Buying Argentine currency in the USA almost impossible... back in the days of the dollar peg is was quite common to be able to buy and sell Argentine Pesos as the major US Airports, but this is something that since the fall of the peg I have not seen.

I know that some specialty money exchangers in big US cities that have large Argentine communities (e.g. Miami, Los Angeles, New Jersey) currently deal in pesos, but those are few & hard to come by. Im sorry I cant point you in any specific direction to find these.

The best protection against fake currency is to use ATMs and exchange money at Banks and the large and established exchange bureaus. Regarding this currency issue, be careful, but rest assured there is no need to be paranoid.

Restaurants for Valentines Day:

1) Te Matare Ramirez ("viagra" food) :D
2) Christoffe
3) Omm (small, cozy, trendy)
4) Casa Cruz

The Hilton is not far away from the city... its located in the heart of Puerto Madero. Its a great choice for first time stay in EZE.

Have a great trip !!!

Lovely thread! Just wanted to say for you thinking of going… If there is any place in the world I would just pick up my trunk and move to it’s BA. Absolute favourite. :)

Need help in the translation
 

I mentioned that we will be going to BA and on to Mendoza for the wine festival. I wrote to a web site for the the festival and got this reply.

Estimado Sr. Jim

Tiene reservado en el Sector Tempranillo de $ 40 cada una (aproximadamente 13 dólares cada una) es muy buena ubicación, son ticket numerados. Por este medio le informaré cómo puede retirar los pases cuando llegue a Mendoza.
Un saludo y FELIZ AÑO

I've tried the translation software on the web, but I'm not sure if they are just telling me what the cost is of the seats or if they are holding reservations for us and what we need to do.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Jimi

Hello and thanks to everyone who replied-very appreciated ^

However, "she who shall be obeyed" (Mrs Tattikat2 :D) is adament that she's not going to stay in some corporate glass box on a barren dock development!

So if anyone has any good words to say about the Bel Aire Hotel, now would be a great time to hear it!

Mr. Jim,

You have a reservation in the Tempranillo Sector for 40 pesos per person (approx 13 USD). It is a good location, and they are numbered tickets. I'll let you know how to get the passes when you arrive in Mendoza [note: I think he's saying that at some point in the future he will let you know how to get the tickets...not that he'll only let you know once you get there].
Happy New Year,

No problem whatsoever!! Just book your rooms at the Park Tower, which is very near the Hilton and she won't for a moment think she's in a corporate glass box on a barren dock development!! ;)

Best wishes for a great trip !! Dave

The Park Tower is a great hotel... however, in that league, I would throw in two other candidates:

a) Alvear Palace Hotel
b) Sofitel on Arroyo

cheers,
Gaucho100K

"Barren" dock development or barren at night commercial area at the end of the "barren" dock development. More the same than different.

If "old style" is more one's cup of tea, I'd skip the Park Tower and head over to the Alvear Palace instead. (The Park Tower suites reminds me of an older generation's suites in the Essex House in NYC and never really struck my fancy.)

I was just in BsAs in December coming from LAX and was not able to buy pesos in the airport - claimed the currency was too unstable for them to carry it. No problem getting pesos in the BsAs airport or at multiple ATMs all over the city.

I was unfortunately stung in a radio cab with a fake currency switch - cab driver kept insisting I was giving him fake bills, and I kept giving him other ones to find one that was not. I had just gotten several hundred pesos from an ATM - changed one to smaller bills at my hotel desk and had gotten change also at a Puerto Madero restaurant - so at the time I was thinking that maybe I had gotten fake bills from any one of those sources.

However and astute reader here suspected I was caught in a cab driver currency sleight of hand switch (in the dark- cab gotten in a tourist area) and that scenario is the only one that really makes sense.

Things to learn from my situation:
1. Even radio cabs can scam you
2. Always make sure every bill you get is valid- learn to always look for the watermark in the blank spot on the bill
3. Always pay for cabs with peso coins - carry about 10 one peso coins
4. Call out the denomination and hold the bill up to the light before giving it to a cab driver or where ever you expect to get change from bills
5. Get the cab driver ID always when entering a cab
6. Report any problems to the police station on 400 block Lavalle - they will arrange for an interpretor to file a complaint.

