248 Finisterra

This is a beautiful oasis boutique inn in the middle of a busy neighborhood with a lovely hot tub on the 2nd floor in a small garden and a stunning main floor green garden with floor to 8 foot wall (or more) covered in greenery. The small, but excellent dining area looks out directly into the garden. The bedrooms are clean and simply appointed. Next door is an outstanding Italian restaurant. The whole set up couldn't be better.

I have to say I was taken aback by some of the glowing reviews of this place. It felt more like a run down tenement apartment building than a boutique hotel. You have to ring a buzzer to be let in the building. I can see the logic for this at night for security reasons, but don’t see the reason for it in the daytime. If the front desk person has to step out for some reason, you could be outside ringing the buzzer for a while 😀. They also require you to leave your key at the front desk whenever you go out. I guess this so you won’t lose the room key, but this is something I’ve never been asked to do before at a hotel. You should also know there is no elevator and the staircase to the second floor rooms is pretty steep. Definitely not a hotel for those with mobility issues. The room itself was small and spartan with no real decor. The bed was comfortable enough, and the room was clean and well maintained. I can’t in good conscience give this anything less than three stars, but then I can’t honestly give it anything more than three either. The property is close to numerous restaurants and minimarts, so it is a convenient location. However, I would imagine there are a lot of better hotels nearby. It’s okay for a night or two, but I don’t think I would ever stay here again.

This place is the full package. The location is terrific. Plenty of restaurants nearby; easy access to public transport and museums. Our room was comfortable and quiet, although small. The public sitting and dining room are very nicely furnished and have a lovely garden view. A special highlight was the friendly staff at the desk and the lovely women serving breakfast. Highly recommended.

We really enjoyed this hotel on our 7 day trip to Buenas Aires. We were greeted warmly when we arrived and our room was ready…that surely made us happy. We went up to our room…fyi, only stairs at this and most hotels we stayed in so just be aware. Room was small but had everything we needed. Comfortable. Location is good, close to train and buses. My husband got his air conditioning. Bathroom was clean and serviced well. Place is cute but we never hung around much, we were always doing something. Personally I thought it was a bit out of the way but the area is nice, feels safe and is comfortable. Money exchange is a block away. I would stay here again. Comfortable beds for us even with our bad backs.

When I booked online for Hotel Finisterra in Buenos Aires, the website stated it had “one room left.” It didn’t say where this room was located, but I discovered it was on the second floor, directly over-looking the street. After five nights at Hotel Finisterra, I cannot state emphatically enough that - unless you are completely immune to excessively loud street noise - do not book any rooms at this hotel that face the street. Otherwise, you will be kept up until 4am every morning. Specifically, there is an Italian restaurant next door to the hotel that begins blasting dance music around 10am (I guess that’s when the kitchen starts prepping) and you’ll hear it very clearly. By mid-afternoon there’ll be a slight reprieve – just lots of shouting and laughter and truck deliveries – until around 8pm, when the real orchestral cacophony begins. This restaurant plays both recorded and live music – all of which throbs directly into your hotel bed – until 12:30am or so, when it switches to drunken shouting, cars honking, more delivery trucks parked outside your window with their engines idling, shouting again, furniture getting moved across the floor (this will really shake your bed), continued car doors slamming, then finally the kitchen staff leaving, many of whom are - as I was to hear/learn – frequently drunk themselves, and like standing outside shouting, smoking, and laughing with one-another until close to 4am. After the first night of this experience, I came down to the hotel’s dining lounge feeling very tired, but was greeted by an extremely friendly kitchen/cleaning staff who prepared a truly impressive breakfast selection: fruits, cereals, bruschetta, pastries, breads, eggs, juices, and very decent coffee. As much as I wanted to ground myself from the previous night’s noise and simply enjoy my breakfast experience, it proved challenging to do so, for the hotel plays music to “enhance” your dining enjoyment; not an uncommon practice - but what they play and how loudly they play it – is not common. To be specific again, the music was obtrusively loud, and on this first morning I was greeted with Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Want to Have Fun, followed by Van Halen’s Jump, then some sort of British techno-pop thing lots of heavy, computerized drumbeats, to David Lee Roth “singing” California Girls. And yes – I do remember the exact order of songs – because it was so obtrusive and genuinely awful in its selection that it’s been burned into my memory and I can’t unhear it. But after having to endure David Lee Roth, I’d finally had enough and asked the gentleman from the front desk (he had come into the lounge area) if he wouldn’t mind turning down the music. The first time I asked, he looked annoyed and replied loudly with “Huh?” to which I repeated I’d like to have the music turned down, to which he then asked, “Huh? You want the music turned off?” – and so I simply nodded “yes.” This caused another annoyed look, but he did indeed turn off

We had such a wonderful experience at this hotel. It’s in a great location with loads of restaurants on the block. Very clean and comfy and includes a fresh breakfast every morning with a nice variety of options, plus they put out some light snack in the afternoon. Best of all, the staff treated us like family and even upgraded our room for us! Highly recommend staying here.