Buenos Aires/Mendoza recommendations?

[Festy]

My husband and I are planning our honeymoon in March and will spend about a week in B.A. I would love to hear recommendations for neighborhoods, hotels, you name it! Ideally, we''d stay in one of the many boutique hotels that seem to have a lot of character. The problem is choosing which one, or even narrowing down a neighborhood! If you''ve been, I''d love to hear your experience.

We''re also planning a side trip to the Mendoza region. I''ll take whatever you''ve got!

 

[katamari]

Not sure about BA, and have not been, but FI and I considered Argentina for a bit for our DW. We looked into Cavas Wine Lodge and Ranch La Figura. We decided to go in another direction, but both came highly recommended from friends.

 

[movie zombie]

TERRAZAS DE LOS ANDES "Affincado", Mendoza 2003 just had this wine {$95/bottle} at a fine restaurant [The Plumed Horse, Saratoga] and if i were going to be in the Mendoza area, i''d be wine tasting here:

http://www.terrazasdelosandes.com.ar

movie zombie

 

[swimmer]

Hi Festy, great choice! we went to BA for our honeymoon and stayed in the Recoleta neighborhood. It was wonderful, so walkable and romantic. Polermo is also a great hood for botique hotels. We stayed in a guesthouse, very sweet people, not very honeymoon like, but it was fantastic to meet people who knew the best milonga (tango dance place) to go at night and where the steaks would be cheap and the wine awesome. Oh, if you are a vegetarian, this is perhaps not the greatest place for you to vacay, it is all about the meat. And shoe shopping. Friends have a travel service where you can rent out ex-pats'' apts and they can book day trips and other little things for you, their website is link they are both American and Argentine and are super friendly!
When my brain wakes up I can answer specific questions, but there are some Argentines on this site.

 

[CrookedRock]

What a great trip! I can''t help much with Mendoza, but I have heard good things. We''ve spent a good amount of time down there over the last 2 years. We loved it so much we actually own a bunch a property and are in the final stages of the designing of our house in Cafayate, which is in the Salta region. Another gorgeous wine country in Argentina.
Buenos Aires is an amazing city, it''s sheer size is breathtaking. I have normally stayed in the Recoleta district, but we decided on our next trip that we will def stay in Palermo Soho. Recoleta has all the touristy attractions that you def want to go see and do, but you don''t want to do them over and over again. I loved the Soho area though, tons of cute boutiques and sidwalk cafes. I have to tell you about this incredible restaurant in Soho... Casa Cruz. Amazing place, tough to find bc it''s unmarked, you just have to look for the huge doors they have. Your hotel will know where it is. This is a really nice meal in Argentina (I''m kinda talking about price). Most meals can be had very reasonably, but Casa Cruz was pricey, although very worth it.
I also want to reccomend our guide that we use everytime we go. She sets up all transportation, will do tours of the city and history of the neighborhoods etc... She''s amazing! She also arranges all of our in country travel for us. One of our favorite things we did is take a day trip outside of BA to an estancia with her. We spent the whole day lounging at a beautiful home, eating amazing food, drinking mate'', and horseback riding. Absolutely perfect to break up the stay in the city. Her name is Maria and her company is here... http://www.sharingargentina.com/
Let me know if you have any more specific questions! I love Argentina so much... actually I have 2 friends there now who areusing Maria as well! LOL

 

[Festy]

Katamari - thanks for the recommendations! I''d seen the website for Cavas and it looks spectacular! I''m hoping we can fit it into the budget. I''ll certainly check out the other one you mentioned.

MZ - thanks! It''s going in the honeymoon file, for sure!

Swimmer - would you mind sharing the names of the places you stayed? I''d also love to hear your opinion (and this goes for CR, too) on the Recoleta neighborhood vs. Palermo. I''m looking into the Home Hotel, which is in Palermo Viejo, and is a bit off the beaten path. I''m not sure if we''re going to want to be so far from the center of things. However, it does have an outdoor pool, something that is tough to find in these small hotels, it seems. Thanks for the link, I''ll check it out.

CR - holy cow, you are livin'' the dream! I''d also love to hear your opinion of Recoleta vs. Palermo. The hotel in Palermo that I mentioned above sounds really unique and well suited to design buffs like us. Very modern, with Scandanavian touches. Thanks for the restaurant tip, too. I am gearing up to eat a lot of beef! Thank you so much for the referral. From her website, it looks like Maria could also help us plan our trip to Mendoza. Do you have any particular hotel recommendations?

 

[CrookedRock]

I wouldn''t recomend the hotel I stayed at before. We kinda did it last minute and didn''t want to spend the bucks for Avelar... If I were to stay in the Recoleta district again I would stay at the Hyatt. We found ourselves there having drinks everynight in the Cigar Bar. So beautiful!
Honestly Maria made our arrangements for us. And the only thing we didn''t listen to her on was our BA hotel, and we regret that! LOL I would email her and talk to her about arranging the trip for you. She takes care of all our travel even up to Salta. She even arranged a trip to Patagonia for my FI and his father when they were scouting out real estate.
Listen to her recommendations, they are spot on! LOL