When you travel to Buenos Aires, the first few questions you may ask yourself are surely the following:

1. During your stay, would it be cheaper to book a hotel or rent an apartment?

2. If you want book an apartment, what would be the best way of doing so?

To answer the first question very simply, yes, it is usually cheaper to rent an apartment during your stay in Buenos Aires, especially if you plan on staying in the city a long time. There are however a few things you have to take into account: first, the commodity of room service, breakfast, reception etc, and secondly that if you plan to book travel services, these usually doesn´t pick up on apartments so you´ll have to arrive to an hotel to meet up the tour, which sometimes complicates the communication with the agency.

The good thing about the Argentine capital is that it has recently established a very modern apartment rental system, where one can rent a furnished apartment for as little as one week. Reserving too has become much easier as most of it can be done online, therefore simpler to do from abroad.

The second question’s answer however isn’t as simple as the first. There are many different things to be taken into account if you plan on renting an apartment in Buenos Aires. It may take a little more time than you think, and therefore we have decided to give you a few important tips on how to safely rent an apartment in Buenos Aires.

Rent-apartments-in-buenos-aires

1. Decide what neighborhood you would like to live in beforehand

There are a few top neighborhoods for accommodation in Buenos Aires, each very different from one another. The most popular ones for travelers would be Palermo, if you like restaurants and nightlife; Recoleta, if you want to be closer to downtown and enjoy the Parisian architecture of Buenos Aires, San Telmo, if you are more a bohemian and like the classic cobbled streets and antique stores and Microcentro, which is closer to all the main touristic attractions. After that choosing between the four depends on what you plan on doing whilst you’re here. Click here to see a detailed description of each area and the tourist hotspots they have to offer.

2. Do not leave apartment hunting to the last minute

Looking for an apartment in Buenos Aires can take a longer time depending on how selective you may be about where you want to live. It is fairly easy to find a good apartment at a reasonable price, but the longer you search the more chance you have of finding something really good. The price for a 2 week stay will usually range between 500USD and 900USD. Therefore it would be recommended to look online as soon as possible so you may contact the agency and reserve as early as you can. Be aware that sending emails to the agency will usually slow the process down as in Buenos Aires things move at their own pace and it may take them some time to reply. Consequently, it would be more efficient to contact them by phone.

Buenos-Aires-at-night

3. Choose your agency carefully

As in any city, there are good agencies and bad agencies in Buenos Aires. Read as many reviews on the agency as possible, and try and find the ones that do not work with bad landlords. Some with the best reviews are ByT, BaStay, ApartmentsBA, RentinBA, and Charlie’s Apartments. You can also find more agency reviews on Facebook! Furthermore, remember to check if the agency you choose is affiliated with a government agency to support its trajectory. If it is a travel agency, it must have a license (EVT = business travel and tourism), and if it only rents out apartments it must be enrolled in the chamber of property. Finally, the agency must have a physical address and a phone number displayed on their website.

It is imperative that you bring US Dollars to Buenos Aires if you are planning on renting an apartment here. Most landlords ask for tenants to pay rent in the North American currency, and in cash. Some will allow you to pay in Argentinean Pesos, but at an exchange rate that may make you end up paying an extra 10%. And it is not the best idea to change the local currency for dollars either, seeing as it is very difficult to get a good exchange rate anywhere you go.

Palermo one of the most requiered neighborhoods for rent an apartment

4. Take all the precautionary measures you would usually take while renting an apartment

Just because Buenos Aires is in South America doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take all the measures you would take in any other country. Once you check in, be sure to check the apartment for any damaged furniture or utensils, as the landlord may charge you for this if you are not careful. Also, be certain to verify that the inventory sheet they give you matches what is in the apartment and if gas, electricity and hot water is working properly.

We hope that if your plan is to rent an apartment while travelling to Buenos Aires, these tips would have been of help, and if you are looking for things to do whilst you’re here, don’t hesitate to have a look at our BsAs4U catalog for a variety of tours and activities to do Buenos Aires.

If you are looking for tours and activities in Buenos Aires during the Autumn, visit our official website

Comments

comments