I guess I’ve always been something of a hostel person. Not out of choice mind you – if my economic situation had been rosier over the years, I’m sure I would have been living it up in the odd luxury, design, or boutique hotel now and again.

These days, my financial situation is little different, and still I wouldn’t be able afford to stay in such hotels. However, my current job as an independent tour guide here in Buenos Aires presents me with a glimpse over the other side of the fence, giving me a taste for the good stuff – so close, and yet so far.

However, as a tour guide, I also have to be quite resourceful on occasion. And so I have been able to come up with a few ways to enjoy the most wonderful, expensive Buenos Aires Hotels, but on a budget. Read on for my top five suggestions.

Top Five Hotels in Buenos Aires

5. Caesar Park Hotel, Recoleta

A solid luxury hotel in Recoleta, with fantastic interior design, service and location (right across from the upmarket Patio Bullrich mall). Costs around US$270 a night, which is approximately US$250 over my usual budget

So, how to experience this hotel without paying a dime? Just walk in the lobby and do your most confident impression of a paying hotel guest. Take the elevator up to the 17th floor, and take in the wonderful view of the Rio de la Plata, seeing right the way over to Uruguay on a good day. Exit soon after, before security come and give you the privilege of a personal escort out of the building

4. Bo Bo Hotel, Palermo Soho

One of the most coveted boutique hotels in Palermo Soho, the sub-barrio where boutique hotels seem to be popping up every week. The design is cool, modern, fun and ever so slightly pretentious, as you would expect from a place where the name stands for bourgeois bohemian. They even have themed rooms, ranging from Pop to Techno to Art Deco. And if that isn’t enough, the staff and restaurant also both get rave reviews. Rates are actually fairly reasonable, at about US$135 per night.

But you don’t want to pay that! Make do with a trip to the restaurant and a quick scan around the stylish hotel interior. To experience their eclectic international cuisine should set you back less than 50 pesos a head, and although the servings are fashionably small, they are still quite delicious, and you’ll get all of the bourgeois bohemian experience for a fraction of the price of a night in their hotel.

3. The Hotel Alvear, Recoleta

If you are a head of state, diplomat or just plain rolling in old money, this is the place to stay in Buenos Aires. Faultless old world style and service, the most desirable location on the most upscale avenue in the city (they even share the same name), and quite frankly, effortlessly the most classically beautiful hotel lobby, bar, cafe and restaurant in town. However, you’ll need to be rolling in old money to stay here – it’s probably going to set you back over US$400 a night!

For the rest of us mere mortals, the Alvear offers an alternative – and something of an institution for in the know visitors to Buenos Aires. Well, at least those that are in to tea and cake. For 55 pesos a head, you can indulge in an afternoon high tea at the Alvear’s beautifully appointed L’Orangerie cafe, and pretend you are rich for a few sweet, sweet moments, accompanied by a few sweet, sweet cakes and pastries. Just make sure you dress the part.

2. The Faena Hotel + Universe, Puerto Madero

The most fantastical hotel in Buenos Aires, fresh from the warped mind of designer Phillipe Starck, and the straining ego of Argentine entrepreneur Alan Faena. A potent combination, heightened by your own personal ‘experience manager’, there to respond to your every whim, as you create your own mini-universe within the swish former docklands of Puerto Madero. But don’t lose yourself quite yet… there’s the small matter of a US$400 per night bill to address at some point in time!

Fret not, for there is another way for the canny budget traveler like yourself to experience this hotel. Cocktails at the Faena’s “Library Lounge” (down the corridor on the right, just after the outdoor pool), complete with film set surroundings and kitsch mounted deer heads on the walls, should set you back about 30 pesos a go. Just make sure you check out the enchanting entrance corridor and toilets while you’re there (yes, even the toilets are out of this world at the Faena).

1. The Four Seasons ‘La Mansion’, Recoleta

This cute little mansion in the grounds of the Four Seasons hotel (see first picture at top of this post) is so expensive that only world famous rock and pop stars like U2, the Rolling Stones and Madonna can afford to stay there. And that must mean it’s great, right? Well, my economic situation means I can’t realistically confirm that, but the building certainly is a cut above most hotels – a wonderful turn of the 20th century French mansion house that looks plucked from the Loire valley. Let’s just hope the latest rock star in residence hasn’t thrown all the wide screen TVs out of the window

Let’s not even mention a nightly price for this place, and go straight to the ‘budget’ option. Sunday brunch downstairs at the Four Season’s La Mansion is a great chance to take in the full mansion house experience, while gorging yourself on the best breakfast in BA. OK, so it’ll set you back 125 pesos per person, but trust me, you’ll feel like a rock star throughout, and for a good while afterwards. Well, more accurately, you’ll feel a rock star does at breakfast, but we all have to start somewhere, I guess

In it for the money?

