December 23, 2008

Dear John and Carolyn - Thank you so much for sharing Casa Palermo with us! What a lovely retreat after a long day (and sometimes a long night) of exploring and experiencing Buenos Aires! My daughter, KJ, and I loved the place. The clean, simple appointment of the house allowed the beauty of the old wood and brick (in the ceiling, no less!) to steal the visual show. The wonderfully renovated kitchen was both pretty and utilitarian! Thank you IKEA! And I absolutely loved the sinks in the bathrooms, particularly the one upstairs! Concrete and stainless -- how brilliant! KJ loved her "own" bedroom with shutters for both the window and door to block out the morning sun, and she could have it as warm as she wanted! (I'm one who loves to sleep in the cold!) I had tea on the upper patio in the sun every morning. It was delightful! We picked up provisions from the nearby Supermercado and fruit stand, and ate in more nights than not. We usually had our mid-day meal out, while we were on the prowl, so something light and simple at the end of the day suited us well. As we were out and about, I glanced at various BA hotels, tipping my nose up and thinking, "Poor them, who must stay at a hotel, while we have Casa Palermo!" Please feel free to use me as a reference, should you need one for VRBO. If I find myself travelling to BA again, you will definitely hear from me! Thanks again!

Mary
Alexandria, VA

November 18, 2008

Dear John & Carolyn,

David and I had a great time in Buenos Aires, and we are very happy that we chose your Casa Palermo as a home base for our first week in the city. We received the deposit check over the weekend, and appreciate the very fast return.

As you know, we rented two homes in Buenos Aires via VRBO.com, and when it came time to move to the second home, we didn't want to leave Casa Palermo. While the second home was also great, we were rather spoiled by the roominess (and the two bathrooms!) and the location of Casa Palermo.

A somewhat interesting note about our trip: Back in January of 2008, I began to investigate a trip to Buenos Aires. I picked out Casa Palermo from all the other Buenos Aires rentals on VRBO and at that time sent links to my husband, as an example of a great place we could stay. So when this trip became a reality, I took it as a very good sign that you contacted me regarding Casa Palermo, the very home I had picked out when presenting the idea of the trip.

The house itself was perfect. We were "home" much less than we thought we would be, yet the spacious quarters were so appreciated. It was nice to have private indoor and outdoor space with the courtyard and the rooftop terrace. The kitchen was great to have, although you are right, it is so inexpensive to eat out, so why cook? I didn't cook once. Still, we liked having space to put out some nice cheeses and wines from Manchego (Scalabrini Ortiz 2002, at Guatemala, love that shop), or a place to keep some breakfast juices and fruit from the local market.

And, the home was so quiet, in a city kind of way. Our first night there, just before I drifted off to sleep, the most lovely piano piano music drifted into the main bedroom. It was not loud, but I think it was from next door. It was a perfect way to fall asleep after a tiring first day and night in the city, and I wished to hear it again, and did, one more time during our stay.

The beds were very comfortable and we had no trouble sleeping. The linens were comfortable, and the nice towels were plentiful. We appreciated that there was a good hairdryer and even some US to ARG plug adapters, although we had brought a few with us. We prefered the water pressure and rapid hot water of the downstairs shower and so used that the entire time.

The neighborhood was fantastic. At first glance, it worried me a little. We had read so many warnings about Buenos Aires as a whole. And, the city is so different than what we know. So to see so much spray paint after just arriving that morning was concerning. After spending very little time, one quickly catches on that there is spray paint everywhere in Buenos Aires (it isn't a sign of gangs like at home, it is merely a sign that someone had something to say), and that the area around Casa Palermo is extremely comfortable. We spent so much time walking around, even late at night. We felt very safe. One of my favorite visions is of all the people enjoying the little park around the corner on Costa Rica, the families enjoying the park at night, the brightly lit carousel, boys playing ball. Another favorite vision is of the dog walkers with a dozen or so dogs (I called this a "bouquet" of dogs).

The materials you provided were perfect. It is obvious that you put a lot of thought into the comfort of your guests. We didn't do everything you suggested, simply because two weeks is not enough time in the city. But what recommendations we did manage to fit in were spot on, from the restaurants, teh ATMs, to the cleaners, to the taxi, to the instructions for the washer/dryer (which we nicknamed "El Diablo" because it has its own idea about when it will be done with the towels).

One suggestion we did not take was renting a cell phone. We bought a SIM card and prepaid card at the Movistar on Corrientes 655 for my unlocked AT&T Blackberry and that worked like a charm. It wasn't easy to get AT&T to unlock the phone here because they are stubborn (done a week or so before leaving home), but I think we only spent USD $9 on the phone in Argentina.

