Punta del Este, Montevideo, and Buenos Aires, Argentina

I posted something to this group a few months back. The thread more or
less died as I was waiting to get an itinerary from the travel agent.

Our trip is going to be 5 nights in Punta del Este at the Golden Beach
Resort, one night in Montevideo at the Balmoral Hotel and 3 nights in
Buenos Aires at the De Las Americas Hotel.

We opted not to go to Iguazu Falls as it is too much movement in too
short a period of time and we probably would have too much luggage for
the small planes that go to the falls.

I have seen some reviews online for these places. Has anyone in this
group been to any of these hotels?

thanks,

Rich

Does this mean that no one in this group is familiar with any of these
three hotels?


traveler2007 wrote:
> I posted something to this group a few months back. The thread more or
> less died as I was waiting to get an itinerary from the travel agent.
>
> Our trip is going to be 5 nights in Punta del Este at the Golden Beach
> Resort, one night in Montevideo at the Balmoral Hotel and 3 nights in
> Buenos Aires at the De Las Americas Hotel.
>
> We opted not to go to Iguazu Falls as it is too much movement in too
> short a period of time and we probably would have too much luggage for
> the small planes that go to the falls.
>
> I have seen some reviews online for these places. Has anyone in this
> group been to any of these hotels?
>
> thanks,
>
> Rich

I missed the original post, but here's the portion of it that caught my eye
in someone's reply to it:

"...We opted not to go to Iguazu Falls as it is too much movement in too
short a period of time and we probably would have too much luggage for the
small planes that go to the falls...."

I've been to Argentina a number of times, and it's been my experience that
most hotels will store luggage for guests for a few days while they go off
to another destination.

As to the hotels mentioned in the original post, I don't know them. In
Buenos Aires, I recommend the Ulises Recoleta Suites, in the Recoleta
neighborhood, or the Hotel Crillon, downtown just off the Plaza San Martín;
I've stayed at both several times. At Iguazú, I recommend the Hotel Tropical
Das Cataratas, within the park on the Brazilian side, especially if you can
get a room with a view of the falls.

>we probably would have too much luggage for
> the small planes that go to the falls.

I do not " register " this.

Iguazu is a world class destination and there is an International Airport
serving all jets, except perhaps 747's, at Foz do Iguazu.
You must have a looooooot... of luggage! :-)

Unless you wish to take all on those stupid noisy heli flights that take of
from just outside the National Park.
Expensive, and they are not allowed near the Falls any more anyway.

Indeed , better stay at the Hotel das Cataratas on the Brazil side and
walk - 10 minutes - to the wonderfull viewpoint halfway bewteen the two
cascades.

Sander

Amsterdam

"traveler2007" <s_america_bound@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1158978033.726836.283300@d34g2000cwd.******** o********...
> Does this mean that no one in this group is familiar with any of these
> three hotels?
>
>
> traveler2007 wrote:
>> I posted something to this group a few months back. The thread more or
>> less died as I was waiting to get an itinerary from the travel agent.
>>
>> Our trip is going to be 5 nights in Punta del Este at the Golden Beach
>> Resort, one night in Montevideo at the Balmoral Hotel and 3 nights in
>> Buenos Aires at the De Las Americas Hotel.
>>
>> We opted not to go to Iguazu Falls as it is too much movement in too
>> short a period of time and we probably would have too much luggage for
>> the small planes that go to the falls.
>>
>> I have seen some reviews online for these places. Has anyone in this
>> group been to any of these hotels?
>>
>> thanks,
>>
>> Rich
>

In article <451677f8$0$2024$ba620dc5@text.nova.planet.nl>, Sander van
Hulsenbeek <vanhulsenbeek@wxs.nl> writes
>>we probably would have too much luggage for
>> the small planes that go to the falls.
>
>I do not " register " this.
>

I think the newsgroup's collective jaw dropped there, Sander.

>Iguazu is a world class destination and there is an International Airport
>serving all jets, except perhaps 747's, at Foz do Iguazu.
>You must have a looooooot... of luggage! :-)
>

I think they mean the smaller airport on the Argentinian side - they
will be coming from BA.

>Unless you wish to take all on those stupid noisy heli flights that take of
>from just outside the National Park.
>Expensive, and they are not allowed near the Falls any more anyway.
>

They are not? That's a blessing!

--
JohnM

"traveler2007" <s_america_bound@yahoo.com> a écrit dans le message de news:
1158978033.726836.283300@d34g2000cwd.************. com...
> Does this mean that no one in this group is familiar with any of these
> three hotels?
>
>> I have seen some reviews online for these places. Has anyone in this
>> group been to any of these hotels?
>>
>> thanks,
>>
>> Rich
>

No, we had better one's.....

WAS

"traveler2007" <s_america_bound@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1159132366.897987.8550@d34g2000cwd.********** ps.com...
I should say thanks for the replies and I guess the criticism goes with
it.

