Hotel recom for BA and Santiago? Tour suggestions?

[oldpinepond]

This is our first time to south America. We are crusing Golden Princess Santiago to Buenos Aires Feb 24-.

Can anyone recommend a hotel in Buenos Aires? Also Santiago. We have an overnight in each port.

 

We arrive 7:30 AM Santiago and thus have almost two days. Any suggestion on tours or independent activities - also recommendations on tour guides and transfers.

 

In Bueno aires, Ship arrives 6AM anyone have experience in timing for disembarking and customs? Also tour recommendations.

 

Any help you can give will be very much appreciated. We are very excited about the trip, especially reading all the wonderful comments. thanks all!!

[ddcruiser]

We leave for BA on Wed and have chosen Claridge Hotel there. In Santiago, Hotel Orly. Both have received wonderful reviews on Trip Advisor. We are hoping they turn out to be as good as people have said. Hope this helps. DDCruiser

[7SeasLover]

We arrive in Buenos Aires on March 24th (ship sails on the 25th). We are booked at the Buenos Aires Hilton.

 

We booked privatetours.com (Carlos) in Buenos Aires. They will pick us up at the airport, take us to our hotel to drop our luggage then take us on a city tour including shopping on Florida street. After shopping we will res and they will return in the evening to take us to a tango dinner show.

 

The next morning they will pick us up and take us to the flea market, then back to our hotel to get our luggage and take us to the ship.

 

Transfers, tours, tango show for 2 days was $150 pp.

[lizbeth]

Hi Ginny -

We are also at the Buenos Aires HIlton, checking in on Feb. 22 for our Feb. 25 sailing on Infinity. We hope to see you at the Hilton.

 

We have not booked our B.A. tours yet. Thanks for the tips about Carlos ... I will email him tomorrow.

 

See you soon!

Liz

[SHIPLUVR]

We were just in Buenos Aires, arriving a few days before our cruise. We stayed at the Claridge. I chose it based on my travel guide readings, trip advisor, etc. It was even better than we had imagined. Great location, not noisy, friendly and helpful staff, nice buffet breakfast and cozy English type lounge, small outdoor pool, our room was pretty with big bathroom, blowdryer, all the amenities - even a bidet! If we ever go back to Buenos Aires, we'd stay here again - it was wonderful; you won't be disappointed. Have a great cruise.

[Aussie Gal]

First of all we used Carlos of Private tours in B.A. last year and he was excellent. He took us to everything we wanted to see and it was a great tour.

 

I cannot help you with a hotel in B.A. as we were only there for a day, having embarked in Rio but our hotel in Santiago was wonderful and in a lovely area. It was the Ritz Carlton and we stayed there in late January last year. I got a great deal on their actual website.

 

Jennie

[br_luv2travl]

The Buenos Aires Hilton is in what they call "Puerto Madero", in the newly renovated port area of Buenos Aires, and not in the downtown hub as are the Claridge, Marriott Plaza and Sheraton Libertador. The Claridge is a very old hotel, hence the larger rooms.

 

The HIlton is in an area I would be wary about walking around after dark ... keep your eyes and ears keenly open!!!

[br_luv2travl]

The Buenos Aires Hilton is in what they call "Puerto Madero", in the newly renovated port area of Buenos Aires, and not in the downtown hub as are the Claridge, Marriott Plaza and Sheraton Libertador. The Claridge is a very old hotel, hence the larger rooms.

 

The HIlton is in an area I would be wary about walking around after dark ... keep your eyes and ears keenly open!!!

[shifty]

We just returned from our Infinity SA cruise, (and having been in Buenos Aires now twice), and make the following observations/recommendations:

 

BA is a great city, and all the hotels previously mentioned are fine. We stayed twice at the Park Elegance Kempinski Hotel in the Recoleta district, within walking distance of the Recoleta Cemetary (Evita's tomb). This is a small, boutique hotel. The previous poster mentioned the Puerto Madero area as a "port". This is somewhat misleading if you infer a large commercial port. It is really a gentrified canal-type area with yachts and historic boats, as well as a popular pedestrian promenade. We have had two fabulous dinners in restaurants right on the "canal" - Estillo Campo and Cabanas Las Lilas. We did not notice any crime problems in this area.

 

This was our first time in Santiago, a beautiful city. We stayed at The Sheraton, which was excellent & very convenient. It was within walking distance of one of the finest restaurants in Santiago - Astrid & Gaston - which we would highly recommend.

 

Enjoy your trip.

 

Mike S

[sunnysfla]

Thanks Mike - Now I have to ask... we are doing the Infinity on Feb 25th and staying in Recoleta at the LoiSuites - do you suggest that area for 2 people in their late 30's? We love the walking around areas with cafes and pubs (we are not club people).

