Hotel: Own Palermo Hollywood
Dates: March 19-March 24, 2013
Rate Paid: $142.50 + $30 taxes / night
Total $ Savings: $0
Points Earned: 3,040 United Miles
As I mentioned last week, we decided to check out the Buenos Aires boutique hotel scene instead of sticking to the usual corporate chains (Starwood, Hyatt, Hilton, etc).
Since we didn't want to miss out on earning points (in addition to the 2x credit card points for paying with my mother's Chase Sapphire Preferred card), my father booked the hotel through the website Pointshound.com. As I've discussed before, it works very much like Expedia.com or Hotels.com, except that instead of giving you another loyalty program currency, you get airline miles that you'd actually want like United MileagePlus miles or Hawaiian Airline miles. So for our 5 night stay at $142.50/night (excluding taxes), we earned 3,040 United miles or about 4.3 miles per dollar spend through Pointshound.
We read great reviews on TripAdvisor about the great customer service (including free wifi and breakfasts) and the cozy feel as being a truly welcomed guest instead of just a room number.
When we pulled up in the cab from the airport, someone came out right away to help us with our bags. So far, so good. Check in was prompt as there are only 16 available rooms in the entire hotel so they were expecting us. We were escorted to Room 101 on the 1st floor (2nd floor if you're an American) and I immediately ran onto the colorful bed. Bright colors make me very happy.
Unfortunately, I was going to be sleeping in the pack and play that the housekeeping staff set up shortly after we arrived. It was a standard pack and play set up, but they did put in a nice soft pink blanket, baby sheets, and a colorful baby pillow for me. Nice touch!
Then I went to check out the "bathroom area" as my father started to put our bags away. There wasn't a closet but there were hangers, drawers and storage space next to the door. I tested one of the two sinks. It worked. Underneath the sink, there was a small mini fridge (filled with water, juice, soda and beer) and the mini safe. Behind the sink area, there was a frosted glass door that opened into the toilet/shower area.
Overall, the Own Palermo Hollywood did a good job in the service department. The front desk workers were very helpful and housekeeping did a great job cleaning up after me.
Unfortunately though, they were too"green" (in terms of environmentally focused) and didn't wash our towels or sheets as often as we would have liked. Personally, I find the whole "green" initiative at hotels just their acceptable way to save money (as well as water/energy).
Free WiFi and breakfast included in our rate were two of the perks of choosing this hotel. Unfortunately, we didn't find them that great.
- WiFi was spotty (like your apartment's WiFi router when it doesn't have a password to keep all your neighbors from stealing signal)
- Breakfast was "continental" (ie, toast, coffee, cereal, yogurt and/or fruit). We had breakfast the first morning, but then the other days, we went out to sample some of the neighborhood's awesome restaurants.
I think we'll probably try another hotel next time we're in Buenos Aires (which will be in 10 days).
We did however, LOVE being in Palermo, both the gritty reality of Hollywood and the yuppie charm of SoHo. My mother especially found the tree-lined streets and leisurely pace of life in Palermo much more enjoyable. The tons of boutique shopping probably didn't hurt either.
This area was a stark contrast to the hectic businessman/tourist-ridden areas like Puerto Madero or Microcentro. Those parts of town were very much like Midtown Manhattan... but in Spanish.
You chose a great place! Congrats! I am glad you enjoyed the time there!
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