Howard Johnson Undici Republica de La Boca

During my stay, a fire broke out in the hotel restaurant. No alarm sounded, and staff did not evacuate guests or notify them. I only learned about it after smelling smoke and seeing the fire from my balcony. When I asked staff about it, they said an evacuation wasn't needed because the fire was in the restaurant, not the rooms. That response showed, in my view, a basic misunderstanding of fire safety, since a fire can spread unpredictably and calls for prompt notification and a risk assessment. The room had neither a phone nor a safe. In my experience, this was the only property presented as a 4-star hotel where I had stayed without an in-room phone, which would make it harder to call for help during a fire, medical emergency, or security incident. Staff entered my occupied room three times without proper authorization or warning. On one of those occasions there was no Do Not Disturb sign, but I don't consider that permission to enter an occupied room. I see these entries as a breach of guest privacy and hospitality standards. There was also repeated confusion among staff about breakfast charges. After I confirmed with staff that breakfast was included by giving my name and room number, a supervisor confronted me mid-meal in front of other guests and said I hadn't paid the day before. It was an internal communication problem, handled publicly and unprofessionally, without resolving it or considering me as a guest. After the repeated room entries, I formally raised my concerns with the front desk and was told management would contact me promptly. Nobody followed up for more than 36 hours. The manager was cordial during a brief interaction on the day of the fire, but the delayed response showed insufficient escalation and accountability. These were serious problems with safety procedures, privacy, emergency preparedness, and operational oversight. They weren't minor service inconveniences, and I don't think they fit the standards expected of a 4-star hotel. For context, I run a hotel and travel channel with more than 500,000 followers, and I don't post negative reviews lightly. I'm writing this to document systemic failures that need corrective action.

We'd had a great first visit, so we booked this hotel a second time. This stay was a nightmare at check-in and check-out. We were there for only about four hours before our next flight, so we expected the front desk process to be quick. The claimed 24-hour reception wasn't really available at night. There was only a Spanish-speaking security man. Check-in took more than 20 minutes and was chaotic. At one point he ran off with another guest and gestured to us something like “time out.” We had laundry to collect, but he knew nothing about it and left us to search for it in a back office. Some items were missing. The hotel promised to process our claim, but communication then stopped. Check-out with the same security man was even more chaotic. He wouldn't let us pay by card, took cash, and gave us no receipt. He showed us through a translator that it would be emailed, but it never arrived. For a hotel in this category, we expected professional, quick, smooth service. Instead, we spent almost an hour dealing with an entirely unsuitable staff member through a translator.

A modern new hotel right in the heart of La Boca, Buenos Aires, at the main entrance to the CABJ Stadium. It has what you need, including spacious modern rooms with terraces, a rooftop pool, a small gym, a spa, and a restaurant.

The people were nice and willing to help whenever they could. Service was good, and the rooms were clean, with an amazingly comfortable bed.