Buenos Aires is where almost every Antarctica trip begins, which means a lot of people book one night at the InterContinental without giving it much thought. I was one of them. It is the hotel Atlas Ocean Voyages uses before the charter flight south to Ushuaia, and I arrived at 10 a.m. after an overnight flight, expecting to fall into a bed.
That is not what happened. Here is the honest account of a night at the InterContinental Buenos Aires — the charge that caught me out, the room number to avoid, and whether the Monserrat location is worth it if you are staying longer than one night.
✔ Verified Trip: One night in a Deluxe room (709) in late February 2024, travelling solo, ahead of an Antarctica expedition — read how I review.
InterContinental Buenos Aires at a Glance
- My rating: 3.5 / 5 — a comfortable, well-located business hotel let down by its own front-desk policies
- Where: Moreno 809, Monserrat — the oldest part of Buenos Aires, three blocks from Avenida de Mayo and a short walk from Plaza de Mayo, San Telmo and Café Tortoni
- Size: 309 rooms across a tower styled on the Buenos Aires of the 1930s, including 29 Club InterContinental rooms and 10 suites
- Facilities: indoor pool, spa, sauna, gym, hair salon, two restaurants and two bars — Mediterráneo for regional cooking, Café de las Luces for a 1920s-café atmosphere
- Check-in / check-out: 16:00 and 12:00 — and the 16:00 is enforced unless you pay
- Airport: around 30 minutes by car from Ezeiza International (EZE); roughly 30 minutes to Aeroparque (AEP) for domestic and charter departures
- Best for: one-night stopovers, Antarctica cruise passengers, and anyone who wants a five-star bed within walking distance of the historic centre
The $120 Problem: Early Check-In at the InterContinental
I landed early and reached the hotel at 10 a.m. The desk told me that checking in before the official 4 p.m. time would cost 120 USD — close to the full price of the room itself. I have arrived early at a lot of hotels in 135 countries and I have never been quoted a figure like that. Most five-stars will either release a room if one is clean, or hold your bag and give you the pool and the spa in the meantime.
So I left my luggage and walked. That turned out fine — the Obelisco, San Telmo and Puerto Madero are all reachable on foot or a short taxi, and a slow lunch is no hardship in this city. But it is a poor welcome for guests arriving on the red-eyes that most long-haul routes into Buenos Aires actually use.
By 2 p.m. the room still was not ready, so I tried the business centre. Two desks, both with fixed computers, nowhere to plug in a laptop, and the staff office beside it noisy enough that concentrating was a struggle. I finally got into the room at 4 p.m. on the dot.
Tip: if your flight lands in the morning, either book the previous night so the room is yours on arrival, or plan a full day out of the hotel and treat the InterContinental as somewhere to sleep. Do not count on flexibility at the desk.
The Room: Comfortable, But Ask Where It Is
Room 709 was a Deluxe with two beds, which was a curious allocation for a solo traveller, and it sat directly opposite the lifts. I could hear them running up and down through the night. The rooms are soundproofed against the street, but not, apparently, against the building’s own machinery.
Everything else about the room was good. The bed was genuinely plush, the duvet excellent, and despite the lifts I slept well — which, on the night before a 4 a.m. alarm, is the only thing that really matters. The décor is leather and dark wood, Argentine scenes on the walls, more corporate-classic than fashionable, and the whole hotel reads as a well-kept 1990s tower rather than anything designed for Instagram.
Tip: at check-in, ask specifically for a room away from the lift bank, and confirm your bed configuration. Both are free to request and neither is offered.
The Location: Monserrat Is Better Than Its Reputation
The InterContinental sits in Monserrat, where the city was originally founded, on the southern edge of the centre. Guidebooks tend to steer visitors towards Palermo and Recoleta, and for restaurants and nightlife they are right. But for history you are in exactly the right place: Plaza de Mayo and the Casa Rosada are a walk away, San Telmo’s antique market is close enough to reach on foot, and Café Tortoni and the National Tango Academy sit three blocks north on Avenida de Mayo.
The trade-off is evenings. This is a business district, and it empties after dark — quiet streets, shuttered offices, not much to walk out to. If you are here for one or two nights before flying south, that is irrelevant. If you are giving Buenos Aires a proper week, I would stay in Palermo instead and visit Monserrat by day.
The 4 a.m. Breakfast (And Why to Skip It)
If you are here on an Atlas cruise package, this is the part that matters. Breakfast on charter-flight morning is served between 3.45 and 4.45 a.m. on level -1, and it is minimal: tea, coffee, and two mini croissants per person. I do not eat gluten, was told a gluten-free option was coming, and it never arrived. I left for the airport with an empty stomach.
Tip: skip the hotel breakfast entirely and sleep the extra twenty minutes. There is a Pain Quotidien at the domestic airport, opposite gate 27, where the food and coffee are far better. Bring cash or a card and eat there instead.
The departure itself was well run — that was Atlas rather than the hotel. Groups were colour-coded and staggered, the bus left exactly on time, and boarding passes were handed out on the 30-minute drive. The full account of that morning and the nine nights that followed is in my Atlas World Voyager Antarctica review.
Is the InterContinental Buenos Aires Worth Booking?
For a night or two in the historic centre, yes — with reservations. You get a five-star bed, a pool and spa you probably will not have time to use, a location that puts the city’s landmarks within walking distance, and prices well below what the equivalent would cost in Palermo or Recoleta. Service from the floor staff was fine throughout; my complaints are with policy, not with people.
What stops it going higher than 3.5 out of 5 is that both of the things that went wrong were choices, not accidents. Charging close to a full night’s rate for early check-in, on a route where almost every international arrival lands in the morning, is a decision the hotel has made. So is putting a solo guest in a twin room facing the lifts when 309 rooms are available. Neither ruined the stay. Both are easy to fix, and a hotel at this level should have fixed them.
How Much Does the InterContinental Buenos Aires Cost?
Rates move a lot with the season and with the peso, so compare before you book — December to February is peak, and the shoulder months either side are noticeably cheaper.
Check InterContinental Buenos Aires rates on Booking.com
Compare Buenos Aires hotels on Trip.com — often the better platform if you are booking from Asia.
If you are flying south afterwards and would rather add your spare nights at the other end, I have also linked Ushuaia hotels on Booking.com.
Related reading
This stay was the opening night of a nine-night Antarctica expedition — the full trip is in my Atlas World Voyager review, including which cabin to book and how bad the Drake Passage really gets. For more small-ship sailing, read my Ponant Le Bougainville review and my Le Ponant sailing yacht review, or browse all my cruise reviews and everything from Argentina.
Disclosure: this article contains affiliate links. If you book through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read my full disclosure policy.
