Kenton Palace Buenos Aires

For what it costs, this feels like a three-star hotel that pinches pennies. There was no water in the room, and a litre cost $5. The kettle was tiny, with no creamer or coffee. The hotel is very old, the shower leaked, and the air conditioning settings were fixed so I couldn’t change them.

We got a comfortable bed and slept surprisingly well given how central the hotel is. The staff were attentive and kind. The rooms also look inviting and seem to have been renovated recently, but we ran into plenty of problems during our stay at Kenton Palace. The hotel worked for our three-day city tour with a group of 18, and Cosmos had selected it for us, so we couldn’t choose where to stay. There are lots of other options within a few blocks, so if you can choose, I’d look into them beforehand. The internet was only reliable in the main lobby by reception. Our devices connected to the routers, but there was no internet from the modem, for anyone from the 2nd through the 9th floor. When I raised this with staff, they kept telling me to restart my phone, which didn’t help. The bathroom tub doors were missing a gasket, so water splashed out and soaked the floor every time we showered. Some towels were badly worn, and there were no USB outlets. Our refrigerator either didn’t work or shut off when the key card was taken out of the slot by the door. On the second day, housekeeping still hadn’t come by late afternoon, so I asked reception when the room would be cleaned. They said housekeeping wouldn’t come in if the key card was left in its slot, and that the “please clean room” sign would be ignored. To get the room cleaned, we had to remove the card, which meant we couldn’t keep food cold or the room at a comfortable temperature since everything powered down. There’s an HVAC return line running vertically along the whole hotel. If your room faces it, there’s a constant airflow hum, and the windows don’t seal completely to the outside.

The location is great and the rooms are a good size, but the hotel is very dated and badly needs renovation. There weren’t enough outlets to charge phones. I stayed only because it was part of an organized tour. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have chosen it.

The rooms were spacious and clean, the location was convenient, and the pool was nice. The hot tub and sauna weren’t working. But the end of our two-night stay with my children, aged 4 and 18, was awful. At checkout, we were accused of breaking a kettle in one of the rooms. The lid already had a crack and a small piece missing when we arrived, presumably from an earlier guest. It still worked, so we hadn’t thought there was any need to tell reception. I had to cancel our taxi and was pressured to pay for a replacement. The man at the desk was rude and intimidating, unlike the polite, helpful man who checked us in. We were rushing to book another taxi to the airport, so I paid rather than risk missing our flight. He didn’t give me an itemized receipt, and I had to ask three times for my change from the tourist tax. He was sniggering with colleagues and talking about us in Spanish, though we could understand a few words. My four-year-old was very upset. I contacted my credit card company, and they’re arranging a chargeback, so I should at least get the kettle payment refunded. That horrible checkout experience has spoiled our short trip to Buenos Aires and put me off coming back.