Estancia La Porteña — Hotel in Buenos Aires

We arrived on August 1 for a country day. Our group is from the US and only a few could speak Spanish so our host spoke English a did the whole tour in English. Before we arrived we notified the the Estancia that a few members of our group had food allergies (eggs, nuts, and dairy). When we arrived there were two sets of empanadas waiting for us, one set was free of all those ingredients. It was a really nice touch, I didn't expect them to be so detailed. There were 10 of us in the group with many children so we spent more time feeding animals and doing things that the children wanted. There was even a trampoline that my children jumped on. In the afternoon, after lunch we went horseback riding. The gauchos selected the horses for our group of first time riders. The horses are all well trained and needed little guidance. Our youngest rider was 8 and she had the most fun. One of the gauchos stayed with her for the whole ride. It was a cold day so the dining room had a big fire the whole time. We went back into that room to warm up. But overall the place was clean, well organized, and we got everything we were expecting. We would have stayed longer if we weren't so tired! A great experience at a very affordable price! ||||For literature geeks, this is a once in a lifetime experience to be in the home of Ricardo Guiraldes. This is the estancia that hosted some of the greatest literary minds of the...

Our stay at La Portena was the worst experience my family and I have ever had traveling in Argentina. Or anywhere in the world for that matter, and we have been to 30+ countries. ||It is shameful that a historic building with so much significance and architectural beauty has been neglected in this way by its owners. The pictures speak for themselves. Not only were the rooms and bathrooms dirty and smelly, there were bugs on the windows, around the lights and all over the dining/breakfast area. I sat down to have dinner when we arrived and there was a dead fly in my soup. No apologies were offered when I brought this to the staff's attention, they just took the plate away.||The heaters in the room did not work and the few, thin logs available to use in the fireplaces burnt quickly. It was freezing cold and neither my husband and I nor my children were able to sleep.||The following day a technician came to repair the gas heaters. They were in such dire shape and so old that I was concerned about a gas leak or malfunction. We decided it was unsafe to stay and we left, three days before our scheduled departure.||As an Argentine living in California, I felt ashamed for my country. Such neglect and disregard for guests who are paying hefty rates creates a sense of untrustworthiness when the country so desperately needs tourism as a vital employment generating industry.||Shame on you,...

I could not wait to spend a weekend at Estancia La Portena on my recent trip back to Buenos Aires and so was horrified to have the experience my friend and I had. I have stayed in many estancias in the country and so knew what to expect - a lovely, relaxed atmosphere with friendly owners and nice food. What my friend and I encountered however was the total opposite. The whole estancia was filthy - there wasn't a clean glass, fork or knife in sight. The owner was incredibly rude and did not care that one of our group had food allergies. We were told that we should have brought our own allergy-friendly food (when we were already paying a huge amount of money for what we told would be a full food experience.) Don't be fooled by the horse-ride either - they advertise it as a horse-riding "experience" when really all they try to give you is 20-30 minutes. We demanded more and got an hour. ||||Furthermore, I got sick on our first evening from the food. We therefore decided to leave early as it was such a horrible experience. To add insult to injury, the owner was incredibly rude and when we asked for our money back, shouted at us. I honestly can't believe how we, as paying customers, were treated and I would not wish this upon anyone. So please, go to San Antonio de Areco and enjoy the culture but DO NOT GO TO...