The reason I’ve come over all ‘top 5′ in this post is so as to enter a spiffing contest set up by problogger, one of my daily reads. And this isn’t any old blog contest – if chosen I could win a prize of US$1001 (!), which I promise, in the unlikely event of me winning, to partly invest in a night at one of the five hotels above, to see how the other side really do live, sin budget. In fact, I’ll take votes in the comments below for which hotel you think I should book and why, if I win, so please do make your suggestions in the comments section below.

And if I don’t win, maybe there is a kind manager at one of the above fine establishments who would like to offer me a free night of hotel accommodation (in return for a blog review here, of course)… pleeeeeaaaaassseeeeee???

Here’s hoping…

[PS - More pictures and hotel details to come to this post in an imminent update, when I get time]

This roundup post is late, as usual, so no messing around this week folks… let’s just get straight into the Buenos Aires, Argentina linky goodness from last week…

Buenos Aires Argentina Blog Posts of the Week

• Matt Bites, who appears to be thoroughly enjoying a holiday in Buenos Aires and the general Rio de la Plata area, penned a mouthwatering review of the La Cabrera parrilla in Palermo Viejo, one of the best places to eat meat in BA. Although… drinking Torrontes instead of Malbec wine as an accompaniment to steak… don’t they kill for such crimes against Argentine sensibilities round these parts?
• Matt Chesterton, editor of the Time Out guides to Buenos Aires, has been writing a fantastic series about hotels in Buenos Aires… my runaway favorite has to be his post on classic hotels in BA, mainly for his wedding night anecdote from the Hotel Castelar.. seriously, a must read!
• I couldn’t find a third Matthew to make this a ‘Mattrick’ of top blog posts (were there any other Matts writing about BA this week?)… so we’ll have to make do with the closest I could find…a Marc. He recently announced on Asado Argentina that he has launched a new photo blog of southern Argentina. OK, so it’s not Buenos Aires… but from time to time we city dwellers need to be reminded that real life does exist outside of the metropolis, and his first few pictures provide some beautiful examples of that fact

Things to See and Do in Buenos Aires

• The Argentina Travel blog had some more great tips and reviews this week for things to see and do in Buenos Aires, including the slightly totally crazy Parque Tierra Santa, a Christian theme park that sees an 18 meter Jesus Christ (!) resurrected every half hour. They also have the lowdown on the equally aesthetically pleasing Flor de Metal sculpture and El Ateneo bookshop, both to be found in the barrio of Recoleta
• More lovely pictures from Karine this week, featuring the Palacio de Tribunales building, a pretty San Telmo antiques shop, the Falklands war memorial monument in Plaza San Martin, and some Palacio Barolo facts and pictures, one of my favorite buildings in Buenos Aires, on one of my favorite streets, Avenida de Mayo
• A new entrant to the now splitting-at-the-seams Buenos Aires blogosphere is Discovering BA. Their first few posts include one with a nice picture and comment on another of my favorite buildings here, the French Embassy, jutting out there down at the end of 9 de Julio. One thing though… their blog has me down as ‘A Blog about BA Blogs‘ in their link list… a sign that maybe I should be cutting down on these roundups and ramping up on my own posts, maybe?
• Robert keeps us bang up to date on the renovations and new shade of pink being given to the Casa Rosada (Pink House), the presidential HQ of Argentina based in Plaza de Mayo. Looks like things are coming along really nicely!

Buenos Aires Info, News and General Comments

• Diva has been ranting and raving a lot lately – but it is all very entertaining so I hope she keeps it up, even if it does no good for her blood pressure. This week, she reveals the secret language of Argentine girls, questions why portenos are so proud of themselves, defines the intriguing Argentine phenomenon known as El Chanta (watch out for even more ranting and raving from anonymous commenters!), and analyzes a range of porteno men in their twenties. Hard-hitting stuff, keep it up Diva!

