Buenos Aires Travel Guide
Where to Stay in Buenos Aires
An honest neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood guide to choosing a base in Buenos Aires — elegant Recoleta, buzzing Palermo, historic San Telmo, safe and modern Puerto Madero, central Retiro — with our hotel picks at every budget.
Buenos Aires is a sprawling city of forty-eight barrios, but almost every visitor stays in one of five areas, and your choice shapes your trip more than in most cities: each neighbourhood has a different character, different nights and different distances to the sights. Here is how to choose.
Recoleta: elegant, central and safe. Recoleta is the Paris of Buenos Aires: Belle Époque palaces, embassies and luxury boutiques along Avenida Alvear, leafy plazas with giant trees, and the city's best museums and its most famous cemetery within walking distance. It is safe, pleasant for evening walks and well connected by taxi and the Subte to everywhere else. It suits first-timers, culture lovers, couples and older travellers. The drawback: it is quieter at night than Palermo, and its restaurant scene is classic rather than cutting-edge. Our pick: the Alvear Palace Hotel, the grandest of the city's grand hotels, with afternoon tea in L'Orangerie and Recoleta Cemetery five minutes away.
Retiro: between the centre and Recoleta. Retiro stretches from the great railway stations and Plaza San Martín to the edge of Recoleta, and its upscale western streets, around Calle Posadas and Arroyo, are among the most elegant addresses in the city. It is well placed for both the centre and Recoleta, though the area around the stations themselves is busy and best avoided at night. Our pick: the Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires, a modern tower and a 1916 mansion with a garden pool, on the Recoleta border.
Palermo: food, nightlife and green space. Palermo is the city's largest barrio and its liveliest. Palermo Soho, around Plaza Serrano, is full of independent fashion and design shops, cafés and bars; Palermo Hollywood, across the railway tracks, is the heart of the restaurant scene, with celebrated parrillas, wine bars and cocktail bars. The parks, the Rosedal, the Japanese Garden and MALBA are close by. It suits couples, foodies, younger travellers and repeat visitors. The drawbacks: it is twenty to thirty minutes from the historic centre, and some streets are noisy on weekend nights. Our picks: Home Hotel in Palermo Hollywood, the original boutique hotel of the area, with a garden and pool, and Mine Hotel Boutique, a small, friendly mid-range hotel with a garden pool near Plaza Serrano.
San Telmo: history, antiques and tango. San Telmo is the oldest barrio, with cobbled streets, colonial houses, the Sunday fair on Calle Defensa and the best concentration of tango venues and milongas in the city. It is walkable to Plaza de Mayo and Puerto Madero and a short taxi ride from La Boca. It suits tango lovers, history buffs and budget-conscious travellers who like character. The drawbacks: it is rougher around the edges, some side streets are very quiet at night, and it is far from Palermo. Our pick: Patios de San Telmo, a restored nineteenth-century building around open-air patios, with a rooftop terrace and pool.
Puerto Madero: modern, calm and the safest. Puerto Madero is the redeveloped docklands, with converted red-brick warehouses, modern towers, promenades along the water and the vast Costanera Sur nature reserve on the river. It is the safest district in the city, close to San Telmo and Plaza de Mayo, and handy for the Colonia ferry. It suits families, business travellers and anyone who values calm. The drawbacks: it can feel corporate and quiet at night, and its restaurants are pricey. Our picks: the Faena Hotel, Philippe Starck's theatrical conversion of a 1902 grain mill, with the Rojo Tango show and a famous pool, and Hotel Madero, a spacious, good-value upscale option next to the nature reserve.
What about the Microcentro? The downtown business district around Florida street and the Obelisco has many hotels, often at good prices, and is close to the Teatro Colón and Avenida Corrientes. But it empties after office hours, feels less safe at night and has little charm, so most visitors are happier in one of the five areas above.
Matching area to trip. For a first visit of three or four nights, Recoleta or Retiro offers the best balance. For food and nightlife, choose Palermo. For tango, choose San Telmo. For families and safety, choose Puerto Madero or Recoleta. On a longer trip, consider splitting your stay: a few nights in Recoleta or San Telmo for the sights, then a few in Palermo for eating and drinking.
Getting between areas. The Subte links the centre, Recoleta and Palermo along Line D, the green line, which runs under Avenida Santa Fe and is the most useful line for visitors; Line C connects Retiro station with the centre, and San Telmo and Puerto Madero are best reached on foot or by taxi. Taxis and ride-hailing apps are inexpensive, so a ride from Palermo to San Telmo costs far less than in Europe. Allow more time at rush hour, when the avenues clog, and remember that late at night a taxi is always the safer choice over a long walk through quiet streets. If you are flying from Ezeiza, Recoleta, Retiro and Puerto Madero are the quickest to reach; for domestic flights from Aeroparque, Palermo is just minutes away.
Practical tips. Foreign guests paying with a foreign card are generally exempt from VAT on accommodation, so compare rates carefully and confirm what is included. Air conditioning matters from December to March. Street-facing rooms in Palermo and San Telmo can be noisy at weekends, so ask for an interior or garden room if you are a light sleeper. And whichever area you choose, taxis and ride-hailing apps are cheap enough that no part of the city is far away.