 

And in Santiago, I was told to stay in Providencia area - Hotel Orly - what do you think?

 

It's overwhelming when you start to look at all the areas and all the hotels - I know there are different things for different tastes and age groups so any assistance would be wonderful. :D

[Bernerdaddy]

Thanks Mike - Now I have to ask... we are doing the Infinity on Feb 25th and staying in Recoleta at the LoiSuites - do you suggest that area for 2 people in their late 30's? We love the walking around areas with cafes and pubs (we are not club people).

 

And in Santiago, I was told to stay in Providencia area - Hotel Orly - what do you think?

 

It's overwhelming when you start to look at all the areas and all the hotels - I know there are different things for different tastes and age groups so any assistance would be wonderful. :D

"sunny"--

We're also traveling on the Infinity on the 25th! Have stop-gap reservations at the Marriott in BA, but Loi Suites seemed great too. I'm trying to get confirmation of booking at Hotel Orly in Santiago, but after two internet reservation requests, we haven't heard a word. Next, a call on Monday, I guess.

 

We're also looking for BA activities. I've emailed Carlos of Privatetours--again with no response! However, it looks as though tango shows and other entertainments are plentiful and we'll be able to book when we arrive on the 23rd.

 

If anyone knows the secret code that will produce a response from Carlos, please let me know! And we look forward to seeing all of you at the Cruise Connection party on board.

 

Carol

[shifty]

Thanks Mike - Now I have to ask... we are doing the Infinity on Feb 25th and staying in Recoleta at the LoiSuites - do you suggest that area for 2 people in their late 30's? We love the walking around areas with cafes and pubs (we are not club people).

 

And in Santiago, I was told to stay in Providencia area - Hotel Orly - what do you think?

 

It's overwhelming when you start to look at all the areas and all the hotels - I know there are different things for different tastes and age groups so any assistance would be wonderful. :D

 

The Loi Suites hotel is right next to the Recoleta Cemetary. It is also right next to an area that has numerous sidewalk cafes. I think it will be perfect for people in their late 30's. If you want cafes and pubs, you should go to the Palermo/Soho area (a cheap cab ride from Recoleta).

 

I'm not familiar with the Hotel Orly, but we stayed in the Providencia area (the Sheraton) & it too is just fine.

 

The only thing to keep in mind when traveling in South America is that, except for some members of the hotel staff (front desk & concierge) very, very few people speak english, ATM's often have no english instructions, etc.

 

It's still a great place to cruise/tour. Enjoy.

 

Mike S

[jojogo]

We are also sailing on the 25th but are checking into the Intercontinental on the 23rd. Does anyond know if we are near the others?

Did that make any sense?:confused:

[pacmktg]

Just got back from the Infinity sailing 1/14 - 1/28. We stayed in BA at the Claridge for 2 nights before the cruise. Great place and great location.

Bob

[BenLynn]

This is our first time to south America. We are crusing Golden Princess Santiago to Buenos Aires Feb 24-.

Can anyone recommend a hotel in Buenos Aires? Also Santiago. We have an overnight in each port.

 

We arrive 7:30 AM Santiago and thus have almost two days. Any suggestion on tours or independent activities - also recommendations on tour guides and transfers.

 

In Bueno aires, Ship arrives 6AM anyone have experience in timing for disembarking and customs? Also tour recommendations.

 

Any help you can give will be very much appreciated. We are very excited about the trip, especially reading all the wonderful comments. thanks all!!

We stayed at the Hotel Orly in December and it has a good location and price. For tours in Santiago we used Terracota Tours for three days of tours to various wineries,the city and transfers to the airport. I'd highly recommend them. In BA we used DeFranco for tours and airport transfers and they were excellent. If you have any questions about the tours you can email me at bgoldman@ssd.com.

Ben

[azkitty]

We are staying at the San Martin Plaza suites, slightly less $$ than the Claridge and also includes a breakfast plus has suite amenities with kitchen and sitting room or area and its centrally located like the Claridge so you can walk to most places. The bus from the airport ends up in Plaza San Martin, which is also convenient. We booked tours through Tourismo Mundo (for Valpariso to Santiago full day tour and airport drop off with private car also tango dinner show in B.A.) and GVTTours for a full day tour for Port Montt up in the mountains with lunch.

[Bookish Angel]

We stayed there enroute to Antarctica and it was quite nice. Quiet, clean, close to good restaurants, helpful staff, nice pool and spa, etc.

 

I would suggest Las Nazarenes for great Argentinian beef.