And budget for this possible scam if it happens and do not let it ruin your time in this perfectly wonderful city. Just be alert and follow the above precautions and be instantly alert if a cab driver (or anyone else) claims you are passing "falso" bills - and be sure you are not - learn to check your bills.

This city is very walkable and the subway was a good way to get around longer distances if you are near a stop - this may be a consideration if you want to avoid too much cab use as to where you chose to stay. I was right in the heart of the city in a very modest hotel but in a 5 star location as far as I was concerned - right at the intersection of pedestrian streets Lavalle and Florida and near two different subway stops. The city unfolded as soon as I walked out the door and I could go anywhere, and fairly safely at night.

The irony is my one bad currency problem happened when I went to the more upscale Puerto Madero area more frequented by tourists than in my more modest very center of the city which is not where many tourists stay.

sbagal

No irony at all. As it probably happened with some bad cabbie, it could have happened anywhere in Buenos Aires (even as it may well have happened to you in Puerto Madero). Areas where foreigners are found in greater numbers make for choice targets of bad cabbies (and others) intent on currency fraud. After all, foreigners are easy victims since they don't pay attention to what real currency notes in a foreign country should look/feel like and the safety features of various bills there.

A lot of foreigners (and even some locals) fell victim to similar scams across Europe when the changeover from the national currencies to the euro occurred a few years back. There were quite a few victims of fraudsters in Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Rome, Athens .... and even in the Vatican itself. ;)

our first time to Buenos Aires in July
 

me and my girlfriend actually convinced my folks in california to meet us, coming from germany, in Buenos Aires for 10 days until the 8th. We're staying at Plaza San Martin Suites for a week, then flying to Iguazu for 3 days. We're staying at the Sheraton there. They are flying back to Buenos Aires and then California and then we're off through Paraguay up to Salta and beyond after that, ending up in Lima late september and flying back to germany. Questions:

1)For sure my pops and I wanna be eating some good Argentine steak, price is not as important as memorable atmosphere (I'm going with my folks, remember, that number on the menu next to the food doesn't have to mean as much as it normally does for me, haha!) If it includes a Tango show, even better, or perhaps where we could combine both very easily in a certain part of town.

2)most reliable taxi company? When will be the three or four times where it'll be better for us to take a taxi? And is there a well-connected subway nearby our hotel? Remember, my folks are mid-50s, living in south orange county, i wanna make sure that it's a comfortable situation for them.

3)what are some of your favorite wintertime attractions about buenos aires? I mean, how can we take advantage of the fact that it's winter and not summer in a place that everyone always associates as hot, ya know? Perhaps an off the wall museum or 2-3 hour diversion in the middle of the day of bad weather?

4)What about a movie theater with english-language movies? I could definitely see us wanting to go to a movie sometime.

5)What are the highlights right around our hotel in terms of
*good breakfast spot
*best stores to check out
*best steak?
6)If my folks arrive from iguazi at 12:05pm and their flight from the international airport is at 8pm or so, what is their best bet if they would like to sit in a comfortable restaurant so they can relax, do a bit of souvenir shopping and then easily get a fair cab to the int'l airport?

thanks!

Taxi ripoffs
 

I would avoid any of the taxi stands in Puerto Madero. I was leaving Cabana Las Lilas on Tuesday night, and took a taxi from a waiting line. He obviously had a fixed meter, as it was already to 5 pesos when we were just 4 blocks away! We had taken a taxi there, and the driver had gone out of the way a bit, and had waited at a couple of lights. The fare was 5.72 pesos.

The fare came to under 10 pesos, so I pulled a 10 out of my money clip. He then tried the "Oh, you gave me a 2 peso note", holding a 2 peso note to show me. The only problem was I only had $5 pesos and up in my money clip. I told him he was mistaken, he shrugged, and left.

The subway isn't bad, but there aren't that many escalators, so be prepared for a lot of stairs. Also in the smaller stations, there is an entrance on both sides of the street, one side going one direction, the other going the opposite way. It's quite cheap at only 70 centavos (23 cents or so).

Some lines have manual doors that you have to open by hand. They don't stop at some stations long, so you'd better open the door and jump off, as they will NOT wait for you. Some of the cars seem to be from the 30's and 40's.

