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Testimonials

Please have a look at a little of the feedback we have received from clients over the years...

Here at Argentina we firmly believe in the feedback of our clients, be it good or bad, as it really is the key to us moving forwards and improving our service and the overall experience. With the price of hotels and flights only on the increase we feel it is important to know where we have gotten things right and where wrong. In the below, please see what our clients are saying about us and judge for yourself. (please note that ALL of the reviews we feature are 100% real and unedited. If you would like to speak to any of our past clients please let us know).

Furthermore, we have started to gather customer reviews through Trustpilot so please take a look at our page on there to see how we are doing. Trustpilot Reviews >>

Thanks for this Nick.

Lee and I just wanted to send our heartfelt thanks to you for helping us to have such a wonderful holiday in Argentina and Brazil. Every single recommendation you made to us was spot on for what we wanted and we had a truly amazing and unforgettable experience as a result. The itinerary ran like clockwork thanks to your hard work. We are very grateful for all the time you spent with us to shape up the perfect holiday.

We were absolutely blown away by Argentina - what a fantastic country and people. Our experience was so overwhelmingly positive we intend to do more travel in South America as a result!

I’ve also passed your name and endorsed you to a colleague of mine who is looking to organise a trip to Peru too.

Once again, thanks for everything and we will be back in touch when we decide to travel that way again.

We hope you and your wife have a wonderful Christmas and New year.

Warmest wishes
Vickie & Lee

Vickie and Lee

Hi Nick,

I was just clearing out some emails and realized I never responded to you.  We had an AMAZING trip.  It was such a huge help to have our transfers to the hotels/airports.  All our drivers were very nice, but we had to help a some of them with directions to the hotels.  The Mine Hotel was great and the staff were very helpful and even had champagne waiting for us.  It was also a great location for walking around and exploring.

The Villa Mansa was gorgeous and exactly what we needed.  It was nice to be a little out of the way to really relax.  We ended up doing two wine tours through Ampora Wine Tours which was a perfect way to enjoy wine country.  The food there was also very good.

We had some flight delays on the way to Iguazu so we ended up arriving at the hotel late.  This was a bit of a challenge because they were no longer serving any food and there weren't really any other convenient options.  The staff also weren't really helpful when we were trying to find somewhere to get cold medicine because Linsey had gotten sick. While the hotel property is very cool, our room was a little underwhelming. It had seen better days.  The food was also not great.  But we did have a fantastic time at the falls!  Our guide was really great and it was nice not to have to worry about all the details.

Thank you again so much for all of your help planning a great trip! We're definitely going to plan another trip in the future! 

Best,
Nicky Smolter

Nicky and Linsey

Nick

Many thanks for arranging an amazing holiday for us to Argentina. The itinerary and hotels you recommended were just perfect - you clearly listened and understood my detailed requirements...The hotels all lived up to expectations and the service received throughout was excellent.

The whole trip was fantastic from BA, to Mendoza via El Calafate and Bariloche - there were too many highlights to pick one out.

I would highly recommend your services and we'll be in touch soon to discuss our next adventure.

Many thanks

Paul & Christine

Paul and Christine

Nick

Thank you for organising such a fantastic trip for us. It was our first visit to Argentina and we absolutely loved it. We greatly appreciated all your time in helping us organise an amazing itinerary with so many highlights - from the incredible wildlife of the Peninsula Valdes to the magnificent scenery and amazing drives in Salta and the North West - that we just want to go back for more. The people everywhere were welcoming and friendly, the hotels were just what we had asked for and all well located, the ground arrangements were smooth and efficient, the food and wine delicious… we will definitely be back!

Kate & Henry

Kate and Henry

Hi Nick

Great to hear from you! We absolutely loved our trip to El Calafate - El Cantera was a perfect place to stay and the rooms were so lovely - spacious while cosy! Service at hotel was excellent and the free shuttle to town every night was a very nice bonus. The transport service and tours were all excellent and the staff were so nice! We were very impressed with the return transfer to the airport when they provided us with our boarding passes and took us right to passport control - great service!

Would definitely recommend your services to anyone visiting Argentina.

Thanks very much for the recommendation and thanks again for all your help! Wishing you a great Christmas!