Buenos Aires Restaurants, Food & Drink

• In between rants Diva also found time to review one of her favorite restaurants in Buenos Aires, an Armenian restaurant in Palermo Soho called Sarkis, which was also reviewed a long while back by Saltshaker – both of these recommendations means that this place is easily number 1 on my restaurants to visit list right now – I’m hungry just thinking about it!
• After our recent trip to the Buller Pub in Recoleta, Ken wrote down our ‘imaginative’ joint tasting notes on the six Buller beers, and I soon followed suit with my own review of the Buller’s Recoleta BrewPub, which kicks off what will surely be a very enjoyable (for me) series of postings on where to find the best beer in Buenos Aires
• Robert is trudging through a similar quest to my beer holy grail, that of finding the best wines available in the shops of Buenos Aires. Oh the hardships we go through in the name of good blogging! You can read his latest finds in Divino Vino 9 – this week all from a Patagonian winery called Bodega NQN
• Slightly less appealing, but still very much a feature of Buenos Aires cuisine, is the honest, humble Super Pancho. Ken gets into the local spirit and tries out this most inexpensive of Argentine snacks

Funny or Odd Stuff in Buenos Aires

• A very strange story to end with this week. Ian from Goodairs reports that La Doce (The Twelth Man), the hardcore supporters of Boca Juniors football team, are exporting their special brand of hooliganism to the rest of the world for profit. Today Columbia and Mexico are taking advantage, but who knows, soon Rochdale vs Accrington Stanley in English League Division two will be seeing chants of “you can stick your flatcap up your ar*e”, before mass riots ensue, whippets and pint tankards flying in all directions.

Sorry about the lame/irrelevant Northern England football jokes at the end there, I just get carried away sometimes! See you all next week for another Buenos Aires blog roundup!

Well, amazingly, I made it to ten weeks of this Buenos Aires blog roundup. Quite an achievement for me, because each one involves a hell of a lot of reading, selecting, writing and linking each week. But I enjoy doing it, and it keeps me up to date with a lot of what is going on in Buenos Aires, plus I get to read so many interesting opinions about the city, and often see some absolutely stunning photos of BA.

So, onwards I go, with Buenos Aires blog roundup number 10…

Buenos Aires Blog Posts of the Week

• This week, my favorite posts are all about cool, hip things in Buenos Aires. And they don’t get much cooler than this: look at the new Adidas “I Love Buenos Aires” line – I really want the blue sneakers in the second picture! Thanks to Buenos Aires Spotting for noticing that, and for generally just being far to trendy for their own good…
• I am a big ‘indie’ music fan. Until this week, I thought there was no indie music in Buenos Aires… until Disco Shawn came to the rescue, and pointed out that a (possibly regular) indie night is starting this Friday at Club Niceto. I’m hoping I’ll be able to get to it, if any of my resident stalkers want to know where to find me this week
• Now, what could be cooler than some tips on how to pick up girls in Buenos Aires, I ask? Well, how about some crazy & funny tips from one of the girls herself? OK then, just don’t blame me or Diva when you get slapped five times in one night for trying her advice!

Things to See and Do in Buenos Aires

• Robert has some great photos of the life cycle of the Palo Borracho trees that you see so much of in Buenos Aires, which bloom a lovely pink, but also cause Robert a nasty allergy. Still, nice to see someone suffering in the name of good blogging!
• Ian Mount, on Gridskipper duty, notes that Buenos Aires’ supposed “Tango season” is almost upon us, starting with the annual Buenos Aires Tango festival from 28th February to 4th March, as is also noted on my own Buenos Aires events page
• Isabelle Lagarde has been busy Learning Spanish in Buenos Aires, and then spending her free time in buzzing, bohemian San Telmo on Sundays, then even finding time to write about it all. How does every else but me manage to be so productive? Hmph. Anyway, for more information along the San Telmo Sunday theme, you might want to check out my old post about Plaza Dorrego and the Feria de San Telmo
• My favorite pictures from Karine this week are of a plastic surgery clinic on top of a cafe in barrio Belgrano – hitting two of BA’s biggest vices in one fell swoop, some assorted pictures of the relaxing Palermo Parks, one of the cruise boats moored in Buenos Aires that have caused an invasion of 10,000 tourists into the city (just think of all those tango shows and steak dinners!) and a picture of a Persicco Ice Cream Parlor in Belgrano, which reminds me, I need to get back there to make a review soon, and of course to help feed my ice cream addiction further
• Ken takes a walk through the Reserva Ecologica Costanera Sur, a haven of peace and wildlife just a few minutes from the smog and craziness of Buenos Aires City Center. Next time you go Ken, I definitely recommend trying a Choripan from one of the stalls down there on the Costanera, delicious…
• Ken has been very active this week it seems, because he also took a four hour bike trip tour up to the north of Buenos Aires to Tigre and San Isidro (note – he didn’t cycle all the way there and back, that would take a lot longer and be quite dangerous I would guess! Of course, they took a train…)

