Patios de San Telmo — Hotel in Autonomous City of Buenos Aires

A very pleasant stay with excellent staff

The staff was truly excellent! We were checked in by the most friendly, welcoming, and cheerful Attilio, who settled us in and helped us with our inquiry for the sightseeing. Marcello helped us with the heating in the room. And Alberto the front manager made sure we were looked after by the team. Georgina the weekday breakfast lady was friendly and caring. She did not just do her work but made sure we were well taken care of. The cleaning ladies were also friendly and courteous.

The room was spacious and well decorated. Lots of storage space too. The bathroom was also very spacious. The breakfast room was also pleasant. A coffee machine is provided for the guests to use. There was also a very nice sitting room/library on the mezzanine floor.

The location is terrific. Right in the middle of the old town Sal Telmo. Several shops and eating places around. Close to the Market. And close to a subway station.

Only one small thing we didn't like. The weekend breakfast lady (who shall not be named) did not refill the food even when we had over 20 minutes of the breakfast hours left (but was very eager to get our room number). When I tried to ask for more food (very politely and in a friendly manner) several times, she either did not try to understand me (she doesn't speak English) or willfully ignored me. At the end when I went into the kitchen with my plate and pointed at the boxes of cheese and ham, she tried to tell me that the breakfast was finished. I had to show her the watch so she could see that there were 8 minutes left before she grudgingly opened the box and gave me...

Patios is a fantastically designed boutique hotel. It's an old building that's been restored, and the rooms are around a couple of courtyards (most with internal facing windows). Cool reception, nice cafe to eat their decent breakfast in and lovely rooftop terrace and plunge pool.

However, the place must be 8-9 years old now, and really should have had a bit more TLC to keep it looking 'boutiquey' and premium, rather than frayed around the edges. The first room that we were put in had damp bedsheets, and was murkily dark, day and night. When the next day all our clothes were damp too, we complained and were put in a slightly better room. However, I'm a bit annoyed we were put in that room in the first place - the receptionist clearly knew the damp in that room was a problem when we told him about it.

The next room (and much of the rest of the hotel) had brown blotches all over the wooden ceiling. Also some of the wallpaper was peeling off and the bathroom had dark mould stains on the tiles.

Clearly an older building needs a bit more attention to keep it looking pristine - I don't really know why the owners have been so neglectful as they must have put a lot of work into the original restoration. Certainly the photos on the website look like they were taken a few years ago when the hotel was in better condition.

Apart from that, the service was good. San Telmo is good for being close to the market on Sunday and some hipster shops and cafes. However, we found the buzzer to enter day and night slightly ominous and didn't feel totally safe walking around the area later...

Room was basic, nothing special and nothing that says it's a deluxe room, was a dirty (floors), very dusty and very basic. Was a total disappointment. Didn't look anything like the pictures and I actually thought I had the wrong room. Was expensive for the type of room excluding breakfast. Bathroom didn't feel as clean as you'd expect, was a few strands of hair in the bathroom on the floor, regular, standard bath and over head shower, very very basic, body wash, and handwash were provided as well as conditioner (the washes felt watered down). Stayed in a hostel with a better looking, bigger bathroom. The edges of the bed that have hard, sharp corners that I walked into twice. Sheets and pillowcases were slightly off white, not sure if that's supposed to be the case because the duvet was white. Electricity sockets were at awkward places. The first hotel I'm staying in that doesn't provide at least 1 bottle of free drinking water. The air conditioner didn't do much if anything to cool down the room and made more noise than cooling. Room was just dated and unkempt. Total disappointment. Unfortunately I cannot recommend because the staff were great, very friendly and very helpful and the...