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I’m so excited to be back in Buenos Aires after so many years away. During my one-week visit to Argentina, I stayed the first two nights at the Hotel Recoleta Grand. My arrangements were made by Borello Travel & Tours, a travel company with offices in New York City and Buenos Aires. Here’s a review of my experience. Borello is a true expert on Argentina travel, and the team is well versed at matching travelers with the perfect Buenos Aires hotels and tours, based on personal interests, style and budget.

THE STYLE: Located in the upscale Recoleta neighborhood, the Recoleta Grand hotel features reasonable room rates, pleasantly modern décor and attentive service. I arrived way before checkin time since I had taken a nonstop overnight flight from Newark to Buenos Aires (flying United Airlines in Polaris business class is a dream, by the way), but only had to wait about 20 minutes to get into my room. A friendly, super-early checkin at no extra charge was certainly a great way to start my visit.

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THE GUEST ROOMS: This Buenos Aires hotel is well appointed for business travelers as well as anyone planning an Argentina vacation or a grand South America tour. I stayed in room 707, which has a comfy king-size bed with lots of pillows. The décor and amenities are fresh and modern. Soothing shades of brown and tan were accented by a couple hip, green chairs (I’m not good enough at design to identify the style of the chairs, but I like them a lot. Check out the photos).

The layout and design of this Buenos Aires hotel guest room were thoughtfully executed, to be sure, with good lighting and master controls by the bed for all lights as well as the blackout shades for the windows. The room has standard amenities like a wall-mounted flatscreen TV (lots of channels in both Spanish and English), safe deposit box, coffee maker and minibar.

There were even a couple bathrobes in the closet, which is not typical in a hotel at this price level. The hotel bathroom was stocked with Eco Green bath amenities and has motion-sensitive nightlights, which is great for middle-of-the-night visits.

HOTEL FEATURES: WiFi is free throughout this Buenos Aires hotel. The property’s top-floor Floralis Spa & Fitness Center offers massage therapy and other treatments, and has a Jacuzzi, as well as a small outdoor swimming pool.

The attractive hotel restaurant, Club 31, is open from 6:30am until 12:30am, serving a varied international menu. My rate included breakfast, which featured a large buffet of hot and cold food. Room service is also available.

The hotel follows an environmental sustainability policy, favoring local, eco-friendly suppliers for its materials and services.

One of the selling points for the Recoleta Grand — in addition to the attractive mid-priced room rates — is the central Buenos Aires location. Recoleta is an upscale neighborhood and a top spot for tourism, with a lot of attractions, restaurants and shopping within walking distance. (The Recoleta Cemetery, for example, is very close.)

ROOM RATES: About $156 and up.

BEST FOR: Business and leisure travelers looking for a well-appointed, mid-priced Buenos Aires hotel in a central location.

HOW I BOOKED IT: Borello Travel & Tours puts together customized and group tours to Buenos Aires, which include extremely good room rates at various hotels, based on your taste and budget.

HOW I GOT THERE: I flew United Airlines, on the amazing new United Polaris business class service, which is now available on nonstop flights between Newark and Buenos Aires.

Source: latinflyer.com