Buenos Aires Info, News & General Comments

• Not only did Dalila’s Trendy Palermo Viejo make it into Clarin recently along with the rest of us Buenos Aires bloggers, but she also got featured in the New York Times last week. Now that really is hitting the big time! Congrats Dalila…
• Tango Cherie has some good tips for ladies, and a link, about how to present yourself at a tango milonga in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Restaurants, Food, Drink & Places to Stay

• El Desnivel is a great place for some traditional Buenos Aires steak or choripan (or indeed, assorted grilled animal organs) in San Telmo. Argentina’s Travel Blog has a nice review of it this week. However, in the area of hustling, bustling San Telmo parrillas, I still prefer Manolo. Has anyone checked out its new premises yet?
• Good news for us Brits! (even though it has nothing to do with us apart from its name…) Bar Britanico, that old San Telmo favorite, is back, as noted by Blog Pasa en Buenos Aires (Spanish) and Yanqui Mike. Fans of Che and The Motorcycle Diaries might be interested to know that the cafe scene at the start of the movie was shot in Bar Britanico.
• Matt Bites has a great review of Home, the boutique hotel in Palermo. It looks so great from his words and pictures that I wish I could afford to stay there to try it out. If the owners (fellow Brits, I believe) are reading… freebie night in exchange for a blog review, maybe?

Funny or Odd Things in Buenos Aires

• I always end up putting Diva in the ‘odd’ section just for the sake of it. I hope she doesn’t mind. Anyway, she needs, and deserves, a logo for her blog… hopefully some good design-minded soul out there will help her with this, on her way to achieving world domination before the year is out
• I think it’s extremely odd for people to come and live to a foreign country, like Argentina, and then moan about it all the time. I mean, what the hell are you doing here if you think everything is so bad? Go home! Fortunately, Miss Tango in Her Eyes seems to agree with my sentiment, with her post on how not to behave in a foreign country. Moaners, please take note…

Thanks again to all Buenos Aires bloggers for blogging, readers for reading, and bus drivers for getting me to and from work on time. Without you all, my world would be a sadder place… ’til next week, blog fans…

Answer: According to Google, it’s me, Alan of Buenos Aires Travel Guide “fame”!

A quick Google.com search for Buenos Aires Alan (and many similar variations) puts me at the top of the pile, ahead of one of the most famous and stylish people in Buenos Aires, Alan Faena…former fashion designer, Puerto Madero property mogul, and the man behind possibly the most swish hotel in Buenos Aires, the simply fabulous Faena Hotel + Universe (one of my top 5 luxury Hotels in Buenos Aires, no less!)

Alan Faena Sandwich!

Not only that, but four of the top five search results are relating to me, making the nice Alan Faena sandwich shown on the following screen capture…

Hence, according to Google.com, this here Alan’s a few times finer than the real Alan Faena! (Now that’s a bit of a tongue twister…)

This was the silly blog post up my sleeve I was referring to in this weeks Buenos Aires blog roundup…so there should be one more post to come from me this week, hopefully of a more serious variety.

I do apologize for the self-obsessed nature of this blog post…but I just had to point this out when I saw it after doing this “ego search” for me. To make things a little less about me, here is a picture of the real famous Alan Faena himself…

PS – In your face, Alan Faena!

24 Hours in Buenos Aires

This thought inspired the following blog post, an itinerary for which I would definitely need all 24 hours of the day to pack everything in. I hope at least some of my fellow bloggers in Buenos Aires will read this and be able to weigh in with their own post about their perfect day in BA.

Please read on for mine…

Perfect Morning in Buenos Aires

• My perfect day in Buenos Aires would have to start with breakfast at Cafe Tortoni (Avenida de Mayo 829, City Center), which is the cafe in a city of cafes. It is also the oldest, having 1st opened in 1858, and one of the most beautiful, with lovely wooden panelling, bevelled mirrors, Argentine artwork, a stained-glass skylight and colorful tiffany lamps. What would I have for breakfast? My sweet tooth dictates chocolate con churros, an old Spanish favorite; a thick, sweet hot chocolate drink with long, thin, sugary donut sticks for dunking.
• Exiting Cafe Tortoni, I would walk a few blocks down Avenida de Mayo (towards the Pink House), admiring the beautiful turn of the century art-nouveau facades and balconies along the way.
• Upon reaching the sign for Peru station on the Buenos Aires subte (subway) A Line, I would descend the staircase to go almost 100 years back in time. Line A became the first subway / underground in not just Latin America, but the whole of the southern hemisphere, when the 1st train ran here in 1913. Peru station has been beautifully preserved to look like it did back then, with period hand-painted adverts on the colorfully tiled walls, and the original kiosks and ticket offices. What’s more, the whole line was built by my fellow Brits, so it runs on the left hand-side, making me feel at home!

