I think its important to not confuse a couple of important concepts. A purse was left on the floor, unattended, and a opportunistic thief snatched the purse and left the scene. Yes, if you leave your purse out of your sight in many large cities (not only Buenos Aires), you are taking a risk, but Im not sure this alone is enough to brand EZE as unsafe. Be cautious, use common sense, and you will be fine.

On a side note, I think this is a huge embarrasment to the Secret Service Agents that were part of the escort, but also for the local police that should have had at least a pair of officers escorting the SS around. After this blunder by all the security people involved, the Buenos Aires city government has announced that they will provide more manpower to escort Ms. Bush during the remainder of her visit.

Gaucho's assessment is spot on, as usual.

Which restaurant in San Telmo did this happen at?

I have my suspicions ... including that some of the Secret Service agents are having a bit too much fun on their own while there and it's showing up this time. :eek:

It's a safe city, especially for those without hot-heads and who use common sense like in any other major city in the world.

This isn't the first time a Secret Service fellow is victimized. I recall quite a list of incidents in Italy especially over the years.

I hope the Bush daughters' visit-related incident(s) don't sour people on visiting Buenos Aires. From what I heard, they seem to be having a good time partying it up too. ;)

When was the last time you stayed there and what are the prices going for nowadays? (It was quite a decent value 1-2 years ago.)

Two years ago it was US$27/night. Prices are now at US$47/night IIRC. An incredible bargain. The rooms are kind of small and the walls are kind of thin, but they're quite clean and quite comfortable. (In fact, I'm still holding a reservation there beginning Fri, just in case the apartment I rented doesn't quite turn out looking as good as it did in the pictures. I hope I get to cancel that rez. ;) )

Thanks for the info (especially as I've got a three year old Ibis directory so I didn't know what to make of prices :o ).

Prices have certainly been rising. :eek: Any wi-fi internet options at the Ibis?

Thanks in advance.

Yeah, surprised me too. One of my other faves, the NH Latino has gone from approx. $70/night to over $100. It's been a year and a half since I was in Argentina, so even with a slightly better dollar to peso exchange, I'm not looking forward to seeing what inflation has done to visitors and locals alike.

As for wi-fi.....I highly doubt it. But you can probably just call the Ibis 800 number I presume.

are there any cheap flights from EZE to Sao Paulo Brazil ?

any idea how much with only a day or 2 advance purchase ?

thanks
Rally

On short notice, Aerolineas Argentina seems to often have the cheapest roundtrip tickets like EZE-GRU-EZE for c. $150 including taxes. I usually just throw away the return ticket since the one-way is usually more expensive than the roundtrip. Unfortunately EZE-GRU doesn't seem to be as consistent in having low fares as the EZE-SCL sector traditionally does.

Gol has some decent pricings once in a while too. The alternative is to get a package deal from a local Argentine travel agency which seems to work at the last minutes often enough too.

In BA Now
 

Would like to add my voice to the chorus of those who've thanked Gaucho100k and others (GUWonder comes to mind) for all of the useful information in this thread.

My wife and I are on our 5th day in BA now, on a two week honeymoon. We're in the Hilton until tomorrow (on an award stay) and like the Puerto Madero neighborhood just fine, and cabs are plentiful and it's easy to get to other neighborhoods. (Although it can be a bit worrisome the first few times one is with a driver who lanesplits between other cars - usually we just see motorcyclists doing that in the states. ;)

It's high season now, and finding affordable hotels for the rest of our staty was a bit tricky, but we're going to try a budget B&B-style place in Palermo called Casa I.F. Studio Rooms. Stopped by there and the staff were very friendly and the rooms seemed decent enough.

I'll agree with others that walking is the way to see the city. So many beautiful neighborhoods - one can be in Greenwich Village one moment and Montparnasse the next.

We'll be headed to Uruguay for a few days on Monday (checking out the Four Seasons, who had a pretty good rate including spa treatments etc.) and we're trying to figure out what to do with our last three days in the area next week. Had considered seeing Mendoza for a couple of days, but Aerolineas Argentina appear to want US$600 each for airfare, so that's probably out. Will contact the folks at Wow Argentina recommended elsewhere in the thread to see what they might suggest as side trips.

