tazi

I just get a message that the promotion code has expired.

Starwood Lurker

That's because you can't do this online...and you never could for that matter. Just call the Customer Contact Center and ask what the possibilities might be.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

opushomes

Gee, do you think this might be why I found a better rate using other things??

The web-site is certainly not intuitively obvious, is it?

KathyWdrf

The thing to remember is that it's 50% off of Rack rate (the most expensive rate). @:-)

I did a quick rate check on spg.com and it appears that during the time period of the Cow Do (late Aug./early Sep. 2007), the cheapest Rack rates, for a Classic room, are $250. For a Club floor room, Rack is $300. So, if the SPG50 can be used on those, you're looking at $125 to $150/night, for up to 5 nights.

For that time period, there are prepaid, nonrefundable "internet-only" rates of $123, and NON-prepaid, "Ladhot" and "World Travel 6" rates of $129, as well as "breakfast package" rates including the full American buffet breakfast of $135. There are also AAA & AARP rates in the same general range, some prepaid, some not. (On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, there is an "Endless Weekend" rate of $125.)

And don't forget, add to any of these rates the IVA (VAT) of 21% (owie! ).

The point is, the SPG50 isn't likely to save you much, if anything. However, I urge you to do the research for your particular stay dates (because as we all know, rates vary depending on dates, length of stay, etc.), as well as to phone Starwood to see whether 1) the SPG50 would be accepted and 2) there would be any Rack rates that would yield a cheaper deal.

But my guess is, if it saves you anything, it'll be a few bucks at most, for this particular hotel in this particular time frame; say, $4 + tax per night, using the numbers above.

GUWonder

If earning SPG points isn't critical and you're not concerned about getting (or not getting) Starwood elite benefits, I'll just note that the local travel agencies -- at least several months back -- were known to have much better rates available for a good number of properties in Buenos Aires than were available on the hotels' websites.

Usually, but not always, this involved being given a voucher by the local travel agency to present at check-in. Then all the charges that came across were just the incidentals.

I don't know how amenable these travel agencies are for doing this from afar, but I've walked into about three or four in Retiro and the voucher approach has never given me any problems, particularly if not concerned about getting (or not getting) elite benefits.

Nevsky

I stayed at the Libertador earlier this year in a refurbished room, which was very nice, but I had a different noise problem. Every time a door on the floor opened/closed it made a lot of noise. I have never heard so much continuous noise from a door elsewhere. Has this been fixed or is this still an issue.

skye1

Taz...are you "set" on the Libertador?
Yep, I stayed there 4 last year's Cow Do & had no complaints...and was keen on staying there again. But, when needing to book an SPG hotel for my first couple of nights here in BsAs, I def. the Sheraton Buenos Aires/Convention Center was a LOT, LOT cheaper for some reason....and it's reasonably close to a lot one would want to do here.
Plenty of reviews of both posted about FT....but, if all you need is a place to crash post-Malbec'ing, you'd likely be fine w/ either.

KathyWdrf

Last time I looked at the rates during the Cow Do (late Aug./early Sep.), they are HIGHER at the Sheraton Buenos Aires than at the Libertador. @:-)

I tried to check the rates again just now, but the spg.com website just urped with the message "We're sorry, but a temporary error has occurred. Please try your request again. If you need assistance, please call 888-625-5144 in the U.S. or Canada, or contact one of our Worldwide Reservations Offices. Thank you. We apologize for any inconvenience."

So, I looked for rates on Expedia for the appropriate timeframe, and for the Sheraton B/A, they run from $142+tax, $156+tax, on up the scale -- more than at the Libertador, which Expedia shows for $122+tax on the weekend. N.B.: The Expedia rates I've quoted are PREPAID rates.

clublounger

Since we're discussing noise - I was at the Libertador in March for 2 weeks. Given a refurbished room. Across from the elevators. One elevator was new and the other hadn't been replaced. The NEW elevator made a loud DING everytime it opened on the floor, announcing the arrival, apparently. Could hear loud and clear inside the guest room. Worse was the phantom THUD that came from within the wall of this refurbished room. Intermittent, but sometimes as often as every 10 minutes. I changed rooms after the second day. Had to take an old room, on an upper floor.

Aloha

GUWonder

Libretador is usually cheaper, regardless of means used to book. There have been some exceptions, but those are exceptions and not routinely the case.

KathyWdrf

That's been my experience as well. I've stayed at the Libertador twice (in the last two years), and in both cases it was cheaper than the Sheraton B/A; hence my decision to stay there.

KathyWdrf

The main attraction of this hotel is.... location, location, location. @:-)

tenmoc

I would definitely second that. If I were ever to part with that much cash for my stays instead of renting an apartment for a week for the price of 2 nights here this would be my hotel of choice because of the location.

audio-nut

Was the sound you heard the master circuit for the room being switched when you put your room key into the slot on the inside wall near the door?



I just got back from a refurbished room there and I had no issues with construction noise. I did have some small issues with hallway noise so they did not soundproof enough when the did the remodel.


If you decide to stay here try and get the "Lad Promo 1" rate. For $135 you get "Buffet Breakfast, Free Access To The Neptune Pool & Fitness Center And Internet From Room Free Of Charge." It appears that the Pool access is also good for a half hour massage everyday. A second half hour is an additional 50 pesos. I found about the included message when I made an appointment for an hour and they told me that my rate plan included a half hour a day. YMMV

KathyWdrf

(Bolding mine.)

Wow! That massage is an undocumented benefit worth knowing about! ^ It would never have occurred to me that "pool & fitness center" access included a half-hour massage. And the additional half hour for 50 pesos works out to about $17 US. Do you get Starpoints for that as well?