• A hop on the subway train, and I’m off down to station Saenz Pena. Most of the trains are the original wooden carriages, with subdued lamp lighting on the inside which really makes you feel you have gone back in time. I usually travel in the first carriage, where a front window lets you watch as you snake your way through the underground tunnels; hold on tight for the bumpy, but fun, ride.
• I get off at Saenz Pena to enter the amazing Palacio Barolo building. I take a quick tour of the interior (available for 10 pesos from Monday to Thursday between 2pm and 7pm), which takes you up to the very top of the tower of what was once the tallest building in Latin America when it was opened in 1923. This gives you some of the best views available of the whole city and out across the river, including an excellent bird’s-eye view of Congress and back down Av de Mayo to the Pink House. The Palacio Barolo building itself is one of the most interesting structures in Buenos Aires, both architecturally and symbolically speaking. Robert Wright at Line of Sight does a super job showing this in both words and pictures, here, with exterior pictures and an explanation of its symbolism, and here, with wonderful interior shots and night photos taken from the roof. And here is my slightly blurry effort of the daytime view to Congress from the Barolo tower:

• Then it’s back down into old Line A of the underground and a ride up to the Castro Barros station in Almagro, although I always call that area Caballito (it’s basically on the border between the two, and Caballito is the better known barrio).

A Cake-o-holic’s Lunch in Buenos Aires

• On a corner very close to the Castro Barros station is Cafe Las Violetas (Avenida Rivadavia 3899, Almagro). As previously confessed, I am a cake-o-holic. The picture in that link is of me stuffing myself with a huge plate full sandwiches and sweet, sweeeeeet cakes at Las Violetas. I can’t think of a better way for me to have lunch on my perfect day in Buenos Aires. Las Violetas also happens to be one of the other more beautiful cafes in the city, with even more stunning stained glass than Tortoni. But it’s their cakes that really do it for me! Robert Wright, once more, has some good pictures of their cakes and stained glass, and here’s a photo of Las Violetas from me as well, to keep you going:

• Now I waddle to catch a taxi on Rivadavia, and head over to Plaza Francia in Recoleta, to walk off, ooh, around 1% of the calories from lunch in its grassy sloping hills.

An Argentine Afternoon

• Plaza Francia leads into Recoleta cemetery, which just so happens to be my favorite place for a stroll in Buenos Aires. Now that might sound a little bit morbid, but it’s nothing like that at all. It has some amazing architecture, ranging from Egyptian Art Deco to over the top French sculptures, and (literally) contains some of the most interesting Argentine figures from the last few centuries, with many stories to be told. And it’s not all about Evita…personally, I prefer all of the many resident cats! You’ll see when you visit!

• After I’m finished seeing dead people, there is nothing better to do than sit and have afternoon coffee in La Biela, possibly the most upmarket cafe in Buenos Aires, and a Recoleta landmark. It’s my perfect day, so it is sunny, and I’ll sit outside under the shade of the massive ancient gomero tree.
• Then I walk a few blocks through upper-class Recoleta, until the corner of Santa Fe and Callao, where the Un Altra Volta ice cream parlor is found. I have my usual, a quarter kilo of dulce de leche and chocolate amargo gelato, in the quiet of their nice outdoor patio.
• Next up, it’s the expat’s favorite mode of transport, the 152 bus along Marcelo T de Alvear, to Plaza Italia in Palermo. From here, its a pleasant walk through the green parks of Palermo, until El Rosedal / the Rose Gardens.
• After admiring the blooms in the last light of the day, I patter around in a ‘pedal boat’ on the Rosedal’s lake, as the sun goes down…

Exceptional Evening of Eating & Drinking

• After sunset at the lake, it’s a brisk walk back to Plaza Italia to take the subway to Plaza San Martin (first Line D, changing to Line C at 9 de Julio).
• Here I would definitely partake in a pre-dinner gin and tonic, in the lovely, expensive, Art Deco style bar downstairs in the Marriott Plaza Hotel (Florida 1005, facing Plaza San Martin), and then almost certainly some kind of silly fruity trago (cocktail) at the small, colorful, arty Dada bar (San Martin 941, Retiro) a couple of blocks away.
• Now we’re well lubricated, it’s a short stumble down the block to the El Establo parilla restaurant (corner of San Martin & Paraguay), one of my favorite places for a succulent Lomo steak, papas fritas, and an ensalada mixta (a simple classic; tomato, lettuce & onion, with oil and vinegar) even though the waiters will undoubtedly advise that this is too much for me – but, I’m English, so I will not let that phase me. Of course, it’s all washed down with a nice glass of Malbec red wine, and maybe finishing up with panqueques con dulce de leche (there’s my sweet tooth again), if I am not feeling too stuffed by then.

