David B3069
01-25-09, 14:35
My first trip to BA was not much like I expected. I arrived on a 10:30am flight from Quito, Ecuador where I live. I didn't have a hotel reservation in advance as this was a last minute trip (booked and flew the same day) I figured I would book hotel while in route but didn't end up doing it.
I made my way to the Hilton in BA first which turned out to be a mistake. They started out trying to push a suite on me for $400+ a night saying they didn't have any other rooms available. After talking with the manager, they did have rooms available but would still be charging $200+ a night. I ended up leaving there without getting a rate I was willing to pay.
I ended up being taken to the Hotel Nogaro on Julio A. Roca (500 block) The staff was very friendly and tried to accomodate my every request. As I discovered very quickly, a lot of BA people speak very good English. While not necessary for me, it would come in handy for people here. I paid $120 a night for my room at Nogaro. That includes an awesome breakfast buffet (as good as I've seen anywhere) plus internet (in the room plus in the lobby) Room safe is also included at no extra cost. Cleaning service for clothes was also very reasonable. It appears there was some convention or something going on in town as a lot of places were booked solid and the prices were sky high.
I went to sleep for a few hours and made my way out that night around 6pm. My first stop was in the Palermo area. I felt like I was in Europe more than SA on this trip to BA. As it was my first trip, I had no idea what to expect. Most of the city that I saw features outdoor cafe style locations like Europe. The prices were not too bad at the cafes. About what I'd expect.
I was itching to try some of the strip joints in town and see what they were like. I made my way to the Recoleta area. I stumbled on the Solid Gold place first. While not open yet, someone claiming to work there was friendly enough. He took me down to where Hippopotamus was.
My first mistake was I assumed the prices were high but didn't ask how high. Although it's not like me not to ask, for whatever reason I didn't. They are charging 80 pesos ($27) for any drink of a customer or 150 pesos ($50) for any drink for a lady. I had bought numerous drinks at these prices before finding out how expensive the place is. They also have a 80 peso entrance fee which I didn't pay (I arrived early) but does include at least one drink. I ended up with a $530 bill which I was sure at first must have been in pesos. Nope. Dollars. I ended up having to return to my hotel with a guard to bring more money to pay my tab (as I'm not going to carry that kind of cash around the streets of BA)
To the credit of Hippopotamus, I met Daniel the owner and he chatted with me. Very nice guy. He gave me a $80 discount on my $530 tab and offered me free drinks for the rest of the night. I ended up taking him up on only one beer as I was wanting to leave with a Dominican working there. I returned 1 or two more nights and had fun at the club although I just used a lot more caution. Daniel ended up buying more drinks for me other nights. Lesson learned: ask before drinking. It's something I had already known but for whatever reason didn't exercise. The club does not charge a salida to take a girl out. The girls can leave anytime they want. One of the girls explained that Wednesday, Thursday and Friday every girl has to work. Those days are when you would want to go.
I left with the Dominican and we traveled back to Palermo for some drinks at more reasonable prices. She wasn't going to let herself get too drunk. She took me to another strip club that would be better known by locals I'm sure as it wasn't anything special. More of a chongo than strip club. That was the end of my night with the Dominican.
As I was arriving back to the hotel late every night at 4-5am, I would end up sleeping during the day and going out around 6pm. I looked at the suggestions here and found Cafe Orleans. Very interesting place. At most, there were 20 girls hanging out there on my best day. 5-8 another day (a Saturday) One particular girl was half japanese / half latina. Very hot. She charges $100.
I met a number of americans in the bar (and one european) Obviously, everybody knows where this place is. It was interesting watching the occasional couple or family walk into this place not knowing what it was. They would quickly get the idea and leave. From the outside of Orleans, you would never know that so many girls are working inside.
As I'm sure anyone here would be jealous, one of the americans I met paid for me to go with the japanese chick. I didn't need help paying for her and infact didn't feel comfortable accepting the gift (I offered to give him his money back) He knew I was waiting to see if she'd show up again that day. Not sure why he paid for the session but he did. He is an American living in BA that knew the cafe and the girls well. Had a long chat with him and the European that night. Interesting experience.
By the way, I didn't have time to do much research for BA before leaving so I knew I would be taken advantage of some. I paid the 120 pesos at the airport for the taxi service. Turns out to be about 100% more expensive than regular taxi fares. I ended up paying 80 pesos to go back to the airport (probably still high if you know what the real price is)
The exit fee at the airport for international flights is still $18. That's the best bargain in BA. I found the airport a bit confusing trying to get out. There was one hell of a long line at the LAN counter. I had probably at least 150 to 200 people ahead of me. It took quite a while to check in. Not suggested you show up last minute to the airport.
A note on bogus money: BA appears to have a real problem with bogus bills. I got stiffed on a 50 peso bill with a taxi driver. It looked real enough but was a fake. The taxi drivers are apparently well known for passing bogus bills.
I found the italian flavor of the Spanish in BA to be VERY difficult to understand. People had less trouble understanding me.
