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REVIEW: Buenos Aires BA Club World and Marriott Luxury Collection Park Tower Hotel and more!

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Categories This Buenos Aires BA Club World and Marriott Luxury Collection Park Tower Hotel is a review from our regular contributor, Gus.&nbsp;In this post: Most road warriors will be more than familiar with the pros and cons of British Airways’ older Club World product, so I wanted to focus this review from a recent trip to Argentina’s Buenos Aires on my seating strategy, alongside reviewing the Park Tower Hotel (Marriott collection).Specifically, as this was one of BA’s longest flights – from London Heathrow to Buenos Aires Ministro Pistar airport, chalking in at about 13.5 hours each way – I wanted to make sure that I had a prime seat to maximise my sleeping chances and if possible to dodge having a seat-mate next to me.&nbsp;Several months prior, I booked a Premium Economy sale fare and upgraded to business with Avios, and as a BA Gold, I was able to book my seats at the time of booking and could see low occupancy levels. I was on a three-class B787-8 (Dreamliner), with the Club seats being in the usual yin-yang style (as opposed to the excellent new, more private Club Suites). I always prefer a bulkhead seat, as I find even if it’s slightly closer to a gally, it feels more ‘cocooned’, and therefore, for me personally, more liable to encourage sleep.I used to use SeatGuru, but more recently, I have found aeroLOPA more helpful due to the more accurate seat plan and general aircraft layout – i.e. space ratios and size of gally, etc. The site does require you to know the aircraft type as opposed to simply searching by route, but given this info is usually on your flight info under Manage My Booking, it was straightforward enough.&nbsp;For the outbound, I selected 1A as my seat, which was a bulkhead and, at the time of booking, had no seat companion. Ultimately, this proved optimistic on two accounts, the first being that it turns out I’d booked a defective seat, so I was (proactively) moved to another window seat off the bulkhead, and the second being that obviously seats filled up and I ended up with a seat buddy. That’s to be expected, but I stand by the fact it is a smidge annoying as there were plenty of other (aisle) Club seats open when we took off. Also, this particular chap kept using his laptop quite noisily throughout this night flight, and the light really did carry through the opaque plastic divider with gusto… But, as they say, c’est la vie!Anyway, the flight itself was very standard, but I mean it in a good way, with food, service, and the usual seat and amenities always making it a lovely way to cross an ocean. After my (Gold recognition) welcome from the purser, I settled in and had a delicious beef starter with a slightly less exciting beef-cheek main. Cheese dessert and wine were both cracking, too.It turned out to be a fairly bumpy flight, so I sacked, trying to sleep off a little earlier than I’d originally planned. Annoyingly, my IFE also didn’t work properly. Several attempts later, it turned out the whole aircraft was affected. It did get sorted eventually, and the purser asked how long I’d been without it, and I said a couple of hours or so. The question suggested to me that some kind of service recovery Avios may be incoming from the purser’s iPad, but a few weeks later and still nothing.&nbsp;Arrival was smooth and super quick at immigration (including photo and thumbprint, but sadly, no stamp in my UK passport), and as I had not been to Buenos Aires before, I was keen to get into the city as swiftly as possible. While there are super affordable buses to the city, I opted to stick with the scrum for the ‘official’ taxis and did a 50-minute cab ride that cost $45. This turned out pretty pricey, given my return to the airport at the end of my stay was $25 with a taxi hailed on the street. (The Argentinian peso was/is so inflation hit that I paid for most things in USD).When I got to the city itself, I was struck by how European the city felt.It had a colourful mix of grand architecture tourist-friendly sights (and sounds), and felt big yet compact enough to deliver for most tourist appetites. Sites I ticked off and would recommend include the unusually interesting and memorable Recoleta Cemetry, meandering around San Telmo Market and the Palermo district, and eating empanadas and ‘dulce de leche’. Special shout out to Fogon Asado, too, who laid on an excellent semi-educational culinary experience at their great steakhouse restaurant, with ‘ringside’ seats to witness all the food preparation and to feel the heat of the flames as they conjure up many-a-treat.