The only disappointment so far has been dinner at Cabana Las Lilas. My club steak was ridiculously over salted, my wife's baby beef came medium well instead of the medium rare she ordered, and waitstaff were a bit overzealous in taking away plates before we were done eating from them. I will give them kudos on the wine selection, however. Upon requesting a recommendation for Malbec, the waiter found a 2002 DV Catena which wasn't even on the list, and that was quite excellent.

Tonight we're headed to El Mirasol, which has good reports on FT, so we'll see how it compares.

At any rate, I'd certainly recommend a visit to just about anybody.

Cheers

Be back there tommorrow, not familiar with casa i.f studio, but how about trying,,, restaurants, Soto Voce in Recoleta at Ayachucho and libertador, and for parilla instead of high prices at las lilas how about Brigdada, on estados unitas, or Lalo or chiquilin on montevideo,,, Las Lilas is just tourist overpriced.
canning friday not for faint of heart

Does anyone have any BA travel agency recomendations (English speaking) other than WOW! Argentina? Heard back from Cintia @ WOW! that they only work with folks prior to enterting Argentina, and they can't do anything for us since we're already here.

Thanks much.

Information is really sketchy about the incident. It's being downplayed by the WH and Laura Bush's spokesperson. And since an official complaint wasn't made here (in BA), details are lacking.

But it appears that the robbery took place on Sunday at a "bar" facing Plaza Dorrego. Agents were apparently 40m away from the table. It is unclear whether both twins were there, or just Barbara.

Petty theft is a problem here in BA- even among Porteños - several of my friends have had cell phones lifted while on buses, or the Subte, and other things stolen from backpacks (often of little monetary value, but nonetheless annoying).

San Telmo is crowded on Sunday, with lots of tourists, so it's a prime area for petty theft. It's really not difficult to take precautions to avoid such problems as a tourist in any large city.

John

I suggest you contact Hernan Cannizaro at Orismos Travel. Tell him that Alejandro from Terroir sent you.

Please see www.orismos.com.ar for more details.

Suggested hotel
 

I recently spent a couple of nights at the NHCrillon Hotel, and would suggest it to you. My price was about $70 a night thru the AA website. I found the same hotel on other sites at about $160 a night. While the hotel is a bit dated, the location is great, rooms are clean, etc. An outstanding value in my opinion.

Just back from 18 hours of travel EZE-ATL-DEN and the 90-minute drive up the mountain to home, after 10 days in B.A. with a couple of side-trips.

What a wonderful trip! My wife and I both fell in love with the city and country. So many helpful people, and so much to see.

Muchas gracias a Gaucho100K, who helped us pick out some wines as gifts and for our own enjoyment at his lovely shop. Well packed, survived traveling in checked luggage, and I'm looking forward to enjoying them - but not tonight given how tired I am after the trip!

We stayed at the Art Hotel on Azcuenga, just off Santa Fe and about a 15 minute walk from Cemetario Recoleta. Lovely small boutique hotel and a fabulous deal at $65 USD/night. Also enjoyed two award nights at the Sheraton Iguazu where we got upgraded to a falls-view suite. A one-day trip via the Buquebus fast ferry to Colonia, Uruguay was well worth it both for the change of pace & weather, and for the very interesting and lovely historic sites. Not to mention some great shopping bargains.

Rice is right in the post a few posts earlier about walking being a great way to see the city. As former New Yorkers and Bostonians MrsXS and I were used to walking through great cities. So despite the many differences of B.A. from our former home cities, we also felt right at home. I have to say that in terms of perceived safety, we felt every bit as safe, if not more so, than in any large city in the US or Canada. My guess is that anyone who has typical city-dweller "street sense" will love B.A. and feel just as safe there (except perhaps the Bush girls!) People who aren't use to large cities will find the scale of Buenos Aires and the difference from their small town just as strange as if they went to New York City.

We even ended up walking all the way back from La Boca to Recoleta on Sunday. Not what we originally planned but after we walked up to San Telmo and spent a few hours there browsing, shopping, eating & drinking and enjoying a show, we just felt like walking more. What a great sense of the many different sections of the city and its scale!

Great trip, and this is now our FIRST trip to Argentina and South America in general. It will certainly not be our last!