boutique hotels
 

Hello Gaucho----my wife and I will be in Buenos Aires on Feb.17-19 in 2011. The visit is for pleasure prior to a cruise. I would love to find a "boutique hotel" that can offer superior service and is located in a central neighborhood, Someone suggested the GLU HOTEL----any thoughts? Muchos gracious-----allieboy

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sorry... Im not familiar with the hotel you mention. I like places like the Bobo and Home Hotel which get consistently good reviews...

We are staying in BA for 8 days, want to buy a SIM Card for my Blackberry, what is the best way to go about.

Thanks for your help and information.

Gracias

There are lots of opportunities at kioskos and such. But people often complain that activation seems to take a while.

There is a Claro store on Florida . . .its on a corner a few blocks north of Gallaria Pacifico and a few blocks south of Plaza San Martin that I used. Activation was pretty much instantaneous. It will help greatly if you have some working knowledge of Spanish.

You go to a little check in machine on the ground floor and choose the option for not a customer. It will print you a number. Go up one floor (elevator available) and watch the electronic display for your number to be called. it will display a booth number next to it. Go to the booth and explain that you want to purchase a prepaid sim. You will need your passport. After getting the SIM and your number you then go up one more floor and pay the cashier to but credit on your account. I believe it is cheaper if you buy credit in multiples of 20 pesos. *555 to find remaining credit on your account (spoken to you in spanish).

You may want to familiarize yourself with how to dial cell phones in argentina as well. My number is something like

6016-1234 (those actually arent the last four digits).

From outside argentina it is:

+54 911 6016 1234.

The 911 indicates it is a mobile number within Bs As (if it was not mobile it would just be 11 instead of 911).

But from within the country it is:

15 6016 1234

the 15 indicates it is a cell. Most cell numbers seem to begin (ie the first of the 8 digit number) with 5 or 6. Most land lines begin with 4...I believe that BsAs used to have 7 digit dialing and rather than split the area into multiple area codes when they ran out, they simply prepended 4 to the existing numbers.

Hope this helps.

Does anybody have experience with purchasing a pre-paid SIM card from other operators like MoviStar...???

Does anyone have experience with renting a car and driving in Buenos Aires?

I do not. However, unless you are familiar with Buenos Aires driving, I would strongly discourage driving yourself - especially within the city. Not only is gasoline expensive (compared to the US) and Taxis cheap, but the rules of driving (at least as practiced) are very different than the US.

Lane markings are at best suggestions. You will be passed at high speed with only inches to spare. The same goes for following distances much of the time. At first glance the flow of traffic is very chaotic. However, you will notice that (at least outside of the poorer areas) that there isn't a lot of collision damage. It turns out that the drivers down there actually are highly skilled. They can ignore lane markings and such precisely because of their proficiency. I'll freely admit that I'm not currently up to the task - and I usually will choose to rent a car.

BA trip help
 

Hi Gaucho and everyone. I am traveling to Buenos Aires at the end of this month. I arrive at around 8pm staying for 7 nights. I have traveled to cities all over the world but BA has me a bit confused so please be patient. :) I bought a LP guide to Argentina but reading about each barrio of the city, it doesnt give too much advice on where are the main places to stroll or people watch in the neighborhoods. This is my plan so please provide any tips. We are staying at the Hotel Raco Boutique in Recoletta. Its on Yapeyu. Is this a good area, walkable to a main shopping,cafe area? We possibly planned on heading to La Cabrera the evening we arrive, if flight is on time say dinner at around 10:30. The following day doing the freeBAtour, read about on TripAdvisor around the microcenter and the tour later around Recoleta. How much would we tip the guide?

That night, not sure where to eat but heard about a place called La Vineria de Gualterio ( 10 course meal, I think)

3rd day. The following day, maybe check out San Telmo and Pallermo Viejo and Soho.

The fourth day maybe ferry to Colonia. Has anybody done this and is it worth it?

The fifth day La Boca and ???

The sixth day???

Seventh Day?

Also, a question about getting large bills exchanged for smaller bills. I will have 100 peso bills, we heard there's problems with taxis and counterfeit bills. Where do we get smaller bills?

Last question is on ordering steaks. If i want a steak medium well (slightly pink but not well done) How do I order this? My partner likes his rare.

Thanks in advance.

Yes... driving in EZE is best left to the very proficient drivers... its not for soccer mom type driving skills.

Are you calling me a soccer mom? :eek: :p

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for all matters behind a steering wheel, yes.... :D

I am planning a trip to BA and Carmelo, Uruguay in early July and had some questions about the weather and climate.

I know it is winter but how cold will it get and will it be comfortable to walk around and possibly swim?

In Carmelo at the Four Seasons is there anything to do if the weather is not warm enough to swim in the ocean/river?

Winters in this region are mild, at least by European or North American standards. Swimming may be feasible, but this depends on how tolerant you are to "cold" water... whatever that means. I have European friends that come in our winter and jump in the Ocean.... but to some this is madness. Its hard to pass absolute judgement on something that is so inherently relative.

flying london gatwick to eze with mistyped name on e-ticket!
 

Anyone have any experience on this one? I managed to enter the abbreviated first name 'geoff' instead of 'geoffrey' on my travel booking and passport has the full name 'geoffrey'. surname is correct. travel agent cant change it for me , only cancel and part refund. Worried whether i will have problems along the way. have to go via madrid on both legs so its 4 check ins / security stops!
seems to be very varied opinions across the forums on similar things with different airlines but could not see anything specific to argentina or this carrier. and xp's very welcome. i travel (hopefully) tomorrow eve. have not tried calling the airlines direct ( Air Europa firstleg and Aerlineas second leg) as i thought this may just lead them to force me to cancel!

could this ruin my trip?
thanks in advance

Im quite surprised that you cant change the data.... after all, its not the surname and they can somehow verify that you are one and the same person that bought the ticket.... Im afraid I dont have much hard experience to share in this aspect.... but again, maybe you need to speak with some supervisor at the airline.... they must have a way to help you.... if they insist they cant change it, maybe they can include a special notice on the PNR to ensure that airline staff can look it up in case this becomes an issue...???