Best,

Lucy

Lucy and family

Just wanted to let you know we had a wonderful time in Argentina. The places you booked were great, people were very nice and food/wine enjoyable. The Estancia Ernestina was probably not for everyone but was exactly what we were looking for. We got to see many animals very up close and had a lot of fun.

Thanks for putting it together for us.

Vicki

Vicki and family

Hi Nick,

Thanks very much for helping us plan our amazing trip. You gave great advice and spending 3 nights in each location (BA, Mendoza, Bariloche and BA again) worked really well. Entre Cielos Hotel in Mendoza and Casa Luma Hotel in Villa de Angostura were brilliant. We'd definitely recommend your service!

Sincerely,

Tara and Simon

Tara and Simon

Hi Nick
Apologies, I think you sent me an email a while back asking about the trip to Argentina but it quickly got buried.

Just a quick note to say that all went smoothly and thank you for arranging everything. If it is helpful, just a few comments below

- Re skiing in Bariloche- tell your clients not to bother trying to rent ski equipment in town- we wasted a whole morning  trying to find some expertise but there is none! You need to go to the base of the mountain. The quality of hired ski gear is poor at both resorts we went to, ski enthusiasts should try and take their own gear.

- All the places to stay were very good. Hub Porteno was excellent in terms of hotel design and the knowledge/helpfulness of the concierge. Casa Eugenia`s owner was really helpful in terms of local information [and did a BBQ for us]. Had a fantastic time at Estancia Los Potreros, difficult to fault this in any way at all!

- It would have been good to know about the blue currency market in advance, as one would then have taken more cash, as opposed to relying on credit cards. I do however appreciate that this is a delicate subject.

Kind regards
Andrew

Andrew and family

Dear Nick,

Thank you for your email.

We had an amazing honeymoon in Argentina, in fact we kept saying throughout the trip how we wished we hadn't made our plans so early as it turned out later on, we had enough time to extend the trip a few more days! The hotels we stayed at were all interesting, with good service. Looking back, we can't really think of any real difficulties we had save that we are now desperate to return and cannot wait for the next time that we will be back in Argentina!

Jerrick and Michelle

Hi Nick,

Thanks for arranging the internal flights, airport transfers and hotel bookings at such short notice. We have just returned home after our successful and enjoyable trip. I hope you will find my feedback useful when making recommendations for other clients.

Buenos Aires
We liked the Nuss hotel and found the staff very helpful and the location near the many attractive shops and restaurants ideal. Two excursions the concierge arranged while we were there was getting tickets to Swan Lake at the fabulous Teatro Colon and to a salsa show at the Cafe de Los Angelitos which has an excellent who in a miniature theatre at the back of a restaurant where we could see the show for $45 each which included transport from our hotel, drinks and the show without having to pay for a meal as we managed to eat at La. Cabrera first. They also got us 2 tickets for $50 each for the best seats to see Swan Lake with less than 24 hours notice. Although this price was through an agent and was 5 times the face value of the ticket it was a huge bargain when compared to Covent Garden and the standards of music and dance were excellent!

Iguacu
The Hotel Das Cateratas was a very special place to stay when visiting the falls and well worth the price tag! We cut out some of our private guided tour to the Argentinian side as we wanted to get back to spend time enjoying the hotel pool in the afternoon.

Mendoza
We found the city itself and the neighbourhood of Maipu where we stayed rather scruffy and disappointing. The Villa Victoria was very attractive but fortunately we were upgraded to their first floor suite at no extra charge as the B&B was very quiet. The standard rooms looked rather small and stuffy. The staff were very helpful and arranged taxis for us to visit vineyards and restaurants but the location was much further away from the places we wanted to visit than we had expected. Villa Victoria serves a very good breakfast but no other meals so we had dinner on the first night at Club Topaz but found the service extremely slow and not very helpful and the restaurant was empty until 3 other guests arrived later. While that hotel looks attractive I think the rooms were rather small and modestly furnished and some are no doubt affected by the noise from quite a busy road nearby.