Night-time to morning: No time for sleep in BA!

• After all that indulgence, some exercise is definitely in order. A nice stroll down the slope to Puerto Madero, seguing into a night-time walk along the lit-up docks, and past the beautiful Puente de la Mujer, is the perfect after dinner activity in Buenos Aires.

• But don’t stop there! Continue along the docks to the Faena Hotel + Universe (Martha Salotti 445, Dique 2, Puerto Madero) and don’t be shy…walk in confidently, non-guests of the hotel are still extremely welcome here. There is no better place in Buenos Aires to have a couple of mega-expensive cocktails than in their breathtaking cocktail bar – the design is simply out of this world (or universe). And the staff treat you like royalty (there is even the odd gold throne to sit on!) – all of this actually makes the expensive drinks worthwhile! (for more about this, see my post on the top 5 expensive Hotels in Buenos Aires, and how to enjoy them on a budget)
• It may be well into the middle of the night by now, but in Buenos Aires that means most people are probably still getting ready to go out! And so, I hail a taxi to take me all the way back to stylish Palermo Hollywood, to enter Niceto Club (Niceto vega 5510, Palermo Hollywood) – there’s no line to wait in, because I’m probably still a little early by BA standards (it’s difficult for a Brit to ever fully adjust to this!) – and it’s time to dance through to the morning, porteno style, among a crowd that are far trendier and better looking than I’ll ever be. Still, maybe something will rub off!
• As the sun comes back up, it’s time to exit the club and go for breakfast! Coffee and medialunas in any small, neighborhood cafe will do at this point, before I finally fall into bed, with my apartment windows shuttered, to sleep through the rest of the daylight hours…

Your Perfect Day in Buenos Aires?

I’m also extremely interested to hear other people’s fantastical perfect days in Buenos Aires! It doesn’t have to be as long as mine…maybe just a few things you really enjoy seeing and doing most in BA, it could be one thing each for morning, afternoon and evening, or more, or less, with or without photos, a few hundred words or a few thousand…whatever…I’m just interested to see what other bloggers here would say they love to do most in our great city.

Participating in the Buenos Aires perfect day meme

I hope some other Buenos Aires bloggers are able to write a post on their hypothetical perfect days in Buenos Aires. If you do write a blog post, please title it like mine, “My perfect day in Buenos Aires”, to help me when I use the internet trend trackers Technorati or Google Blog Search for tracking your responses, if there are any (I hope at least one person responds!)

Finally, if you don’t have a blog, you could always post your perfect Buenos Aires day in the comments below. Thanks!

[4th - 10th December 2006]

Hello and welcome to the first of my new weekly highlights posts covering what has caught my eye in the Buenos Aires blogosphere. Think of this a kind of a low-brow Global Voices Online solely covering BA.

Unfortunately, I can’t write in this blog as much as I would like to, but there are many other excellent blogs about BA out there – and so I am going to let them do some of the work for me! Most of the ones I know of can be found listed over at the excellent Bloggers in Argentina.

Each week I will link to the best blog posts I have read that I think will be of interest to visitors to Buenos Aires, and post the links up here, with a little commentary added. If I have missed something interesting out or seem to be overlooking a whole blog completely, please comment below to draw my attention to it. Here goes (warning, there is a lot this week!)…

Buenos Aires Sights

• To start proceedings off on a sobering tone, Line of Sight blogged about the building that once was the Argentine army’s intelligence HQ, the first stop for many detainees on their way to be tortured and ‘disappeared’ (i.e. killed) during the last military dictatorship here. Such a sad, horrible period in Argentine history.
• On a lighter note, Jeff Barry took some nice pictures of a replica of a Greek temple in Parque Lezama, San Telmo, which reminds him of a Borges story. Although a whole lot of things do seem to remind him of Borges. Then again, he is one of the greatest writers of recent times, and Argentine at that, so he is worth being reminded of. Borges that is, not Jeff, although Jeff’s excellent blog is indeed worthy too of a reminder now and again.
• The Argentina Travel blog put up an excellent review with pictures of the barrio of La Boca in Buenos Aires, including a little about the mighty Boca Juniors football team and the colorful Caminito street – a staple pilgrimage for most tourists in Buenos Aires.
• Buenos Aires Weekly has some useful facts and lovely pictures of both the Obelisk and the Pink House – two tourist attraction stalwarts of Buenos Aires.
• Tango Cherie has a link to an article she had published about lovely old Line A of the Buenos Aires Subway system. It’s British built, don’t you know, just like me, though the similarity stops there. I wrote a dirty joke here, and then remembered that children might read this. I’m sure you can imagine it!

