fly co to see the yanks

thank you, rani. great review. that's too bad about the laundry, etc. over-charging.

how about the location? is it the business district and, accordingly, dead at night? good restaurants in the area?

tripadvisor.com gave it a #11 out of 150 hotels rated in B.A. the art hotel is ranked #12 and that is where my friend wants to stay. the Park Tower is over $200 per night and the Art Hotel is about $70 (including bfast) so i think the Art will win out, unfortunately.

AAEXP

Try the files (SEARCH). There are many threads on this property from the last two years that can be helpful to you and that are abso;utely up to date.

That said, it is not directly in the business district, but very, very close (5-10 min. cab ride to most downtown (micro centro) destinations) and 5 min to Puerto Madero, where you will find an abundancy of restaurants, some very good.

fly co to see the yanks

really? then perhaps you can point me to one or two of them. obviously, i did a search. what i asked for was "updates" per my December 10, 2004 and January 10, 2005 queries. i didn't start a new thread. in fact, i posted said queries in the most applicable thread after doing said search (and deciding this was the best thread to post the queries).

after rani posted his thoughtful trip report, i followed up with an applicable question, again in the current and most applicable thread.

i think this was the appropriate course of action. doing a search from threads "two years" ago isn't going to help me with updates post new years eve 2005, will it?

AAEXP

Did I critizize you for opening a new thread? No, I just suggested that you check past threads for info. They are there, and they are quite up to date. Words like Park Towers/Buenos Aires/Sheraton Buenos Aires will help you along. Due to the unwarranted negative tone of your post, I will abstain from using my time to identify such threads for you.

rani

The location itself isn't great, as in you can't walk out the door and be in an interesting area - but, as AAEXP said, it's a 5-15 min cab ride to anywhere you might want to go, and cabs are so inexpensive that we never went anywhere that cost us more than USD$4.

rani

As to restaurants, there is a wonderful thread in the Latin America forum started by Gaucho100K on Buenos Aires and Argentina that gives lots of great suggestions.

Unfortunately I haven't learned yet how to link in another thread but you should be able to find it easily.

rhetor

I did a search and pieced together some information about this hotel (I'm headed down the end of the month), but much of the search turned up stuff that was "incidentally" mentioned, focused on something very narrow ("butler service") or is out of date. Does anyone have any recent experience and can you tell me about their treatment of Platinums? Is there a lounge for breakfast? Thanks!

AAEXP

I would still take a closer look at "old" threads. There are some good info on PT BA there, and I do not consider this info to be outdated.

The PT is the best *wood hotel in BA. Rooms are well appointed, with large marble bathrooms with separate shower/bath/wc. High-Speed internet works well. Try to get "River View" high floor. Plt suite upgrades are hard to get by these days, as they have taken to offer these to Plt's for a nominal fee. If you get one of these pre-arrival upgrade offers, they are highly recommendable.

I still have the "butler" bring me free of charge "wake-up" hot drinks, which arrive with two croissants, freee of charge. A good tip makes this happen as clockwoork every day. My laundry is also still picked-up by a butler, so I am not really sure that the butler service is gone.

There is no Plt lounge. Buffet breakfast is served in the 2nd Fl restaurant and is included in many rates. Be sure to check. There is a very nice lounge area adjacent to the reception, where you can have coffee, drinks, light meals and conduct business meetings, however you pay for what you consume.

I normally get a bottle of Champagne as PLT amenity, but sometimes it's a bottle of good Argentinean red wine. Rates over 195 USD + Tax entitles you to free limousine arrival and departure airport transfer.

This is where I stay every time that I am in BA. Of non-*wood hotels in the same class (probably a notch better) is the Four Seasons and the Alvear Palace.

rhetor

Thanks, AAEXP -- this is very helpful. I was thinking of using *points or Points and Cash, but without a lounge, not much likelihood of an suite upgrade, and with decent hotels going for about $85/night in BA it doesn't sound like a very good choice (you pay $60 + 4000 points with cash and points or 12000 point as a regular redemption -- sounds like I can find a better use for that many points). Thanks again

mikeef

Okay, it is a luxury property, so I would expect it to be nice, but this property was unreal. Frankly, after returning from the property, I'm a little annoyed. After all, part of the fun of Flyertalk is complaining about the hotels, and this hotel was about as perfect as you get.