Before I ever posted here, we were considering Argentina, Uruguay and
Brazil, but decided it was too much for one vacation. So we limited
the trip to 2 countries.

I am not making the reservations myself, so I am relying on a travel
agent for some advice. I don't recall if we were intending to go from
Montevideo to the falls or Buenos Aires first, then the falls. In any
event, from what I've heard, the view of the falls is better from the
Brazilian side and without a visa, I can't cross the border.

With only four days/three nights scheduled in Argentina, I was not
interested in shuffling around like a refugee with or without baggage
to go to the falls, watch the water come down and say "ooh, wow" and
say I've been there. It is not much different from seeing any other
major falls or an active volcano or the like.

I may have gotten the plane situation wrong, but whether it was a
'puddle jumper' or 747, I was not going to go from Montevideo one
night, to Buenos Aires the next, hop on a plane the next day fly to the
falls, then fly back the day after back to B.A. That hardly
constitutes relaxation. I could have that much stress on the New York
City subway system for much less money.

As for the quality of the hotels, someone snidely said they had better.
Maybe you did. maybe you never left your home and are just saying
that. I'll never know and maybe that is the beauty of cyberspace.

I can look up internet reviews which I have done already. I was just
asking people in this group if anyone knew of these places.

You're welcome for my own input, and thinking back, I don't think I was
critical; I didn't know the hotels you mentioned, and recommended some that
I knew from having stayed at them.

About Iguazú: If you go there on some future trip, here's what I tell
people: You SEE the falls better from Brazil, since that majority are on the
Argentine side of the river and you see much of that panorama only from
Brazil, but you FEEL the falls better in Argentina, where you are hardly
more than an arm's length from some of them. If you were to visit the falls
and only see them from one side, it wouldn't really matter; the experience
is a memorable one, and if you don't have the other half of it you don't
know what you've missed (and therefore don't miss it).

Enjoy your trip!

As Eleanor Roosevelt visited the Iguazu Falls she only said "poor Niagara
Falls".

WAS

"traveler2007" <s_america_bound@yahoo.com> a écrit dans le message de news:
1159132366.897987.8550@d34g2000cwd.************.co m...
I should say thanks for the replies and I guess the criticism goes with
it.

With only four days/three nights scheduled in Argentina, I was not
interested in shuffling around like a refugee with or without baggage
to go to the falls, watch the water come down and say "ooh, wow" and
say I've been there. It is not much different from seeing any other
major falls or an active volcano or the like.

John Cisarik wrote:

> About Iguazú: If you go there on some future trip, here's what I tell
> people: You SEE the falls better from Brazil, since that majority are on the
> Argentine side of the river and you see much of that panorama only from
> Brazil, but you FEEL the falls better in Argentina, where you are hardly
> more than an arm's length from some of them. If you were to visit the falls
> and only see them from one side, it wouldn't really matter; the experience
> is a memorable one, and if you don't have the other half of it you don't
> know what you've missed (and therefore don't miss it).
>
> Enjoy your trip!

The travel agent suggested going to Brazil on a future trip and include
the falls. that could be a plan.

This is the furthest away from the US I will have ever traveled.
Hopefully I will sleep on the overnight flights since I hate being in
those little airline seats for any extended period of time.

I am looking forward to relaxing on the beach of Punta del Este for a
good 4-5 days.

Rich

I stayed at De Las Americas in BA in January this year. The hotel isa
standard 3 star in a large city- it was clean, has all the usual room
amenities,. staff friendly & a reasonable breakfast buffet. From memory
some of the rooms on the higher floors were still to be renovated
However staff were happy to move us to another room on request. A
restaurant tip: down the corner from the hotel is a restaurant serving
excellent steaks (yes I know there are plenty of these in BA-this one
is close to the hotel for a tired traveller)- I think the restaurant is
called Liberator or similar- from the hotel entrance, turn left & the
restaurant is on the corner of the next cross street, only a few
minutes' walk. Have fun- BA is a great city, shame about Iguaczu. As
another poster here has said- if you ever go to the Falls, visit both
Argentina &Brazil. The bulk of the water is on the Argentinian side.
There are many opportunities to get up close (and wet) The best views
are from the Brazilian side.

Sandra
traveler2007 wrote:
> I posted something to this group a few months back. The thread more or
> less died as I was waiting to get an itinerary from the travel agent.
>
> Our trip is going to be 5 nights in Punta del Este at the Golden Beach
> Resort, one night in Montevideo at the Balmoral Hotel and 3 nights in
> Buenos Aires at the De Las Americas Hotel.
>
> We opted not to go to Iguazu Falls as it is too much movement in too
> short a period of time and we probably would have too much luggage for
> the small planes that go to the falls.
>
> I have seen some reviews online for these places. Has anyone in this
> group been to any of these hotels?
>
> thanks,
>
> Rich