Eric B.
Yelp
Gayle and I recently spent ~3 weeks in Argentina. The last 2 weeks were arranged through a boutique travel agency, whose services included booking hotels, flights, excursions, guides, and local recommendations. This kind of personalized service cost us significantly extra, but at the same time, we thought it was a good value. There's also the piece of mind. For example, landing in a strange airport and being met and taken to your hotel was priceless.
So when you're paying a premium, you expect more. The Legado Mitico is a gorgeous property right in the heart of the Palermo District. The common areas including breakfast room, extended living room, and patio were comfortable and handsomely decorated. Our room was spacious, nicely appointed, and successful in giving us 3 great nights of sleep. The only room downside was the window view led to a service area rather than the back patio. There was also a roof-top terrace that was closed due to renovation.
The big rub here was the front desk service, which we sometimes found to be disengaged and lacking in the willingness to engage in helping these customers with a couple situations. Actually, one guy was great. We wondered whether the other 2 were the B Team.
The first was laundry. We had just returned from an Earthwatch Expedition in Patagonia and we has some shirts and pants that needed to be penguin poop cleansed. Unfortunately, that day was a National Holiday and that the external laundry service was not available on that Thursday. We were told that the service might be able to do it on Friday (the Holiday after the Holiday), but at expedite prices. NO. When you're a premium hotel, you figure that out how to get your customer's clothes clean and not gouge them in the process.
The second was our idea of taking the boat to Uruguay for the day. We asked about it, and all the B Team guy could offer was that we should take a cab to the waterfront early and try to buy tickets. Later, we found related brochures a few feet away from the front desk, and web sites where we could have booked from one of various options. The lack of problem solving willingness by desk staff was again not consistent with what one might expect from a premium hotel.
So why 4 stars and no fewer? First, it is a fabulous property that is well located in the City. Second, the service was so much better when we stayed at the Legado Mitico in Salta. So I'm willing to chalk up our experiences to the B Team. Otherwise, if I'm going to pay a premium on a future trip, I might thing twice before coming back here.