Argentina Hotel

Buenos Aires is the South American hub for art, design and architecture. It's old style buildings are magnificent and a lot of new houses are build with great design and architecture. Wouldn't it be great to stay in such a fine building instead of a crammy hotel room? When staying for a longer period of time in Buenos Aires a stay in a rental apartment is a fine alternative to hotels. There are a lot of residential rentals available over the internet. During my first short stay in Baires I had a look at a couple of apartments in Palermo and decided to try out Apartments BA for a week's rental of a refurbished loft next to Salerno Plaza in Palermo. It was not cheap, but for the price of a small hotel room I got a huge 2 BR loft with great interior architecture and a lot of privacy. Most of their places feature exceptional interior design, but sometimes the looks are at the expense of functionality. I tried Apartments BA on two other occasions renting houses in central areas of Buenos Aires for a couple of weeks and was pretty happy with the places. Their prices include weekly maid service. They are very attentive to problems and all transactions were smooth. The only thing that was a bit disappointing was their staff being late for check-in and check-out. That's about the only downside to a hotel where you walk to the reception and check-in within a few minutes or seconds. The world is not perfect, not even in a designer city like Buenos Aires, but you do get a lot of value from Apartments BA.

A view at a custom made media center with LCD TV in side a San Telmo apartment in Buenos Aires.

Usually, I prefer to book apartments when staying in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, but for a short 3 day trip I chose to stay at a hotel and picked the Holiday Inn Express in Puerto Madero. It's location is very central with the ferry port and the railway station in walking distance as well as the central down town with shopping centers on Florida Street right around the corner. The hotel is designed for people that just need a bed for the night and don't spend to much time inside the house. The rooms are very small, but comfortable. Their prices are justified by the central location, not by the outfit of the establishment. Breakfast is very basic self service and the gym on the top floor does not allow a magnificent workout. It's a basic brand name hotel in a central location of Buenos Aires - no more and no less. But that's what the Holiday Inn Express brand is supposed to be in the first place, a clean hotel with basic amenities, only. I would stay there again for a night, but I think there are better choices with more luxury for the same price.

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I was pretty happy the first night I spent inside the Sures Suites in Belgrano, a suburb in the North of Buenos Aires as I had a light flooded suite with floor heating and all amenities including fast internet connection. The next day I had to move into a rather small room in the back of the building's gound floor as the suite I originally booked was reserved for somebody else. This room as pictured above was small and dark. It could not compare to the suite they showed me when I inquired about a stay at first. The small window was facing a wall, internet speed was very slow. I spend another night there and decided to move out the day after as I did not like that small place at all and the internet connection was to slow. I had the feeling it was a room for guests who smoke. Needless to say I was a bit upset about being shown a suite and then shoved to a small dark room. They should have said that when I made my booking to be fair with me.

A quick trip from Buenos Aires to Uruguay's capital Montevideo. It's a very calm and sleepy city! Unfortunately, my hotel room inside the Montevideo Holiday Inn was not as quiet as I had hoped for. It was a very cold winter day in August and they needed to switch on their heating. Their heating is pumping liquid through pipes that lead along the inside of their aircons. Obviously those pipes contained air and they were causing loud and disturbing noises over night. I could hardly close my eyes and sleep. I guess it was an unfortunate technical issue they fixed later on, but it was not a pleasant experience. However, the staff was very friendly and I thought it was a very nice hotel. Of course, the internet access was very slow, but I heard internet speed is a big problem in Uruguay, not just inside this hotel. The location in the centre of the city can't be beat - it's perfect for a Montevideo hotel room! BTW: hotels in Montevideo are much cheaper than Buenos Aires hotel room rates.

Unfortunatelty, my camera's flash light was broken, so image quality is very poor this time :-( I was upgraded to a jr. suite with a separate living room. Pretty nice room with a comfortable bed.

This fine Buenos Aires hotel is located in the suburb of Belgrano, a 20 to 30 minute cab drive from the central parts of the city like Palermo, Recoleta or Plaza San Martin. The 10 story building features very comfortable big rooms and is in a quiet location 2 blocks off of the main street Avenida de Cabildo and the corner of Monroe. The hotel rooms of Cristal Palace have ample space, large bath rooms and working desks with office chairs. Internet connectivity is provided over a network of WIFI routers on every other floor. The speed is excellent and during my 3 week lasting stay it was always up and running. The staff was always very friendly and helpful. Prices are negotiable for long term stays. Belgrano is not the most attractive part of the city if you are a tourist and want to be close to the seights, but it is significantly cheaper and more relaxed. Just 3 or 4 blocks away you can find the subway station Juramento. A ticket for one Peso will take you directly to downtown without the need of coping with cab drivers and traffic. All in all Cristal Palace is an pretty good choice to conduct business and get a good night sleep. It's not as luxurious as a Sheraton or Hilton, but considering the money not spend you get good value from this business hotel in Belgrano, specially on an extended stay.

Two queen sized beds and a large office desk offer a lot of space

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