First of all, the pictures on their website are deceiving. The hotel is very run down. It could be beautiful if the owner, who also works the front desk, would invest some time and money into the place. Upon check-in, we were greeted by the maids who did not speak English. They were very nice, but my Spanish sucks and the hotel claimed to have English speaking desk staff. Since they don't have 24 hour desk workers, I was unable to inquire about the hotel's services at that time.
If you know anything about Buenos Aires, then you know that Palermo Hollywood is pretty far away from Recoleta and the City Center (Centro), but I chose to stay here anyway because they claimed to offer spa services. THEY DID NOT! The owner told me that Argentina was a very religious country so no one would be available to give massages at any time during my stay. I also emailed to schedule spa appointments before I arrived, but never received a response. It don't think spa services are even offered on the premises because I never saw a room or area that they call their "beauty center." The spa is the only reason I chose this hotel over one listed in Recoleta, where I spent most of my time any way. The hotel should have said that they would not be fully operational before booking guests.
The hotel also claims to have many other services like room service, currency exchange, wine tasting, etc. There's no room service, they don't even cook on site. There's no way they can have a currency exchange because they couldn't even provide change in Argentine pesos after charging me for wifi (which is $10US of $40pesos for 24 hours).
Other things that disappointed me about the Baucis is the fact that housekeeping leaves the doors and windows open during and after cleaning the rooms, with no regard for the security of the guest's belongings. The front door is always kept locked so you have to ring the bell and stand and wait for someone to open it. Since they don't have a 24 hour desk worker, you are sometimes left standing outside for several minutes. You are told to leave your room key with the front desk when leaving the hotel and one time I was told that my key was upstairs; I had to go looking for it and finally found that one of the housekeepers had it. I thought that was pretty rude of the guy to send me to do his job...I'M ON VACATION! I also read a TripAdvisor review from earlier in the year that complained about "breakfast buffet" pictures on their website being deceptive. Patricia, the owner, responded that they now offered scrambled eggs and omelettes, THIS IS UNTRUE. The breakfast still consists of rolled up ham and cheese and bread. We were told that wine tasting only took place on Thursdays, but we checked in on Thursday and saw nothing of the kind (their website says Wednesday). They list a variety of services on their website and in-room flyer, but never made mention of them to me. They had an excuse for why they couldn't provide the services when I asked.
Don't let your hotel ruin your trip to this great city!
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
20 January 2011
I'm very sorry about your experience in Baucis.
As owner of the place, I like to be at the reception desk some days in of the week to have direct contact with my guest. Baucis is more a private residence than a standar hotel.
You came at Xrtmas time and I remember telling you that on Xrtmas Eve, this was Dec 24th afternoon we couldn-t provide Massage. Not on the 25th as this are Family Celebration days. I can understand your dissapointment as you were on vacation, and I feel sorry for that.
About currency exchange there are banks and ATM at walking distance from Baucis. At the time you came, if you read the news, heard that Argentinians bank were having problems with cash. This is the reason why we and many stores, were accepting only Credit Card (even with the extra cost it means)
About housekeeping, yes we leave the door and windows open, for correct ventilation. And security has never been a problem, as our guest behave and feel like being home. We do care about securty and keep the front door lock, and a front desk worker is alway there, 24x 365
We do offer scrambled eggs and omelettes, yogouth, cookies, croisan, fruits...
Anytime you like you may ask for wines, by the glass or bottle. Wine tasting have an extra charge.
One again Im sorry about your bad experience. Fortunatelly we have many guest that enjoy their stay. Sincerelly
Patricia
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC