eightmillionmiler

Checking out this morning from a one night stay here. Check-in agent was friendly and very well trained. He mentioned my SPG status and thanked me for my business. Upgraded to a junior suite on the club floor - very nice room and good condition.

I had viewed my reservation earlier in the day and saw the junior suite upgrade in the record, and noticed the category description mentioned "free high speed internet". I called guest services to find out whether I needed to enter some kind of code. After some checking the agent told me she could find no mention of free internet in my reservation record, but would give me a complimentary passcode "as you are an SPG platinum member and we appreciate you staying with us". I had the listing as I anticipated this was one of those battles where a feature of the upgraded room is denied based on the original booking category, but the unsolicited offer of the passcode kind of headed off any need to pursue that issue further, at least at the time.

I unfortunately selected wireless and the Sheraton Club hotspot, which was so incredibly overloaded or just defective that I had less than dial-up performance with very frequent near total blackouts of data movement. After a couple of hours of essentially useless and zero productivity use, I decided to jack into the ethernet port. It did require me to purchase Inet access charged to my room, but it worked quite well for the remainder of my stay. Will bring the listing when I check out and see what I can do about the charge, but this is a nit overall.

Nice fruit and wine in the room, very good service attitude from room service and everyone in the hotel I met.

Yes, the hotel lobby is kind of beaten up and dingy looking, but all that disappeared from the vantage point of my room and the service. Having usually stayed at the Sheraton Buenos Aires (and I was there earlier this week), where the overall facility is in better condition, I was doing an experiment to stay at the Libertador. However, it is now a reasonable choice in my books and a place I am likely to visit again.

bpauker

Stayed three nights here last week. "Upgraded" to a regular room on the 18th floor (is that a club floor?). Service, when needed, was good. Lounge was good, as was breakfast. Free internet in room as a platinum, per the new policy. Guy at the front desk made it a point to tell me about that. Still waiting on my amenity points to post - they won't, so I will need to call.

3544quebec

I take it that you are referring to breakfast in the restaurant, because if you mean breakfast in the lounge was good then you are very easily pleased

merrickdb

I had a couple of stays at the property last month and earlier this month. The staff definitely tries to be great with upgrades--the three presidential suites are in the Platinum upgrade pool and the staff worked to move me to one even though it wasn't available the night I checked in. I had a chance to try a club floor room, one of the four junior suites, and two of the three presidential suites. As other posters have mentioned, the junior suites (and most or all regular rooms) have been somewhat recently refurbished, while the presidential suites have not. The presidential suites are a bit long in the tooth while the other rooms are quite modern and well-done. That said, the presidential suites are the size of 4.5 rooms (while the junior suites are a bit smaller than two rooms) with a great bathroom and windows on three sides. The hotel also gives Platinums a cheese plate and bottle of wine (and sometimes replenishes the wine) even if points is selected as the amenity. Havana Alfajores make for a nice turndown snack.

Lounge food selections are minimal, though the lounge has some food out from 6:30 - 11 a.m. (when breakfast is served) and from noon to 11 p.m. (when snacks are served). Breakfast is mainly sweet pastries with some fruit, cereal, eggs, and sausage or potatoes. Snacks were never anything hot, and were mostly just nuts or chips, but occasionally included a variety of cakes. Non-alcoholic beverages are free.

The front desk isn't allowed to change money, but was willing to pay out a small amount of cash for a taxi. The gym is, sadly, small and quite poor with old equipment, no TV, and no elliptical machines.

bpauker

Yes, I am easily pleased. My only requirement at breakfast is to be left in peace. The lounge was nearly empty at breakfast, and the attendant was hiding in the back. That was perfect for me.

The evening lounge offerings were pretty lame, though, which I'd forgotten about. Almonds and walnuts don't cut it. And the lack of self-serve drinks was rather lame, too.

iahphx

Frankly, I'm glad the lounge breakfast is a little lame. You need to be hungry for lunch in BA. How else will you eat your cow?

Once, I stayed here under a great package rate (I think it was a pricing error) that included the breakfast buffet. The buffet was nice, but definitely a mixed blessing. How much can you eat in a day?

CP@YOW

I just had stays at both the Sheraton Libertador (2 stays) and the Sheraton Buenos Aires, and I agree with most of the comments in this thread.

One thing I was really not impressed with is that the Libertador charged a 120 peso (US$30) early arrival fee for checking-in in the morning. I know that I can't expect a room to be available before the official check-in time, but if a room is available, I think it's pretty bad to charge an extra fee (particularly to a platinum member) when they have no extra cost. In contrast, the Sheraton BA club level team sent me a personal e-mail in advance asking me for my arrival time and when I arrived as planned (also in the morning) they were ready for me, with no fee.

I got a presidential suite on my first stay at the Liberator and a regular room on the second. I agree that the regular room was in better shape, i.e. more recently renovated. The presidential suite was huge, so big it was silly and a waste of space for 1 person.

The club lounge at the Libertador is barely adequate (in both quantity and quality of food), while the club lounge at the Sheraton BA is one of the best I've seen.

The two hotels are about a half-mile apart. For airport transfers, the Sheraton BA is conveniently right around the corner from the terminal of the Manuel Tienda Leon bus service (45 pesos / US$11-12 one way).

