Temporary housing in Buenos Aires

June 5, 2012 10:28 AM

Renting an apartment for three weeks in Buenos Aires, five+ months from now. When should we start looking?

My boyfriend and I are going to Buenos Aires for three weeks starting November 19. We've got the plane tickets, now we need a place to live! I was thinking we'd want to rent a 1-bedroom apartment rather than stay in a hotel. Neither of us speaks much Spanish--I can sort of get by, but I wouldn't feel comfortable making financial arrangements in Spanish. MeFites, have you done this before? Please advise me!

I found this relevant previous question from 2007. It looks really useful, but I wanted to post this question in case anything important has changed in the last five years.

- Should I make arrangements now or wait till it's closer to our flight date?
- We could rent an apartment from an agency, or supposedly we can rent an unmanaged apartment from an actual person but I don't know how to find that. Can you recommend an agency? Anything I should watch out for? I assume we'd have to rent a place sight unseen and I'm kind of nervous about that.

posted by henuani to Travel & Transportation around Buenos Aires, Argentina (4 answers total)

I recommend using an agency, as they will be more used to dealing with English speakers than an individual renter, and will likely have a selection of properties to choose from. There are tons of them. Browse some of their websites now, and contact them to ask if it is better to secure a place now or wait until closer to your arrival date. Lots of individual owners rent out places in Buenos Aires, but from outside the country it can be difficult to make arrangements with them. We dealt with some quite happily, but we were already living in the city by then.

I'd look for a place in San Telmo, Palermo, or Almagro. As close to a Subte stop as you can find. Renting by the month might offer a better selection of apartments than weekly. Be explicit about any amenities you might want, such as furnishings, washing machines or air conditioning. Our landlords always wanted to be paid in cash, so don't be surprised if they ask you to wire cash to pay a deposit. Credit card use is far less common down there, although I'd guess some agencies are equipped to deal with credit cards. If you're American, expect a larger degree of, well, flakiness from the folks you are dealing with. Do not take their relaxed attitude to the whole process as a sign of indifference. They're just wired that way down there. We got stood up repeatedly when going to view places, and they barely even apologized. But those same people were offering gorgeous apartments for good prices and were as nice as could be after we moved in.
posted by lefty lucky cat at 11:26 AM on June 5, 2012

Here's an Airbnb search for private apartments in Buenos Aires for your dates.
posted by caek at 1:20 PM on June 5, 2012

I've never stayed there but have had lots of recommendations of San Telmo Lofts - http://santelmoloft.com/

It's run by people from the US, so no language problems and they have a choice of accommodation.

To be honest I would steer clear of agencies, the service can be very hit and miss and you often pay over the odds.
posted by jontyjago at 1:43 PM on June 5, 2012

We went to BA a few years ago and stayed in an apartment owned by a friend and managed by his brother and sister-in-law, Alfredo and Valeria Candal. Alfredo and Valeria were so wonderful to work with and gave us lots of suggestions and help with planning activities. They both speak perfect English. Here's a link directly to their business website.
posted by mingshan at 11:04 AM on June 27, 2012