So far, with a couple of exceptions, I have avoided making recommendations for accommodation or restaurants in this blog. I am conscious that what David and I think is a great experience might be someone else's idea of purgatory. However lately I have realised that's a bit silly - most of you can probably figure out whether our idea of good service and value is likely to work for you.
Showing posts with label Argentina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Argentina. Show all posts
The House of Jasmines, Salta, Argentina
Hotel Review: -
The House of Jasmines
Salta, Argentina
- Location - Twenty minutes by car south-west of Salta.
- Quality - Clean and comfortable - Given the cost the room could have been better. There was a lack of natural light which gave it a slightly dingy feeling.
- Service - Very friendly and helpful - almost everyone spoke English.
- Highlight - The beautiful grounds and the very friendly staff.
- Bedding and bathrooms - The sheets were crisp and clean and while nothing to get excited about the bathroom was perfectly acceptable.
- Would I recommend this hotel - Yes.
The Hilton at Tucumán
The Hilton Garden Inn at Tucumán
San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina
- Location - Miguel Lillo 365, Tucumán. About 30 minutes walk from Tucumán's main plaza
- Quality - 5 Star international standard. A new hotel in a completely renovated building. Modern, clean, comfortable. Exceptional value.
- Service - Friendly and helpful. English spoken at the desk and in the restaurant.
- Highlight - That brand new feeling.
- Bedding and bathrooms - I've got a thing about these - it's a girl thing. Nice crisp sheets and brand new bathrooms.
- Would I recommend this hotel - Absolutely 5 out of 5
Tucumán and the million-moth highway.
David wants to see the true Argentinian countryside. I'm not so
sure. Although we have done road trips
here before they have been mostly on our way to and from Chile, never in the
vastness of the country's interior.
We know very little about the condition of the roads. We do know
there are many unpaved roads, even on reasonably well travelled routes. We also
know that suicidal over-takes are common and directional signs range from
average to very poor. It is not uncommon to arrive at an intersection and find
no road signs at all.
Taking it slowly in Salta
David has a cold. As a result we are taking it slowly in Salta - probably not a bad thing. We often make the mistake of spending too much time on excursions away from the place we are staying in and never seeing the immediate neighbourhood.
Rustic charm at five hundred dollars a night.
Many years ago, when we were young, David and I travelled through the French countryside staying in 'one star' hotels. They had rustic charm by the bucket load. They also had intermittent plumbing, bed-bugs, and bathrooms down the hall - but they were cheap and we were young. We quickly out-grew them.
Santa Catalina, Marcello and the Jesuits.
In 1599 the Jesuits arrived in Cordoba. They came south from Alto Peru, present day Bolivia, in a wave of proselytising, empire-building and farming. Their reign lasted until 1767 when they were expelled from all the Americas during a world-wide suppression of the order. The Argentinian Jesuits have their revenge now though with one of their own on the Papal Throne.
Cordoba - things always look better in the morning.
We head out from the hotel on foot. We know better than to tangle with the problem of parking in the inner-city and we have discovered that the spare tyre in our rental car is flat. The car company has promised to come to the hotel and change it.
Welcome to Cordoba - we have lost your bags.
It is not that I have anything against the back row of aeroplanes. We have spent a lot of time in them. Up the back, on bumpy flights, I tend to get airsick. I've only actually thrown-up a couple of times - usually over David - but I can get pretty distressed and that tends to make the people around me nervous. I accept that everyone should take their turn in the cheap seats. The problem is; David and I have had far too many turns. We have done our time and paid our dues. Let somebody else sit in the crappy seats for a while.
10 am Wednesday morning - I think - somewhere in the world at least!
We are on QF28 approaching Santiago, Chile. At 1:15 pm this afternoon we left Sydney. We flew for more than 12 hours and arrived half way across the world three hours before we left home.
We have a five hour layover before we connect to Córdoba, Argentina - what a waste of those extra hours. AND there is trouble brewing over our bags. In Sydney, the QANTAS check-in lady would not check them through to Cordoba, notwithstanding that our flight to Cordoba is with LAN, a partner airline to QANTAS - something about the bookings not being together in her system. Is it just us or does anyone else get the feeling these rules are made up on the spot. She was polite but adamant - we should collect our bags in Santiago and re-check them with LAN ourselves.
Buenos Aires - my favourite city.
Buenos Aires is like an old friend - but it wasn't always that way. The first time I visited Buenos Aires I was jet-lagged and groggy from trans-Pacific flying. Bursting at the seams, BA was brash and arrogant. The road from the airport was jammed with cars, trucks, buses and taxis, all of them blasting their horns in a deafening, demented, symphony; none of them constrained by the rules of the road. In the back of the cab I clung to the seat belt wishing I'd never left home.
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