Post: #1

I'm planning on spending 2 months in Buenos Aires. I plan on arriving January 7th, and staying until the last week of February.

I'd prefer to already know that I have a place to stay before I buy plane tickets. I want to stay in a "casa compartida" with Argentines my age. Also, I'd prefer to stay in San Telmo or Palermo.

What's the best way to go about looking for a room in a Casa Compartida? Is November too early to reserve a room for 2 months?

Should I book the tickets and check into a hostel while I apartment hunt? I do have a friend who offered that I could stay with her, but she lives with her family and it might be awkward.

I speak Spanish fluently, and I use to date a porteña, and I know all their unique words and expressions. I'm 23, and graduated from College in May, so I could probably try to find student housing, as I still have my college ID.

What do you guys think?

Post: #2

(11-08-2016 03:38 PM)ieatkeyboards Wrote:  I'm planning on spending 2 months in Buenos Aires. I plan on arriving January 7th, and staying until the last week of February.

I'd prefer to already know that I have a place to stay before I buy plane tickets. I want to stay in a "casa compartida" with Argentines my age. Also, I'd prefer to stay in San Telmo or Palermo.

What's the best way to go about looking for a room in a Casa Compartida? Is November too early to reserve a room for 2 months?

Should I book the tickets and check into a hostel while I apartment hunt? I do have a friend who offered that I could stay with her, but she lives with her family and it might be awkward.

I speak Spanish fluently, and I use to date a porteña, and I know all their unique words and expressions. I'm 23, and graduated from College in May, so I could probably try to find student housing, as I still have my college ID.

What do you guys think?

There is plenty of availability on craigslist:
https://buenosaires.craigslist.org/search/roo

San Telmo is still more of a backpacker-crowd area. Most of the nicer bars are in Palermo. I'd recommend looking in Palermo/Colegiales/Villa Crespo.

You could reserve a room before coming, but you'll probably find something better if you give yourself a week to look while on the ground to check places out in person. You could use craigslist for that or airbnb, or as you said a hostel. Once you get your tickets reserve something cheap in the area for a week or so to give yourself time to find a "permanent" place once youre on the ground.

What do you mean by trying to find "student housing" - like dorms? AFAIK that doesn't exist and if it did it would probably be dogshit quality and really far away. Ciudad universitaria is nowhere near the areas you want to live and is very isolated.

Bring an unlocked phone and get a "Tuenti" sim card - you can order it online and have it shipped to your ex's house for free. They sell them in kioscos, but only the micro/full sized sim versions, so if you need a nano sim you have to order it or go to the casa central. It's the best deal, 90 pesos per month for internet/300 or so minutes/5000 sms.

You no longer have to worry about bringing USD in cash, ATMs give you roughly the same rate (although aren't as easy to find as in the US or europe).

Jan/Feb are when porteños leave to go on the vacation, the city is much emptier, easier to get around, but still full of tourists. Cultural events mostly shut down. There are still boliches & aire libre events.

Post: #3

Dupe

/thread-59016.html

Post: #4

(11-08-2016 06:07 PM)zoom Wrote:  Dupe

/thread-59016.html

Dupe from the same poster. I think that's a new one except for that troll who keeps coming on here trying to sell fake passports or something.

I don't really understand what's so great about San Telmo. It wasn't even on my radar when I lived in Buenos Aires, yet I keep hearing people talk/post about it both on or off the forum. First, I would take either Cordoba or Mendoza over Buenos Aires every day. Both are cheaper, Cordoba has equal or better girls than Buenos Aires, and girls' attitudes are supposed to be better in both cities. That being said, I still like Buenos Aires a lot. Taking everything in consideration, the Dominican Republic and Argentina are by far my two favorite Latin American countries and I think that has been my opinion for well over ten years. If it has to be Buenos Aires, I would stay in Recoleta first, but I realize that it doesn't fit into a lot of people's budgets. Barrio Norte, which some people mistakingly consider to be in Palermo, might be cheaper than other parts of Recoleta. There is also an area of Recoleta close to both Avenida Santa Fe and Palermo Viejo which should be less expensive. My second choice would be Palermo, preferably Palermo Viejo.

