I stayed at the Meliá Recoleta Plaza for four days earlier this month, during my first visit to Buenos Aires. Here's my breakdown:

THE GOOD
- great location, in a quiet street in the famous Recoleta neighborhood, a couple of blocks away from the Recoleta Cemetery and from Patio Bullrich (an upscale mall with lots of designer shops);
- elegant and classic decor and overall ambience (albeit nothing extraordinary);
- well equipped and decorated room (again, pretty solid, but nothing too special);
- internet access included;
- very good breakfast (included).

THE NOT SO GOOD
- the staff, while very professional, wasn't particularly warm or friendly. Some of them came across as borderline snotty;
- pretty cheap toiletries (specially the shampoo and hair conditioner) for a supposedly premium hotel, and one which expressly calls itself "boutique hotel";
- no wi-fi, only wired internet access, with no network cable in the room (?) (had to ask for one);

THE BAD
- very expensive rates, completely incompatible with the overall level of the hotel: not a good value at all;
- inconsistent maid service: used towels and bathrobes were taken away, but no clean replacements were left on my first day. They must have assumed that since there was only one guest (me) in the room, there was no need to keep two sets of towels and bathrobes available to said guest;

THE INTOLERABLE
- Paper thin walls! And I really mean this. While sitting on the toilet, I could hear everything the two girls in the room next to mine were saying. I could almost swear there was nothing but a single layer of drywall between them and me. When they flushed or turned on the shower, I could hear it almost as if they were in my bathroom.

One of the nights I was there, these girls decided to invite in, at around 3-4 a.m., a couple of "friends" of theirs for a very loud private party. Needless to say, I had as much of a sleepless night as they did, even though they were having all the fun.

The next night, they decided to throw another "party", this time with the added feature of loud music/tv. Fed up, I called the front desk, and the person on duty apologized, while simultaneously shrugging me off, saying "we are aware that these guests are making a lot of noise, we'll ask them to be quiet, but it's complicated because they're young girls, and there's not much we can do". Excuse me !?!?! Maybe I should've said the same time at checkout: "you know, I'd really like to pay you, but it's complicated". After I got really mad and mentioned the P word (police), he offered me to change rooms (at 3 a.m.!).

Since I really needed to sleep and was too tired to make a scene, I was forced to get dressed at 3.a.m. and go to another room, while leaving my stuff in the original room. That was totally unacceptable!!! Instead of demanding that the girls be quiet, they gave them a free pass to party all night long, at my expense.

Did I at least get an apology or some kind of compensation for my sleepless night and for all my trouble? No, sir. I did get a survey form to fill out, though.

Bottomline: Even without the paper-thin walls, sleepless nights, and the ridiculous way the staff handled the situation, I would only recommend this hotel at maybe half the average price shown by tripadvisor. Given that these premium prices won't even guarantee you the right to a peaceful night's sleep, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

We stayed here three nights at the end of January 2008. I didn't realize the location would be so important in BA but when we compared the quiet, tree lined streets near our hotel and the congestion and noise in the Microcentro area, we knew we had made a good choice. It's within easy walking distance of the Cemetary and there are lots of nice open air restaurants in that area.

The staff could not have been more helpful and all spoke very good English. The room was a bit dark but it didn't spoil our stay.

Avoid at all costs eating in the hotel restaurant except for the very nice breakfast. Our dinner was dreadful and it's evident that others were aware of that because there were almost no other people dining the one evening we ate there.

The Tango Show arranged through the hotel turned out to be a rip-off. The place refused to honor the food and beverages promised by the hotel brochure. They were so rude about it that we left about half-way through because we were sick of arguing with them. The hotel staff was very shocked when we told them about it.

There is a BouqueBus terminal just down the street from the hotel where we made arrangements for our day trip to Colonia, Uruaguay. The hotel made arrangements for a BA city tour and the tour came to the hotel to pick us up.

The Alevar Place is only a block or two from the hotel and we had an outstanding dinner for two for about $200. Much better than any other meal we had in Argentina or Chile.

I would definitely stay here again. We stayed one night at another hotel in BA about three weeks later and wished for this one.

Stayed several nights and have nothing but good things to say about this hotel. We were accomodated in every aspect from booking a show to setting up transportation. Our group of 9 (we booked 5 rooms) all enjoyed our stay and the included breakfast buffet. The staff was helpful and courteous. The rooms were nicely appointed and very clean. I found the beds to be comfy, and I can be pretty picky about that! Great location. I thought the room rates were appropriate if not reasonable.

Melia Recoleta is a nice small hotel, perfectly located in the best BA district. There is no public transportation nearby, so the best and only option is taxi (or walking, but BA is huge, so you cannot walk everywhere). The staff is very helpful with all your needs. The standard rooms are nicely appointed, but quite small, and some are dark (those that face the second Recoleta tower). Despite AC, the rooms might feel humid on a rainy day.
Breakfast is good, but not remarkable, unless you fancy desserts. And it is held in a gloomy room in the basement. Yes, there is live jazz accompaniment with your food, but I would prefer something less noisy.
Nearby diner choices are very good and plentiful, but avoid CHE restaurant.