Tours, Trips & Museums in and around Buenos Aires

• Expat Argentina gives tips on where to stay and what to do in Tandil, a place for a potential weekend getaway from Buenos Aires, about 3 hours away from the city by car. I’d love to go just to see their replica of a large rock that once (rolled and..) broke. Rock and roll, man!
• Trendy Palermo Viejo brought to our attention, in three languages, a new museum about the equine sport of polo in Buenos Aires. Every time I see it, I am more and more impressed with a blog that writes in three languages. Shame on my monolingual excuse of a blog.

Buenos Aires Info, News & General Comments

• El Sol Ardiente, who will sadly shortly be leaving his beloved Buenos Aires, gave a ceremonial run down on his top ten and bottom ten things about the city. Then he remembered a couple of extra things, but I’ll let him off for that original oversight…he must have been getting emotional at the thought of waving goodbye to this wonderful country.
• Line of Sight does some inventive things with planned subte (subway) maps, and shows us combined plans for the way the Buenos Aires subte system will look. Eventually, hopefully…
• More trilingual trickery from Palermo Viejo, with the impressive news that Buenos Aires is the second best city in the world for shopping. Eat that Paris, languishing down in lowly ninth place. Yes, I mean YOU, the ‘Buenos Aires of Europe’.

Places to Stay in Buenos Aires

• GoodAirs posted about a rather costly new addition to the burgeoning ranks of boutique hotels in Palermo, in this case, one that would eat itself if it were a jar of dulce de leche.
• Back at the Argentina Travel Blog, they have a nice review of the Milhouse Youth Hostel, in Montserrat for all you dirty, greasy backpackers out there. For the record, I am also a dirty, greasy backpacker. I just got lost in Buenos Aires and someone tied me to this computer chair until I wrote everything there is to know about Buenos Aires. The 1000 monkeys in the next room are currently beating me in this task. But only just, and they do have an unfair advantage…they can touch type

Buenos Aires Restaurants, Food & Drink

• I wrote an excellent review of the California Burrito Company restaurant, if I don’t say so myself! Check it out if you are missing spicy food in Buenos Aires! That was my only post this week; consider my wrists slapped for being such a lazy sod…
• Blog Pasa en Buenos Aires (in Spanish), the funky city of Buenos Aires government weblog, declared what all foodies have been anxiously waiting for. Yes folks, the milanesa napolitana, pizza con faina, and sorrentinos are all now officially part of the patrimonial culture of Buenos Aires.
• In case you don’t know what all of those foods are; a milanesa is a thin piece of breaded meat (usually chicken or beef), with the napolitana part consisting of tomato sauce, ham, melted cheese and tomatoes places on top of it. Pizza con faina is pizza eaten with a slice of chickpea-based pie (faina) on top of it. Sorrentinos are massive raviolis, usually filled with cheese and ham. Beware, soon there will be legislation declaring these foods the only legal meal options in Buenos Aires restaurants. Sorry, no sushi for you…
• That last part was a blatant lie. Please keep reading even though I have now probably lost your trust.
• If you are still reading, good. If you are still reading AND like fish, check out Saltshaker’s review of the fish at the Lo Rafael restaurant in the barrio of Montserrat. And if you ever want to read reviews of fish restaurants in Buenos Aires, check out Saltshaker and not this blog because 1.) He knows more about good food than I do, and 2.) I am viciously allergic to fish. Kind of puts a large, death-related obstacle in my way…
• Beer. I love beer. I miss beer. Mmmmmm….beeeeeeer. This is my kind of post: Beer. Thanks to the Asado Argentina blog for…beer. This blog post was also brought to you by the power of beer (can you notice?)