Cabanas Las Lilas has good steak. They do add on a table charge (bread and maybe an appetizer plate) of $15 pesos per person, which I thought a bit ridiculous.

There are many other really great places to get beef, though. I went to two great buffets that have a grill and mostly custom cooked entrees. In Puerto Madero, El Gourmet Porteno, 1942 Alicia de Justo next to the Cinemark Theatre was quite good at 21 pesos for weekday lunch.

And Marini at 3666 Santa Fe at 22 pesos for weekday lunch, including unlimited soft drinks and bottled water is a great deal. Open until 3:30pm for lunch. I'd get there at *least* an hour before the closing time, as they really slow down the last hour, and give no warning before pulling the stuff off the line.

Most places charge 50% more for dinner, although I didn't notice anything extra in the dinner service except price.

I would avoid Rodizio in Puerto Madero, although the one near the domestic airport is better.

Some of the more enchanting smaller museums, that do double duty showing the fabulous interiors of local former residences:

1. The Museum of Decorative Arts - Recoleta - hard to decide what is more spectacular - the inerior of thisformer palazzio of a prestigious BsAs businessman or the exhibits.A very lovely small adjacent cafe in the gate house.

2. Eva Peron Museum - a collection of her clothes and shoes in a lovely mansion with an interior open to the sky tiled patio room. Quiet but stylish adjacent cafe. In Palermo Hollywood, near the zoo and on the other side of the zoo from Gaucho's wine establishment. In the land of many, many well-regarded and diverse restaurants.

3. City Museum - San Telmo - a wonderful and quirky collection of everyday items, hardware, doors, childrens toys and some special exhibit from the early days of BsAs - I saw the Electrification of Buenos Aires exhibit. Open on Sundays after visiting the San Telmo market. Good place to also see tango without the cost and the hype of a tourist place. One FT couple (Hi, silverspringer) found the outsidet table at the Balcon Restaurant at the square in San Telmo to be the best seats in the house for the outdoor tango show.

4. Backstage tour of the Teatro Colon is a must - as well as trying to get tickets to something while you are there. Highly rated TOMO I restaurant is almost across the street in the mezzanine of the Pan American Hotel - try their taster's menu for lunch or dinner. Not place for beef, but when you want to get away from the more hearty fare of portaneo restaurants.

5. Even if you are not Catholic or even religious, the Sunday morning 11am mass at the main Cathedral on Plaza Mayor is worth attending for the drama of the space and the music - also see what other musical performances are available in the Cathedral.

6. I liked the old world feeling Cafe Richmond for light meals, coffee, tea, break in the day and people wathcing, near the intersection of Florida and Lavalle Streets - city's main pedestrian streets.

7. I liked my train day trip to Tigre for the sites along the way seeing some spectacular residential areas as well as quiet strolls through the river parks and old residences and rowing club mansions of this town - about an hour away by train -- for all of 90 cents US. Leave from Retiro train station downtown.

8. Make a contest finding the best chimichurri sauce to lavishly pour on your beef, anywhere you find it. It is one of the most perfect marriages of flavors I can imagine for beef - just perfect. It enhances and draws out the flavor of the beef, does not overpower or mask it. Argentina's wonderous gift to the culinary delights.

9. By all means Cabanas Las Lilas (Puerto Madero) for beef- pull out all the stops, dessert, coffee, wine, side dishes and cover will still keep you under $50 US a person. But you can also do pretty succulent beef a bit more down-scaled for about one third the cost in a lot of places around town. It's the chimichurri that really matters and the older porteno places probably do it better than the slicker, more tourist places...... Viva La Estancia on Lavalle Street.

10. Take the currency switching taxi scams to heart and be alert - always note the cab id number no matter who calls your cab. Don't drop your guard even in a "radio" cab.

sbagal

Regarding Cabaña Las Lilas, Ive been getting some not so good reviews every now and then. This is not to say that I would try to persuade someone not to go, but I guess one needs to manage expectations. The place is always packed and at times, they are just so swamped that service tends to vary. The best antidote for this is to either book a table very early or very late, and try to avoid peak days of the week like Thu, Fri and Sat.