Nevsky

Agree with all of the above postings, including "how much food can you eat in a day?"!

changchi

Stayed between November 13 - 15, with SPG Gold card, got upgrade from standard room to junior suite on 21th floor (room 2104), the biggest junior suite of the three on the same floor. Room was very large and bathroom with jacuzy. Took free wine in the lounge club at night and used free internet computador for 5 min.
Staff was very friendly and nice.

djjaguar64

I thought you had to pay for non alcoholic drinks as mentioned by another poster?

noregrets

I just had an excellent experience at this hotel. My wife and I stayed there for 3 c&p stays (5 nights total) during our honeymoon to Argentina from 14-24 November.

I am an SPG Gold and we were upgraded every time to one of the junior suites, which are very new and nice, particularly the largest one room 2104. The staff were extremely courteous and helpful. For example, the front desk staff answered a slew of questions that we had, made change for our large peso bills a few times, and the doormen helped us with taxis and on two occasions spoke with the drivers on our behalf regarding the rates (very useful when you are heading to the airport). They were also happy to let us leave our luggage there for several days at a time as we explored other parts of the country. We will definitely go back to this hotel if we return to Buenos Aires.

jjbc

After spending 5 days at the W Santiago over Christmas, the family and I flew to BA. Based on some of the reviews, I had some concerns over this hotel, but it seemed to be very centrally located (which it is). As this was my first time to BA, I wanted to stay somewhere central so I reserved a few nites at a low BAR rate. Arrived, staff were friendly and advised me that they had upgraded me to a regular club room on the 18th floor. The room appeared to have been renovated, but still seemed a bit tired. It was a bit of a squeeze for three of us (daughter is only 5). But the room was adequate. Staff was friendly.

During the first stay, we never used the club lounge aside from obtaining a drink while planning our day. Got in the habit of staying up late for dinner and never really waking up on time for breakfast in the club lounge (even though breakfast is served until 11 am-- I think). Never used the club lounge in the evening as well so cannot comment on the offerings.

Overall, the best comparison I can probably make is that this Sheraton would compare to many US Sheraton airport hotel locations. Not bad, but not great. The staff members we dealt with were friendly and helpful to a certain extent and we do not have any complaints.

We took off to Montevideo and the hotel without hesitation stored our luggage for two nites.

We returned for three additional nites for NYE, booked on C+P. I am pretty certain that the hotel was booked solid, as I actually considered changing my reservation to another hotel (most of the hotels in BAs appeared to be sold out for NYE). When I returned to check in, the hotel upgraded us to one of the presidential suites. The room was huge. Probably the equivalent of 5 standard rooms (with kitchen), dining room, etc. Approx 1300 sf. Main washroom had a sauna as well as a large jacuzzi tub. The room, while large was quite dated.

This time around, we did wake up early enough to use the club lounge for breakfast, and it was adequate. Usually had runny eggs, some potatoes, fruit and pastries. One morning there were sausages and poached eggs. Overall, fine for a simple breakfast.

There were some minor issues about information and assistance on seeking restaurant reservations, but the hotel has no concierge.

Overall, if you temper your expectations, the hotel is fine. Location is central, but having now been to BAs, would probably stay somewhere else (perhaps the Hilton). One lingering issue I did have was that there was a strange smell throughout the hotel and in the dining room of the suite. It appeared to be food smells coming from one of the air conditioning vents. Thought it odd since we were on the 18th floor. Staff could not figure it out, so we bought some scented candles to deal with the scent.

Nevsky

Have stayed in the presidential suite many times there. There are also some smaller and very modern suites on the lounge floor. They are very nice.

The lounge usually has some nice pastries in the evening. The nearby Sheraton Buenos Aires Hotel & Convention Center has more elaborate food in its lounge. Still in Buenos Aires, I eat so much steak and gelato that I do not need much other food.

As you said, it is in a central commercial district. Recoleta, a fairly short taxi ride away, is the more upscale area.

I usually stay at the Libertador or the Sheraton Buenos Aires (or the adjoining Luxury Collection, Park Tower). The Libertador is a fairly small property and I am always treated well. An upgrade is important though as I find the standard rooms to be very small and one can hear all of the noise in the hallway outside (especially when doors open and close).

pdxdtw

Next week I'm planning to spend 2-3 C+P nights in either the Libertador or the Conference Center. The goal is to have a pleasant home base while searching for a nice short-term apartment and a good Spanish school.

My decision criteria are:
a) Nice, quiet rooms
b) Location -- some combination of an easy walk to nice areas or near a Subte station
c) Good gym -- am also hoping to get in shape during the trip and a nice hotel gym would be a good start!
d) expected value to a Platinum Guest

Seems like the Libertador has the advantage in b), and the Conference Center has the clear advantage in c), but I'm less clear on a) and d). Sounds like folks have had good upgrades in both hotels, so I'm particularly interested in the relative benefits of each for Platinums. Club level sounds better in the Conference Center, but a study of earlier posts suggests suites are readily available in the Libertador. Also the Libertador gets points for its viva la revolucion name. What have your experiences been?

Also any advice on preferred Spanish schools would be much appreciated!

On a related note--my DTW-EZE roundtrip flight only set me back 55,000 miles + $66.20 on UA, so there are some mileage deals available! Book yours while they last. Thanks for any guidance.

bizaro86

I have an upcoming stay here, which I converted from C&P to a priceline "name your price" stay when I got wind of availability for $50 per night.

As our stay is in the middle of a reasonably long trip, it would be a good place for us to do some laundry. Is anyone aware of a laundromat/laundry in the vicinity of the hotel?