Funny or Odd Things in Buenos Aires

• Diva, over at Buenos Aires through my eyes, made a couple of interesting observations this week (well, she does most weeks I guess). Firstly she noted that only 4 people turned up for a ‘flashmob’ event where free hugs were on offer, whereas over 3,000 people had brought the pillows to the ‘lucha de almohadas’ in order to beat the hell out of each other.
• She also raised a smile by relating the heart-warming story of an American who thought McDonald’s invented that most Argentine of sweets, the Alfajor de Maizena, because of its uncanny resemblance to a miniature hamburger. Sweet!
• What’s that you say? Ricky Martin was in Buenos Aires this week? Why do I always miss out on all the fun? Luckily for us, Robert Wright had the pocket Latino popster in his Line of Sight, and in the line of his camera lens too. And he even threw an interesting conspiracy theory into the post for good measure.
• Robert also wins the workaholic blogger of the week award. He also posted some excellent pictures of stencils in Buenos Aires, with translations and explanations. He has posted many of these before, this was in fact number 34 in the series! Search back through his blog if they interest you.
• Miss Tango In Her Eyes and her female friend are given some enthusiastic appreciation from the chicos in Puerto Madero, for the sum of their parts, which I suppose must be pretty darn impressive.
• Daily snapper Karine did some rapid fire posting of different Buenos Aires Kiosks, in all of their magazine-bling glory, here, there, and even round the corner from my fiancée’s apartment! Small world, indeed…
• In her other blog, Buenos Aires Weekly, Karine was one of the first to break the exciting news that Barbara Bush’s cell phone, stolen recently in San Telmo, had supposedly been put up for sale on Mercado Libre (the Latin American eBay), with a bargain starting price of AR$1000. Not bad when you consider it contained the phone numbers of both George W Bush AND Michael Jackson, offering the once in a lifetime opportunity to conduct a ’stupidest person on the face of the planet’ contest, in real time. Unfortunately, the offer was soon removed, surely because the current owner realized that was a chance that couldn’t be passed up.

My plea to Buenos Aires bloggers: please write less interesting posts in the coming week so I can get some sleep!

However, as I am a glutton for punishment, if I have missed an interesting Buenos Aires blog post this week, please post a link to it in the comments below. Thanks!

Check Room Rates & Availability

The Four Seasons is one of the most expensive luxury hotels in Buenos Aires. But does it live up to it’s high price tag? Read on for my full review…

Four Seasons Location

It is equidistant between the heart of Recoleta and the Microcentro, and so it is within walking distance of many major attractions (i.e. Recoleta Cemetery, Teatro Colon, The Obelisk, Avenida Alvear, Florida Street, Puerto Madero, Plaza San Martin). Obviously it is also perfectly placed for a very short and cheap taxi trip to any of these places.

The Four Seasons is found close to the end of busy Avenida 9 de Julio, but at that point the noise is not really noticeable. In fact quite the opposite – it is a peaceful, nice area to stay in, where you would not realize how close to the center you actually are. Add to the mix the fact that some of the best (high range) shopping and restaurants are in this area, and you have one of the best hotel locations in Buenos Aires.

Hotel Rooms

As you would expect in this price range, the rooms are very large, of course very clean & well turned out, tastefully decorated and perfectly furnished, but nothing over the top in extravagance.

The bathrooms are also lush, with nice features like high quality bathrobes, luxurious towels and lovely fluffy slippers. Also the shower and bath are oversized with marble everywhere, the shower being especially nice after a long day’s sightseeing, as it has a huge showerhead with an amazing rate of water flow & pressure. The beds are superb, with a down comforter. All in all, very, very impressive.

Hotel Service

Also for the price, you would expect the staff to keep you well looked after. And they go beyond that, especially the attentive and knowledgeable concierge desk. Make the most of them – ask them to organize, among other things, restaurant reservations for you – you will also get much better service at the restaurants by doing so, due to the power of the Four Seasons name in Buenos Aires!

Most that stay in the Four Seasons say the main factor that sets it apart from other hotels in this upper price range is their outstanding service. Nice to know they are working hard for your money! Extensive personal attention is given to every guest, and you will often be referred to by name by staff you have never seen before. They are on the whole genuinely kind without being over the top, intrusive, or sycophantic.

Nice extras like fresh fruit every day are a bonus. And, if anything does go wrong, they will fix it in a flash and usually provide something complimentary for your trouble.

Check Room Rates & Availability

Four Seasons Features

• Attractive outdoor pool to the rear of the hotel.
• Seven suite turn of the 20th century French style chateau/mansion with 24 hour butler service, where rock stars like U2 and the Rolling Stones stay (complete with crazy fans camping outside day and night!) when they are in town. However, it comes at a supreme cost. For example, it is US$3,500 a night for the presidential suite inside the mansion! If that is a little out of your budget, you can still appreciate the amazing architecture inside the mansion by taking sunday brunch there, but even that costs over US$80 for two people.
• Gorgeous gym and impressive spa (the latter is also an expensive added cost).
• Business center to check email etc, free use, with complimentary drinks.
• Cellular phone for local use, but beware, the minutes are very expensive.
• The hotel restaurant is called Le Mistral, and is a quality, opulent establishment. However, there is such a wealth of great restaurants in BA, with many offering far better value for money, so it probably wouldn’t hurt to give it a miss.