On our second night we went to the famous 1884 restaurant belonging to Francis. Mallman. It was a beautiful setting in a courtyard of an old winery and the food pricey but worth it! The location was scruffy so my advice is not to arrive too early as there is nowhere to wait if you arrive before the large wooden doors to the courtyard open dead on 8.30. On the last night we went to the small restaurant in Chacras called Nadia OF which had very good food. We chatted to the owner who says she is closing that restaurant to open in larger premises near the main square of Mendoza.

We saw a little of the town of Chacras and could see it would have been a much better place to stay than Maipu. Apparently they have many small hotels or restaurants with rooms so it is worth finding more suitable places for your clients if the first choice places are fully booked. Villa Victoria would suit a group of friends or a large family as they could fill it up and make it more lively.

Punta del Este
It was only a 35 minute flight from the small airport in buenos Aires to the small but modern airport at Punte del Este and the drive to la Bluette at La Barra only took less than 30 minutes. La Bluette was a small family run hotel with 2 excellent suites at the front with large terraces with sea view. Most of the other rooms are around the central courtyard garden with swimming pool. The house is stylish with grand marble internal staircase and many interesting pieces or art and furniture. The breakfast was excellent and usually served outside on the front terrace. The owner Hugo is very friendly and helpful and could arrange car rental and advise on local restaurants. The beaches are magnificent and. Bikini beach is just across the road! Our favourite restaurant was la huella on the beach at Jose Ignacio, about 20 km away from La Barra. It is very relaxed and most of the customers see to be friends with the owners. Food and wine were excellent and waiters very friendly. It is best to book, especially at lunch on the weekends as it gets very busy. The small town of Jose Ignacio has many relaxed looking holiday homes belonging to Rich and arty looking Argentinians who spend their weekends and holidays there. In the evening there is a lovely wood fire to warm the bar area and the cooking BBQ warms the restaurant area.

We found the town on Punta del Este disappointing on the restaurant choice but an amazing place to visit in the day is the stunning Museum and Hotel at Casa Pueblo near the whale watching point on the Montevideo side of Punte del Este. The museum is the home of the famous Uruguayan artist Carlos Vilaro, friend of Picasso, who died aged 90 just 3 weeks ago. Original works are available for sale. He built an amazing hotel next to his home with stunning sea views. It is no doubt pricey and we found the service in the hotel restaurant very slow but it is such an amazing place it is worth spending a couple of nights there to experience the views which inspired Carlos!

Renting a car in Punte del Este is a must as taxis are expensive. the roads are very good and traffic light so driving is much easier than in Argentina.

La Bamba de Areco Estancia
This elegant estancia is about 2 hours drive from the international airport in Buenos aires and owned by a French entrepreneur who lives in London and runs it for tourist guests rather than as a working estate. The room rates are high but are all inclusive but clients should note that this includes the chance to do some escorted horse riding around the estate, breakfast on a terrace in an outbuilding overlooking the polo field, and evening meal in the elegant dining room in the main building. Standard rooms are in another outbuilding which do not have a shower or a proper wardrobe or a stand on which to open your suitcase. We had expected the "all inclusive" rate to cover a gaucho show or polo match but apparently these are extra activities which can be arranged for a fee. Fortunately some day visitors pay for these activities in addition to the BBQ lunch so La Bamba guests can watch at no extra charge. We saw an amazing Gaucho demonstrate horse whispering skills and were taken round the polo field in a horse drawn carriage. We went on a weekday and on the first night there were only 2 other guests and on the second night we were the only guests. It would have been more fun to have other guests or to travel with friends or relatives.
An excellent excursion is to visit the pretty town of San Antonio de Areco which was the prettiest town we saw in Argentina and has many old style shops and pubs and a beautiful church. We engaged a guide called Magda, a history teacher from the towns school who is very knowledgeable and speaks good English. The population is made up of at least 50% of people of Irish descent and even though they have lived there for 3 generations they look and sound completely Irish and have Irish surnames. A brilliant place to visit on the main square opposite the church is the jewellery workshop and museum Draghi which makes silver pieces and sells them. Other shops specialise in leather goods and every November there is a large gathering of Gauchos parading their horses through the town.
There are several hotels and hostels in the town so if you don't want to pay La Bamba prices you can go there on a day trip instead.

Regards
Christine

Brian and Christine

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