We arrived at 9:30 am off the red-eye from DFW and the Sheraton driver was waiting for us. The trip to the hotel took about 1/2 hour and there were bellmen waiting to help us with luggage right away. The bellman sat us at a check-in desk and several people came by to welcome us, offer us drinks, etc. Check-in was done in a matter of minutes and we chose points for the amenity. In fact, the person at the desk forgot to offer the amenity and my wife remembered right after we checked in, so to "apologize" for forgetting, the desk also sent up a local gift, a bottle of Dulce de Leche (a spread with a caramel/butterscotch consistency and taste; please also find under "Deadly sins: Gluttony").

The room was a superb suite in the --50 column, with a nice view and plenty of size. There was a second toilet/bathroom by the entrance and management had left us a bottle of wine and a tray of nuts, fruit, etc. The bellman showed us around the room and how everything worked, and was clearly not tip-grubbing. In fact, we practically had to chase him to give him a tip. I cannot tell if the bed was a Sweet Sleeper, but it was extraordinarily comfortable.

The bathroom was right off the master bedroom and had an oversized tub and separate shower and toilet stall. The shower could easily have fit two or three people and had an oversized rainfall-style showerhead. The tub had jacuzzi jets. There were two televisions, one in the bedroom and one in the living room. Have to go to the bathroom while watching TV? No problem: there was surround sound that pumped the television sound into the master bathroom.

We didn't get to the gym, but my wife did partake in the spa, where she had what she described as a great massage, and please believe me when I say that she is an expert. The massage was 180 pesos (approximately $60) for 50 minutes. The hotel has a couple of pools, and the indoor pool was small but well maintained.

We did have afternoon tea in the lobby, which was also excellent. Rather than getting a tray of food, we chose individual items off of a menu. We had finger sandwiches, grilled cheese, teas/coffees, desserts, etc. and the bill came to about $16. It was a bargain.

Breakfast was included in our rate, and was served in the Crystal Court restaurant on the second floor. The selection was excellent and ranged from various cheeses and meats to fruit and pastries. The pastries, like everything else in Buenos Aires, were filled with Dulce de Leche. The fruit was okay, although the strawberries were a little old (There, I finally found it--a complaint! The strawberries at the breakfast buffet weren't perfectly ripe. Okay, FT hat back on.). Service was, of course, superb.

When we checked out, we noticed that the hotel had charged us for the car service that the SPG line had told us was included. Ines, the excellent floor manager who always seemed to know our name, immediately took it off the bill, even though it turned out later that the rate did not technically include car service--we had been given incorrect information from the SPG line which, to be fair, had given us this info due to some misunderstood communication with the hotel. Still, we were pleased that the hotel did the right thing without question.

The staff at the hotel was one of the best that I have ever seen. It was warm and welcoming without being overbearing and we always felt like people were genuinely glad to help, rather than doing it simply because it was a job. William, if you are reading this, I hope that you pass along our kudos about the hotel and Ines in particular. They truly made the vacation.

Mike

techgirl

Seconding Mike's opinion about the stay there this weekend.

I was also upgraded to a suite and was given two bottles of champagne over the weekend. The guest services manager, business center manager, and at least three members of the lobby staff remembered me by name and greeted me as such whenever I walked through the lobby. Butler service was great - on more than one occasion I needed extra glassware brought up to the suite and they were on the spot with service.

I would stay here again in a heartbeat... a fabulous shining star for Starwood.

Anglo Large Clawed Otter

I booked a 4 Night Stay at the Park Tower (Luxury Collection) in Buenos Aires over Easter weekend. Was wondering if anyone here on FT has stayed there, and if so, what they thought of the hotel. Specifically, I'm curious to know what sort of room upgrade an SPG Gold can expect there, and if the buffet breakfast (which TripAdvisor folks have raved about) is complimentary to all guests of the Park Tower, or if you must book a specific B&B rate.

observer

It has been a couple of years since I was there. It's a very nice property, attached to a much larger Sheraton. The rooms were spacious and very well furnished. It's one of the few hotels I recall which ban housekeeping carts in the halls. At least a couple of years ago, the housekeeper went back to the service area each time she needed supplies or wanted to deposit soiled sheets, towels, etc. There's a nice bar/lounge area adjacent to the lobby. In short, a quality property.

tmartazu

I'll be staying at each of the following properties in about two weeks:

Sheraton Libertador
Sheraton Buenos Aires Hotel & Convention Center
Park Tower

I plan on reporting back on these properties when I return. However, I won't be able to report the Gold upgrade (since I'm Plat).

--tmartazu

mikeef

We stayed there as a platinum and loved it. It's one of our favorite hotels in the system. Service, room were wonderful.

I thought the breakfast was just okay, but load up on the dulce de leche. Uuuummmm, dulce de leche.

Mike