Argentina Part 1

One of my favorite things about traveling has always been the staying in a hotel part. I’ve been lucky enough to stay in some world-class places, and our accommodations on our South America trip were no exception. Had we been vacationing by ourselves and not on a company-sponsored trip, we wouldn’t have chosen the hotels that were provided us due to a little thing called a budget, but thanks to Matthew’s company, we stayed at the best of the best!

But it turns out that even the best of the best isn’t always, well… the best.

When we arrived at The Alvear Palace Hotel in Buenos Aires, I was in awe of how breathtakingly beautiful it was. Everything in the lobby was gold plated and dripping with crystals, and I couldn’t wait to see our room.

The room itself was not disappointing. It was beautifully appointed with antiques and an old-world feel, fresh flowers or fruit in every room, and a newly renovated bathroom. I oohed and aahed at the flat screen TV above the bathtub, and immediately planned the long and luxurious bath I would soon take.

Here are a few pictures of the room:

Pretty, huh?

Then I got in the bathtub and 1) found 6 hairs (I counted), and 2) realized that all the channels were in Spanish except CNN with non-stop Bin Laden coverage.

Then, when I went to drain the bathtub, I heard this strange bubbling noise, but didn’t know what it was or where it came from. So I dried off and got dressed before I realized that the majority of my bathwater had just bubbled up out of a drain on the floor by the toilet and seeped out into the bedroom. And I had 45 minutes to get ready for a company party that night!

So, long story short, they fixed the plumbing issue while we were at our dinner, although when we got back the room smelled pretty funny. AND THEN, when we went to get into bed that night, Matthew noticed a pretty damn large BLOOD SPLATTER on the bed skirt, and what appeared to be dried blood on all four of the lampshades on the sconces.

How comforting.

But it was close to midnight, and we were so exhausted that we slept in our possibly-the-scene-of-a-violent-murder room anyway. But the next day, we were upgraded to a suite about twice the size.

So I suppose it wasn’t a total loss, yes?

Here are a few more pretty pictures from the hotel and our dinner than night. It really was beautiful, and despite our crappy experience, I WOULD recommend the place to anyone staying in Buenos Aires. I’m sure that kind of thing could not possibly happen twice…