Post: #5

(11-08-2016 06:13 PM)Merenguero Wrote:  

(11-08-2016 06:07 PM)zoom Wrote:  Dupe

/thread-59016.html

Dupe from the same poster. I think that's a new one except for that troll who keeps coming on here trying to sell fake passports or something.

I don't really understand what's so great about San Telmo. It wasn't even on my radar when I lived in Buenos Aires, yet I keep hearing people talk/post about it both on or off the forum. First, I would take either Cordoba or Mendoza over Buenos Aires every day. Both are cheaper, Cordoba has equal or better girls than Buenos Aires, and girls' attitudes are supposed to be better in both cities. That being said, I still like Buenos Aires a lot. Taking everything in consideration, the Dominican Republic and Argentina are by far my two favorite Latin American countries and I think that has been my opinion for well over ten years. If it has to be Buenos Aires, I would stay in Recoleta first, but I realize that it doesn't fit into a lot of people's budgets. Barrio Norte, which some people mistakingly consider to be in Palermo, might be cheaper than other parts of Recoleta. There is also an area of Recoleta close to both Avenida Santa Fe and Palermo Viejo which should be less expensive. My second choice would be Palermo, preferably Palermo Viejo.

With limited or no Spanish I would definitely take Mexico over Argentina for a short stint. I think guys tend to avoid BA and Argentina in general for several viable reasons.
1) Really solid Spanish and/or game is crucial to pull decent quality, especially in the weeks to few months time scale
2) It's a pricey long haul flight to potentially come up dry (11 hrs from NYC/9 from Miami)
3) Gaming is inefficient/lots of false leads/flakiness is common
4) Social circle/status is more important than other SA countries
5) Gringo status (particularly in BA) isn't as good as other countries due to the sizable influx of tourists since late 2000s.

I'm curious as to why you liked Recoleta so much (less tourists per capita/your favorite bars?). I lived there for a month but preferred the bars/restaurants and walkability of Palermo Soho/Hollywood and lived in that area for almost two years. It did get progressively more populated with foreigners from '07-'13. Palermo has a lot more trees, shorter buildings and a West Village vibe while Recoleta is a more of a midtown Manhattan old money feel and more concrete jungled out. I lived in Barrio Norte for a few months, but it's definitely not as nice as Palermo so unless you're just trying to be near Recoleta more cheaply it's not ideal.

I think the majority of locals and foreigners would prefer living in Palermo. There are some decent/classy bar options in Recoleta but probably not worth the extra ~30% in cost (rough estimate) for most. It's a short taxi ride from the more laid back Palermo with tons of nightlife options, so you can't really go wrong with either. San Telmo is a bad even if you're trying to skimp because it gets seedy at night and is generally pretty shitty aesthetically. Allegedly Belgrano is where foreign students are gravitating towards these days though it's probably not a huge discount from Palermo.

Post: #6

(11-08-2016 03:38 PM)ieatkeyboards Wrote:  I'm planning on spending 2 months in Buenos Aires. I plan on arriving January 7th, and staying until the last week of February.

I'd prefer to already know that I have a place to stay before I buy plane tickets. I want to stay in a "casa compartida" with Argentines my age. Also, I'd prefer to stay in San Telmo or Palermo.

What's the best way to go about looking for a room in a Casa Compartida? Is November too early to reserve a room for 2 months?

Should I book the tickets and check into a hostel while I apartment hunt? I do have a friend who offered that I could stay with her, but she lives with her family and it might be awkward.

I speak Spanish fluently, and I use to date a porteña, and I know all their unique words and expressions. I'm 23, and graduated from College in May, so I could probably try to find student housing, as I still have my college ID.

What do you guys think?

There is a mass exodus from BsAs to Uruguay and the Argentine coast in January to February. It should be really easy to find a well priced room for that reason. It's definitely not the ideal time to be in the city, but BsAs is big enough that it's still decent, albeit really hot.

I would check for a room on Airbnb first since you have the reviews and don't need to worry as much about flakiness or security deposits (which get jacked in BsAs like 50% of the time). Argie dudes into their 30s are often crackhead messy, so I'd opt for a reviewed host or a vetted mutual friend over trying to save a few bones on a classified ad. If you can't negotiate a good price on airbnb, ask one of your local friends to post on facebook that you're looking since there should be a big supply of rooms.