Overall, a nice trip although very expensive. Even without the Hippopotamus event, I still went through over $1,000 in cash in 4 days. Not sure how people can live in that place.
David B.
I made my way to the Hilton in BA first which turned out to be a mistake. They started out trying to push a suite on me for $400+ a night saying they didn't have any other rooms available. After talking with the manager, they did have rooms available but would still be charging $200+ a night. I ended up leaving there without getting a rate I was willing to pay.
I ended up being taken to the Hotel Nogaro on Julio A. Roca (500 block) The staff was very friendly and tried to accomodate my every request. As I discovered very quickly, a lot of BA people speak very good English. While not necessary for me, it would come in handy for people here. I paid $120 a night for my room at Nogaro. That includes an awesome breakfast buffet (as good as I've seen anywhere) plus internet (in the room plus in the lobby) Room safe is also included at no extra cost. Cleaning service for clothes was also very reasonable. It appears there was some convention or something going on in town as a lot of places were booked solid and the prices were sky high.
I went to sleep for a few hours and made my way out that night around 6pm. My first stop was in the Palermo area. I felt like I was in Europe more than SA on this trip to BA. As it was my first trip, I had no idea what to expect. Most of the city that I saw features outdoor cafe style locations like Europe. The prices were not too bad at the cafes. About what I'd expect.
I was itching to try some of the strip joints in town and see what they were like. I made my way to the Recoleta area. I stumbled on the Solid Gold place first. While not open yet, someone claiming to work there was friendly enough. He took me down to where Hippopotamus was.
My first mistake was I assumed the prices were high but didn't ask how high. Although it's not like me not to ask, for whatever reason I didn't. They are charging 80 pesos ($27) for any drink of a customer or 150 pesos ($50) for any drink for a lady. I had bought numerous drinks at these prices before finding out how expensive the place is. They also have a 80 peso entrance fee which I didn't pay (I arrived early) but does include at least one drink. I ended up with a $530 bill which I was sure at first must have been in pesos. Nope. Dollars. I ended up having to return to my hotel with a guard to bring more money to pay my tab (as I'm not going to carry that kind of cash around the streets of BA)
To the credit of Hippopotamus, I met Daniel the owner and he chatted with me. Very nice guy. He gave me a $80 discount on my $530 tab and offered me free drinks for the rest of the night. I ended up taking him up on only one beer as I was wanting to leave with a Dominican working there. I returned 1 or two more nights and had fun at the club although I just used a lot more caution. Daniel ended up buying more drinks for me other nights. Lesson learned: ask before drinking. It's something I had already known but for whatever reason didn't exercise. The club does not charge a salida to take a girl out. The girls can leave anytime they want. One of the girls explained that Wednesday, Thursday and Friday every girl has to work. Those days are when you would want to go.
I left with the Dominican and we traveled back to Palermo for some drinks at more reasonable prices. She wasn't going to let herself get too drunk. She took me to another strip club that would be better known by locals I'm sure as it wasn't anything special. More of a chongo than strip club. That was the end of my night with the Dominican.
As I was arriving back to the hotel late every night at 4-5am, I would end up sleeping during the day and going out around 6pm. I looked at the suggestions here and found Cafe Orleans. Very interesting place. At most, there were 20 girls hanging out there on my best day. 5-8 another day (a Saturday) One particular girl was half japanese / half latina. Very hot. She charges $100.
I met a number of americans in the bar (and one european) Obviously, everybody knows where this place is. It was interesting watching the occasional couple or family walk into this place not knowing what it was. They would quickly get the idea and leave. From the outside of Orleans, you would never know that so many girls are working inside.
As I'm sure anyone here would be jealous, one of the americans I met paid for me to go with the japanese chick. I didn't need help paying for her and infact didn't feel comfortable accepting the gift (I offered to give him his money back) He knew I was waiting to see if she'd show up again that day. Not sure why he paid for the session but he did. He is an American living in BA that knew the cafe and the girls well. Had a long chat with him and the European that night. Interesting experience.
By the way, I didn't have time to do much research for BA before leaving so I knew I would be taken advantage of some. I paid the 120 pesos at the airport for the taxi service. Turns out to be about 100% more expensive than regular taxi fares. I ended up paying 80 pesos to go back to the airport (probably still high if you know what the real price is)
The exit fee at the airport for international flights is still $18. That's the best bargain in BA. I found the airport a bit confusing trying to get out. There was one hell of a long line at the LAN counter. I had probably at least 150 to 200 people ahead of me. It took quite a while to check in. Not suggested you show up last minute to the airport.
A note on bogus money: BA appears to have a real problem with bogus bills. I got stiffed on a 50 peso bill with a taxi driver. It looked real enough but was a fake. The taxi drivers are apparently well known for passing bogus bills.
I found the italian flavor of the Spanish in BA to be VERY difficult to understand. People had less trouble understanding me.
Overall, a nice trip although very expensive. Even without the Hippopotamus event, I still went through over $1,000 in cash in 4 days. Not sure how people can live in that place.
David B.