Family Stay at the Buenos Aires Sheraton
The Sheraton Buenos Aires Convention Center Hotel, featuring 740 rooms and 33 suites, is located at 1225/1275 San Martin Street in the Retiro neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina, a twenty-mile cab drive from EZE Buenos Aires’ international airport.
The hotel is part of a larger complex housing another luxury Starwood property ‘The Towerz’ and boasts three restaurants, a coffee shop, and a mini shopping mall.
Several blocks from Puerto Madero for easy access to cruise ships terminals, the Buquebus system, and the city’s main shopping thoroughfare, Calea Florida; the Sheraton Buenos Aires is a sound choice for visiting families.
Fellow Guests
Most of those making a stop here are couples or business travelers, but families and other groups traveling together are not unusual guests at this establishment.
The chain’s policy of offering one child per family free accommodations if they will be using the beds that are already in the rooms and suites is helpful for families traveling with small children that are looking for budget friendly options.
Décor
The hotel’s spacious lobby with comfortable furnishings gives the property an airy uncrowded feel even when it is full to capacity.
Moreover, the marble columns and flooring, granite counters and dark colored wood furniture as the backdrop to neutral colored sofas, lounge chairs, and curtains throughout the public areas give the establishment an elegant, classy and inviting look.
Rooms
We stayed in rooms 1807 and 1809, which were standard connecting rooms with lovely harbor views. The queen sized bed in our room was comfortable and clean.The room, decorated in dark toned browns, also contained a work desk area, an enormous flat screen television, a sitting area, and a nightstand beside the bed.Our sons’ connecting room held two double sized beds, but otherwise had much the same furnishings as our bedroom.
A family of four probably could get by with booking a room like our sons’ that had two doubles sized beds, if folks don’t mind doubling up and sharing with young kids to cut on lodging costs.
Each room came with a closet area and small safe and small coffee maker. As SPG members, we were given free water bottles for the rooms daily, free wifi and access to the executive lounge.
The moderately sized bathrooms came with a commode, bidet, sink and tub shower combo separated by a curtain, which unfortunately didn’t prevent the floors from becoming slippery after taking a shower. Parents should remember to ask housekeeping for extra towels to keep the floor dry!
Our tan marble bathrooms come with the usual amenities that included shampoo, conditioner, soap and body lotion. The bathrooms were equipped with the quintessential hairdryer and a small mirror that was helpful to apply makeup or shave.
The hotel does provide complimentary robes for guests to use during their stay however unlike other places we’ve stayed in; the robes were in the room closet.
Facilities
The reception desk, open all hours of the day and night, made it a breeze to arrange an airport shuttle or car rental at even the oddest times.
Guests staying here should keep in mind that they are in a Spanish speaking country and, as a result, not all of the hotel staff is fluent in English. However, most of them were quite happy to assist us in any way they could after we explained how our son with autism could be accommodated.
The hotel also has a heated swimming pool indoors and an unheated one outdoors, allowing guests the option of using whichever one they prefer. This hotel additionally features a tennis court, a sauna, a spa, and a gym. All these facilities were quite clean though we didn’t get a chance to use them since it was raining on the days we stayed.
Those hoping to dine onsite will be glad to hear that they can choose from international fare at the El Ajibe Restaurant or Italian style entrees at the Cardinale Restaurant. Likewise, the hotel bar is a great stop for cocktails and other adult beverages. For more budget friendly options guests should venture outside and try the many restaurants and pubs in the immediate area.
Travelers will additionally be happy to learn that the Sheraton has an onsite currency exchange and ATM, so they can stock up on pesos before leaving the building.Alternatively, visitors can exchange money in the nearest bank branch (a five-minute walk) to get a better rate.
Executive lounge
The lounge, on the twenty-fourth floor, is a combo of three connecting rooms with views of the St Martin clock tower.
The breakfast offering included; fresh fruit, cut vegetables, an assortment of cold cuts and cheeses, freshly baked pastries along with the regular American staples of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage ham, and potatoes.
The lounge also offered a delightful spread for their ‘Happy Hour’ as well as scrumptious cakes, mousse cups and petit fours for their afternoon time which needless to say were our kids’ favorites.
Service
The service we encountered could be described as patchy at best.
Originally I had called to ask the hotel for connecting quiet and feather free rooms to accommodate our son’s allergies. When we arrived at the hotel after two long haul flights; we had to wait for the housekeeping crew to strip the beds and change the linens because there were feather bedding items on the beds which took over an hour.
Another issue that wasn’t adequately addressed by the hotel management was the fact we encountered several maintenance problems during our stay when the room door locks showerhead, and bathroom towel rack fell off the walls on their own and barely missed hurting us, on three unrelated incidents.It took multiple calls to the front desk to get the items put back, but hotel officials extended no apology.
Autism Travel Tips
- If travelers need to book a cab from the airport, they should know that many of the cars are small and will not accommodate more than three passengers.
- The bathtub in our both rooms didn’t have a safety bar on its side, so travelers that have mobility issues may want to ask and see if this feature is available in other rooms before making a reservation.
- No anti slip mats were supplied, so travelers who are are accustomed to using one should make sure to pack one.
- Like many other countries, Argentina has both smoking and nonsmoking rooms in hotels so if your kid suffers from asthma or allergies make sure to call the property directly and reiterate your needs.
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Looks like a lovely place to stay however service makes such an impact on one’s experience it would be difficult to choose this hotel in the future. Hopefully, management will read your post and make the necessary changes with hotel staff. Sorry you had a rough arrival.
The place does look beautiful, but what a shame you encountered problems with the service. That really does tarnish the view of a place that could otherwise be perfect.