Hotel Reviews: Hilton Buenos Aires

The Hilton Buenos Aires was the first of two hotels I stayed at while in this great city. This property is a newer hotel (built in 2000) and is in the upscale Puerto Madero area. It has a large convention area and a stunningly beautiful lobby. It’s a great place for enjoying a coffee or glass of wine while enjoying the music of their piano player.

I booked the hotel for a business trip knowing full well going into the trip that the Hilton was sold out on my last night in Buenos Aires. I was confident that a room would open up or that my Diamond status would grant me the room for the final night. Well…. it didn’t quite work out that way.

I arrived around 3pm, flying in from Rio de Janeiro where I had previous business. There was no available room on the concierge lounge floors. I could wait or take a room on another floor. Since I would have lounge access regardless due to my status, I took a room on the 6th floor.

The room was spacious and the closet was amazing! A full walk-in closet with a built-in luggage rack and plenty of drawers and hanging space. My view overlooked an apartment and office building across the street. The bed was very comfortable. The desk and chair worked well and there were convenient outlets.

The bathroom was oversized with a separate tub and shower, along with a separate toilet and bidet room. There were no washcloths in the room, though once I asked Housekeeping, some were brought up. Since I travel to Europe frequently, where washcloths are commonly not found in hotel rooms, I often pack my own washcloth. But for this trip, it never crossed my mind. I guess I need to add this to my travel checklist!

The shampoo and conditioner were fair. I tried them once and then switched to my own products when I found my hair feeling like straw. Though I did like the wide mouths of the bottles enough to bring a set home for using on future trips filled with my own products.

The lounge was super-sized. Lots of variety in seating to have something for everyone — regular tables, bar-height tables with power outlets, casual chair sitting areas for four, and a sofa in front of the television. There was a pool table in one corner, placed behind a glass wall to keep the sound at bay. And this is a first for me — an outside area overlooking the pool deck. The outside area of the lounge was glass-enclosed (like a sunroom) and there was also a full outdoor part of the patio with one table — enough for couple of people to get fresh air, have a smoke or get a better view of the pool.

While the lounge’s furniture and decor was outstanding, their food offerings not so much. The morning’s scrambled eggs were very runny, when there were eggs. The coffee machine was out of water on a few occasions during my stay so I had to find someone to refill it. Yes, the hotel was sold out and keeping up with the food supply seemed to be a challenge.

The evening snacks were ok, though nothing would be labeled as ‘health food.’ The couple of hot snacks were either breaded or fried. There were bowls of potato chips, a cheese platter with several varieties, small buns and luncheon meats. There was one variety of white wine and one of Mendoza red wine, along with a few choices of hard liquor. I’m a red wine gal, so I don’t pay much attention to the hard stuff to give any details.

What I loved best about the lounge was the great workplace it was for me when I was not at my client. I much prefer being at a communal bar-height table with a glass of wine vs. sitting at my room’s desk.

So back to my last night’s stay. I asked every day of my stay if the last night had opened up. No, No, No.  I was going to push the Diamond status but I didn’t feel right about that, especially since I knew the hotel was full even before my travel started.

And then this shoe showed up —

And these stairs:

There is also a Barbie room at this Hilton. Anyone can book it based on availability, though at the time I thought it was Barbie-decorated on the exterior door because of the Barbie theme now descending into the hotel. Ah, a Barbie convention, I demised. Now I really didn’t want to push my status since it was a group of young girls, most likely with their mothers, coming to the hotel. I’m a mom of a daughter myself, so thinking that I could be the reason that another mom and her daughter are “walked” wasn’t something I could live with.

Later I found out that it was only one girl and her mother who were coming to the Hilton Buenos Aires — the president of Mattel in Buenos Aires herself and her daughter. They really rolled out the red carpet, I mean pink stairs, for her daughter!

So it wasn’t a Barbie convention that filled the hotel and whatever it was, no one was cancelling their room. So I checked out according to my reservation and headed to hotel #2. (My review of the Intercontinental Buenos Aires is in a separate post.)

Would I stay at this hotel again? Definitely yes. Though I’d forego the lounge for snacks and instead eat healthier foods in the restaurant.

Did I feel safe at this hotel? Yes. Inside the hotel I felt extremely safe. The nearby area feels safe as well with lots of restaurants within a very short walking distance.

The front desk personnel, concierge and doormen all spoke good English to make checking in, getting directions or a taxi very easy.

I hope you enjoy this hotel when you have the opportunity to travel to Buenos Aires!