&nbsp;Aside from the full-on tourist-ing, I had decided to put my head down at night at the Park Tower, which is part of Marriott’s ‘luxury collection’.&nbsp;It is right next door to, and partially attached to, its sister hotel, The Sheraton. While they share the same postcode (and many elements such as Club lounge, gym and pool – more on these later), they have also taken steps to ensure they also feel entirely different in many other regards.&nbsp;The Sheraton, for example, felt quite impersonal and very much a conference and business hotel. While the Park Tower didn’t have some of the old-world charm that other 5 stars of the city probably offered (e.g. the Four Seasons and Park Hyatt), it did do service and glitz in equal measure.I had gone big and booked a corner 1 bedroom suite, which was around £400 a night, or 33k points (also, base rooms start from £211 off-season).The Park Tower Hotel room was more elongated than I anticipated from the pictures, but it had bags of space, and while a touch dated in some of the furniture and indeed fittings, it still felt very indulgent and well thought out.I did, however, enjoy a plethora of welcome amenities, including wine (a full-size bottle of pinot noir), nuts, chocolates, as well as the usual bathroom goodies.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Outside of the room, I also sampled the Club Lounge, which, like the pool and gym, is situated actually within the neighbouring Sheraton.This was a decent space, with attentive service, good food (during those key few hours), and a pleasant view of the ‘Torre Monumental’ clock tower in the small park just outside the hotel(s).The pool was fairly small, given the size of both hotels combined, but it was nice and light, thanks to the glass roof and the accompanying terrace area. The gym, too, was a decent size, and all were accessed by a long walkway from the main building.The main Park Tower hotel restaurant itself, the St Regis, was a much grander affair.I only ate breakfast there, but it was a fairly dramatic and imposing space, with wall-to-ceiling windows of the (sadly much less impressive) street view outside.Service was a touch on the formal and frosty side, but it was prompt and attentive, and alongside a generous and varied buffet, there were plenty of a la carte options, too.Overall, I enjoyed the hotel, not least as it was well-located and as comfortable as you’d expect at the price point. All too quick, it was time to head back to the airport for the slog back home.At the airport, there were plenty of lounge options to keep any OneWorld status and/or AmEx Platinum card holder busy – which you can find here [LINK ONCE LIVE] – but here I’ll share some final thoughts on my return leg.&nbsp;This was also with BA in Club, and happily, it had a daytime departure (and on a sunny day – which was something lacking given I’d travelled in ‘shoulder season’), so I enjoyed the views on take-off. The crew in the return 787-9 for were chatty, but it was odd that while the route was sold as a 3-class again, this aircraft actually had 4-classes, i.e. including a First cabin. According to the crew, it was only accessible if business was overbooked, in which case a First seat would have been used but serviced as a Club seat. There were some people there, which was a bit odd, but sadly, I’d not made the cut (perhaps as it was a points upgrade, despite paying for PE and being Gold).Either way, it was another slick service and a smooth flight, with my food choice this time being pastrami and chicken. There is nothing out of the ordinary to report, other than the classic FWP (first world problem) of arriving at a remote stand – not ideal after 13 hours in the air.All in all, it was lovely to spend 26 hours with BA, even in their older Club cabin, and great to be on the ground for a few days in the lovely city of Buenos Aires and lay a head on the fine (and even firm!) pillows of the Park Tower. Thank you, BA and BA!Like our regular contributors’ review of Buenos Aires BA Club World and Marriott Luxury Collection Park Tower Hotel? You can read more of his reviews here such as Bournemouth hotel suite-off: Which is better, Bournemouth Hilton or Marriott hotel? and First class long distance on LNER and Avanti West Coast Trains Related Topics Previous Article 5 commentsThankfully my flight at the end of January 24 is scheduled on a plane with Club