We appreciated Camilla responding so quickly with the safe key. I'm sure we would have been just fine, but it made us feel better to have our cash in the safe.

We hope to return soon to Buenos Aires, and we would not hesitate for a minute to select Casa Palermo again. We loved Casa Palermo, we loved the neighborhood, we loved the city. We've traveled more than some, less than many, but Buenos Aires really seems like home. Thanks for all you have done to ensure visitors have a great stay in your home.

Amanda & David
McKinney, TX

Camilla must be a godsend for you. I can't say enough about her help. She arranged transportation to and from Newberry for our trip to Iguazu as well as cars for when we left and when our traveling companions left early due to the death of Jerry's father. I did talk to her one other time with a question that others might have and you might want to address in the survival guide. Once we were in and found the keys on the counter, I kept looking for additional keys to lock the inside doors-kitchen, living room, small bedroom. When none could be found and when the two keys did not lock/unlock any other doors, I called Camilla to make sure that I wasn't missing something. Perhaps a note that the street door and the courtyard door are all that have to be locked might be in order for guests like me who sometimes run a little anal.

The restaurant recommendations were amazing. While some were more enjoyable than others, there was not a bad meal to be had from your list. Our friends liked Roof and we ended up there on two occasions. The waiter there gets the award for the most hard to understand Spanish of the entire trip. Even our friend Maria who is Cuban born and received numerous complements on her Spanish said she could only get a word or two. I never understood a word that man uttered! We also went to La Colonia twice. I really clicked with that place. We tried to buy one of the napkin holders but the waitress told us that there were only four left. She later returned with one of the flat napkin holders as a gift from the owner! Everyone we met was so genuinely nice, from cab drivers, to wait staff, people in stores and folks on the street. We did try the new restaurant (green and white facade) just around the corner. It was fine; we went for some late snacks and drinks before going to Sal on Canning. I did not realize that it was the place in your email until the next day. Then they closed for vacation for the remainder of our time there, which was unfortunate as we would have returned.

I took some laundry to the establishment on the corner of Soler and Medrano. My Spanish was enough to conclude the transaction. The price was amazingly cheap ($6 US) and the shirts were well ironed and everything else folded nicely. Since it is so close, you might want to consider adding it to your recommendations.

We never made it to the Bozzi gallery and Sylvia was never at her studio when we stopped by on the way to other places. Next time, and there will definitely be a next time!

We did have one problem related to dining out-- that being the vocabulary. Food items had vastly different names from the ones we knew. Even Maria was unfamiliar with many of the menu items. Perhaps you might want to consider adding a menu helper to your Survival Guide. Think of what fun the research would be! Personally, I can recommend a large number of sabors de helado from our numerous trips to the Fratello's.

A final note on Buquebus and side trips and I will bore you no longer. I could not get anyone to speak English on the phone so Maria had to step in. Next time, I would do it on-line before we arrived. Or if your guests bring a laptop they could do it on-line from the house. We had to pay an additional fee for the phone service. Also, avoid the 15th and the 30/31st. These days, we found out, are the standard turn around days for Portenos who are vacationing in Uruguay and the volume of people was what contributed to the two hour delay on the Buquebus. Going to Colonia was not a problem and is something that should not be missed. I really enjoyed the somewhat run-down shadow of its former glory nature of Montevideo but our traveling companions definitely did not. In fact, I wish we had spent another day there. There are some amazing phot opps.

Yes, I will send you a photo of our group--El Fouro Orphanos-- when I get to downloading pictures. I should probably explain. Jerry and Maria have been married for almost 25 years, a second and wonderful marriage for them after horrendous first marriages. Even after all this time, Jerry has acquired no Spanish and simply adds an "o" to any word to make it Spanish. His father died while we were there( he was 90 and in a nursing home so it was not sudden or surprising, just untimely) and as the rest of us are also parent-less, we became El Fouro Orphanos for the rest of our trip.

Thank you for all your help and advice in planning this trip. I did a lot of research before we left, but the info you provided was so amazing and helpful. You have invested a great deal of time and effort in making this trip such a wonderful experience and we cannot thank you enough. And I look forward to another flurry of email exchanges when we return for a second visit.

John, received my deposit check today, so wanted to touch base and let you know we had a great time in BA, Casa Palermo is a fantastic place to stay in an excellent part of town, and will come highly recommended to any of my friends or family who visit BA. Hopefully we'll have a chance to stay there again soon! Thanks also for all your great advice and guides, they really made a difference, especially the first few days there!

Best,

Jeff M.
Manhattan Beach, CA

PS. Camilla was very helpful and friendly, we were happy she was there to call upon to book our cars!