I don't have the names and info at hand. I checked them out last year and they had aircon, tv, ok beds, phones, not dumps. If I find my notes I'll post. Anybody want to do a little field work?

[TangoManiac]

Email or call them about the safety deposit box.

The hotel fronts Corrientes which is loud as hell. Don't get a room that faces the street if that is an issue. It is right next to Abasto shopping mall.

[Artisttyp]

Can anyone tell me if this hotel (nontuehotel) is in a quiet enough area to get a good night sleep? Is there anything I need to look out for like not staying on one side of the building versus the other for noise reasons?

In room saftey deposit boxes or one box at the front desk?

Thanks.

Ps. They seem to be very well organized and accessible through the internet.

[TangoManiac]

Ok this one is next to Abasto. Hotel N'ontue. Single is 85 PESOS and double occupancy is 118 pesos. They do have AC.

4863-4098

4863-4099

4861-6995 are the phone numbers I have for them.

Av Corrientes 3321

www.nontuehotel.com.ar

info@nontuehotel. Com. Ar

So when you get here, book a budget hotel for a couple nights. Wander around the city and you will be amazed at what you can find. Because most of these seem to be family owned (the 15 dollar a night places at least) you may be able to negotiate especially after February.

TM

[Juan Carter]

Thank you very much for this post. I hope to take a six week trip in April or May and appreciate information that fits my budget.

[TangoManiac]

Ok everyone, this is for the really cheap fucks out there who might be staying awhile or dont want to pay 100 bucks a night for a hotel.

I dont know if these hotels are chica friendly. They might charge you like 20 pesos for the doube rate instead of single. Who knows. But if you are in a crunch and need to find a half decent place you can look here. Others can chime in on others.

What I noticed was that along the side streets of Avenida de Mayo on the way towards plaza de mayo there are a lot of hotels that dont look like they would be a marriott. They are nicer than the hotel mickey i wrote about, but not like a sheraton. But for the price they are not bad, there aren't rats running around, and there is usually an nice old man at the front desk who makes sure only hotel guests can come and go.

Hotel Uruguay --------> Tacuari 83. At Ave. De Mayo and Tacuari. At roughly the 900 block of ave. De mayo. I didnt stay here but stopped in as it is across the street from the Gran Hotel España. I asked the price for a single and it was 60 pesos at the lowest end. Don't know about rooms but the lobby signaled that it looked half decent. Phone number 4434-2788 and 4334-3456. Area looks safe. You will want to call in before hand because locals tend to stay there bc it is cheap. The front desk people usually do NOT speak english. Get a friend to book it for you or ask roxanna if she'll do it for a fee.

Gran Hotel España Tacuari Tacuari 80. 4343-5541, 4343-5542, 4343-5543. Across the street from hotel uruguay. Paid 50 pesos for a single. The room is nice with a fan and bathroom. The bed was comfortable. I can't say it was like a 3 or 4 star hotel but it was clean, well kept, in a safe street, and you get a front row seat to all the protests every day on Ave de Mayo! Call a little in advance on this one. I got lucky and got the last cheap room. From there prices go on up to 75 and 90 pesos. Either way not a bad deal. By the way make sure you aren't at the gran Hispaño. That is on ave de mayo and is in the 70 dollar range I think.

Across the street from the grand café Tortoni around the 1000 block of Ave de Mayo is the Hotel Argentino I think. They were very reasonable as well. I want to say in the 60 peso range for a single. Add like 20 pesos for another person. I don't have their number but if you walk by there, stop in and ask them how much it costs for a habitacion (room)

There are a lot of these little hotels on side streets. Chica frienldly is anyones guess. For that price you could get a transitorio for.45 pesos and do your deed there and still end up on top. Hehehehe.

One last word---- my impression is that these are inexpensive hotels. They are not like the motel 6's that we have in the US with drugs and guyz from the hood running around with guns. They are clean and provide a nice bed to sleep on. Most of these places do not take credit card. Bring your pesos. Also prevents the dreaded credit card fraud problems endemic throughout south america. Keep that in mind.

TM