Suites. Really looking forward to experiencing Argentinian steak and wine and touring the country.ReplyI’m flying with Iberia into Montevideo and out from Buenos Aires in Business at Xmas, returning in the new year. Will be interesting to see the difference. So you advise to take dollars?ReplyHey Michelle Indeed BA will use the F seats if C are full. Also if there are any “cling ons” on staff tickets they will be put in the F cabin. It’s up to the IFM who sits where and who gets what! I’ve flow the route a few times and enjoyed it. Last time I did it the aircraft route was LHR/GRU/EZE..Glad on somedays it goes direct!ReplyTake dollars and change them into pesos on Florida. You can change dollars all over the country at the street rate but pounds are more difficult. You’ll do fine on Florida but outside the capital you will probably only get the official rate for pounds. I changed pounds in Calafate and despite trying several places only got the official rate. Same in Salta, but by that time I’d sussed out how it works and had already change my pounds in BA. (BA is Buenos Aires not British Airways!)Florida is a street in The centre, could be Retiro, but the district between the Colon Opera and the port. The money changers look very shady and the street “grabbers” who ask you, there will be dozens, take you to an obscure office somewhere on the street where from behind a counter the changer counts notes from wads of the stuff. Feels shady but it’s quite safe. If you change larger amounts then then is room for negotiation. If it’s a couple of hundred then probably not. The grabber is not the boss and may not be able to negotiate; they will get a small commission for grabbing you. Some of them look less trustable than others but there are many there and just ask a couple that look fine.You’ll get wonderful steak all over the country. My favourite was Parrilla Cero 5 on Suipacha , a street parallel to Florida. You may never have had such wonderful steak and if you think steak is eaten with chips, think again! It’s much much better with mashed potato! I know you won’t believe me, but try it and you’ll be hooked!I like Argentina a great deal. I have CW booked in Dec/Jan but the flights are eight weeks apart so I’m looking every day for closer dates. On my last trip to BA I stayed at the Alvear Arts Hotel (on Suipacha, which is why I found Cero 5, other wonderful restaurants are available). Used it as my base in BA and as I flitted round the country by air. BA is the transport hub; you’ll get to know the airpark.Uruguay has a stable currency, I used their pesos and know nothing of money changing there!ReplyI did this RT last Dec/Jan. Perhaps one of the worst BA flights ever (Pipped at the post by return flight from Turks &amp; Caicos with no catering- 1 piece of KFC for over 9 hours of transit &amp; a broken seat). The old layout is awful and the service ever increasingly worse.ReplyThis site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.Subscribe to Turning Left for Less You can read how we look after your data hereWant extra perks on your luxury hotel?TLFL has an exclusive partnership with GTC, one of the world’s largest collections of independent luxury travel agents.Book through GTC to receive extra perks on your booking at no additional cost. These include perks such as upgrades, free breakfast, hotel credit and late checkout. You can still collect your usual hotel loyalty points and perks too.Click here to enquire.&nbsp;This Week in Travel from TLFLhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQR1N8z_Zpc&amp;t=12sTurning Left For Less on Instagram Champagne travel on a Prosecco budget. UK blog on how to travel in luxury for less. Forbes contributor. #avgeek #luxurytravel #miles #luxuryhotel Categories Input your search keywords and press Enter. bloggers like this:

Categories This Buenos Aires BA Club World and Marriott Luxury Collection Park Tower Hotel is a review from our regular contributor, Gus.&nbsp;In this post: Most road warriors will be more than familiar with the pros and cons of British Airways’ older Club World product, so I wanted to focus this review from a recent trip to Argentina’s Buenos Aires on my seating strategy, alongside reviewing the Park Tower Hotel (Marriott collection).Specifically, as this was one of BA’s longest flights – from London Heathrow to Buenos Aires Ministro Pistar airport, chalking in at about 13.5 hours each way...

REVIEW: Buenos Aires BA Club World and Marriott Luxury Collection Park Tower Hotel and more!

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