jadedinsider

If you are staying on your own dime and money IS an object, rent an apartment. We just got back from Buenos Aires on friday and rented from friendlyapartments.com . Ask for Laureano and tell him the crazy guys from Las Vegas referred you.

Our apartment was in the heart of Recoleta and where you want to be if on holiday. The building had a doorman and from what I read on here, a much nicer room than the Marriott. I am a Platinum saying this.

The neighborhood is akin to staying in Lincoln Park in Chicago or The Village in New York. Very hip and endless cafe choices. Anyone in BA MUST check out Chiquilin, see restaurantechiquilin.com.ar . Jump in a cab, it is at Sarmiento 1599 ESQ. Montevideo TEL.: 4373 5163. Make a reservation and if you are lucky you can get Osmar to be your server. Again, tell him the crazy guys from Las Vegas sent you! If you refer to the "Silver Fox" he will chuckle I am sure. We returned 3 evenings during our week stay, asking for Osmar each time. Trust me on this one.

Jade

ambrogz

is it worth staying there speding 115 000 marriott points for 1 week

has anyone stayed there before?

any observations, hints about this place

is it well located?

thanks a lot

flyerwife

My husband literally just walked in the door from a 4 night stay here. The hotel is old but well maintained and is well situated if you want to be downtown. It is located right at the beginning of the main shopping area.

The rooms were very nice but small; as a Platinum he was upgraded to a 9th floor room (top floor; still a small room) that had a huge patio and overlooked a neighboring park.

Concierge Lounge is currently under renovation and is now situated on the 4th floor in a 3 room suite. A good selection of food and beverages. Staff in the CL (and throughout the hotel) was very pleasant and accommodating.

Front desk staff spoke English very well. My husband arrived at 930a (had not asked for early check-in) and his room was ready. (He did say that the following day, he saw others who arrived early and could not get into their rooms; maybe his Plat status helped??)

The bar was very nice and the hostess at the bar claimed that it is one of the best hotel bars in the world. He did not eat at the restaurants but there were two of them in-house.

He said the bedding, room temperature and shower were all fine.

My husband feels that your points would be well-spent here.

Two warnings: when you arrive in EZE, do not change your money at the booth at baggage claim; just before you exit baggage claim on the right, there is a bank that gives a much, much better exchange rate.

Also, be prepared to pay $18pp (all nationalities) at the airport for departure tax; they do take credit cards.

Hope that helps. Let me know if I can assist further.

travelexpert

We loved the location--literally feet from the main entrance you are on the main pedestrian arcade.

Yes--I would call this property an "old dame".

As a Platinum we were upgraded to a much larger room overlooking the adjacent park. Our two sons had a standard, much smaller room. Since I do not think you are MR Platinum, be ready for a smaller room--unless you pay for the upgraded option.

We also stayed at the Hilton in Puerto Madero which is an up-and-coming area. The Hilton property is stunning (arguably one of the best Hiltons in the world)--but not nearly as well located.

holtju2

If you had ever stayed at this property you would not make that comment.

dg4255

Stayed there in August 2008 for 10 days. The hotel staff are excellent. It is an older hotel... a historic hotel, but it is VERY well-maintained.. we had rooms on the 6th floor, including a junior suite and a 2 bedroom suite.. Everything was perfect.. The breakfast restaurant is good, but a bit crowded and can take 15-20 minutes to get a table during the peak time.. The location is very very good.. It is situated on Av. Florida which is the pedestrian shopping street.. Gallerias Pacifico is a definite stop for shopping (the Ralph Lauren store has AMAZING sales!!).. Patio Bulrich is just a 5 minute taxi ride away for even better shopping (buy whatever you can at Etiquetta Negra and don't forget to get your Tax-Free receipt!)..
And.. you must go see Gaucho100K and his excellent wine store.. I bought 12 bottles.. he expertly packed them and I had no problem bringing them back on AF to Europe.. It was well-worth the trip to meet him and buy some absolutely STELLAR Argentine wines that can only be found in Argentina as many are not exported..
Using your points is a good idea.. Also, call ahead of time and ask them how much an upgrade will cost. For me, it was $50 per night for the big, huge suite. When I say huge, I mean, HUGE. The living room alone was bigger than any I've ever seen before. Kinda reminded me of the Oval Office..

flyerwife

I'll let my 12 year Marriott Platinum husband know he's a liar when he gets back from his next trip.



Maybe your experience was different. How about a more informative, helpful post rather than an asinine one???

frisbeeace

As a local I can say that its location is not the best in town and that Florida street is just a popular and far from classy shopping area except for Galerias Pacifico.

imverge

I agree with your husbands post. ^

The hotel is old but maintained OK. Although the swimming pool was under repair for over three weeks when I was there. The gym is very very shabby with mostly broken equip. to match.

The hotel is located on Florida Ave. a pedestrian only shopping Avenue. It's nice to see but its really a tourist trap. Careful of pick pockets and hookers at night which hang out by the fountain next to the hotel. The prices on Florida Ave. are way higher than what you would find on Santa Fe. Ave. which is on the opposite side of the park in front of the hotel.

The street shopping on Santa Fe. is fantastic. Walk up until you get to Callao Ave. You'll find the best ice-cream/chocolate boutique in the city called VOLTA. It's a must!!

Anyhow, the hotel is worth the points if it's on a travel package and if you get lounge access. There is free WiFi internet in the lounge which is a plus otherwise it's $20 USD a day! My room was close enough that my laptop was able to catch the signal

Here is the review I posted on another thread...

Just stayed at Marriott Plaza Hotel. The location is great although I would avoid Florida St. shopping. The prices are higher than in other parts of the city.

Had room 904. One bedroom suite over-looking the park. It also has a beautiful terrace where I enjoyed breakfast most mornings. The room furnishings was typical of Marriott. I sat on the same sofa in Rio & Lisbon.

The hotel itself is very nice but needs an updating AGAIN. The best feature of this hotel is the staff. Carla at the front desk was wonderful and selected my suite, Marco at the concierge was helpful and spoke excellent English. Ms. Romana at the guest service desk was extremely friendly.

Gym needs MAJOR upgrading. The pool is very small. Executive lounge was open 7 days a week and was okay for breakfast. Way too many sweets and no real healthy alternatives. Lounge did offer WiFi internet service.

Over-all the hotel is very good but not worth the money.

Also do not exchange $$$ at Airport (EZE) got 25% less than exchange houses in the city. If really needed, just exchange enough to pay for taxi ride into city.

If the OP wants any further info or tips just send me a PM. I was in Buenos Aires for 6+ months. I got to know the city very well.

kazakie

Nice hotel, I think it's the oldest hotel in BA. We had three rooms and one was upgraded (Platinum) - the rooms varied in size, from really small (making NYC hotel rooms look big) to the Platinum upgraded room that overlooked the park that was at least twice the size.

They were doing hotel tours (free), which I found interesting - depends what floats your boat.

I'd say it's a good use of points if you're staying the full 7 days (which may be a few days to many), and probably a better deal than the nearby Park Tower (Starwood) - which is probably a bit fancier, but not quite as convenient as the Plaza (Marriott).

You might do an overnight in Uruguay, and not really miss much by having one day of your stay where you don't actually sleep in the hotel but leave your stuff there (such as have a Sun-Sun week, and leave Wed morning and come back Thurs, don't checkout so you keep the 7 night award - and you can pack light for Uruguay).

ambrogz

i m gold and hope to get anice upgrade too

ambrogz

hi hi

would you recommend any other hotel in the style of W or a new sofitel or hudson hotel in NYC?

frisbeeace

The Plaza was decades ago the most prestigious and classy hotel in the city. Then, with much less tourism than we have today, Florida street was the main shopping and also the backbone of the financial district. Now, as somebody mentioned, is a tourist trap and not a nice area to dine or walk in the night. The best location to stay is Barrio Norte and Palermo where you can find the Hyatt, Caesar Park, Alvear Palace, Sofitel and many smaller hotels like Lois Suites. The Hilton is in Puerto Madero, nice area for restaurants but not at walking distance from the nicest areas in town. The Intercontinental is further downtown in an even worse neighborhood.

Still, I could stay on points, I would seriously consider the Marriott for the savings.

imverge

The Faena Hotel in Buenos Aires puts The W hotel to shame any day, everyday.

http://www.faenahotelanduniverse.com/

samftla

Unfortunately it is located in "Siberia". It isn't close to anything. It does have probably the best hotel pool scene and the Sunday brunch is pretty good but very expensive by local standards. Really too bad that it is so isolated.

Sam