My husband and I just returned from a week's stay at the Bel Air Hotel and would definitely stay there again for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the first is the location, a block away from the Avenida Santa Fe, one of the major shopping streets in Buenos Aires. We were in a beautiful neighborhood, full of lovely shops and restaurants, and within walking distance of many of the sights in the Recoleta district. We were also short distances away from other neighborhoods and got back and forth easily, through good chunks of BA, by radio taxi.
The outside of the hotel is very 19th century, Belle Epoque, while the inside has much more of a hip, modern ambiance. The staff were young and very helpful with all our questions and requests, the buffet breakfast (complete with CNN in Spanish - great way of improving your language skills !) was excellent and, for those who want it, there's a small computer area and gym on the premises as well.
Only possible downside: our room, although well furnished with everything you could need (necessary toiletries, mini-bar, a safe), was a bit small and spare. Neither of us are large people but we were a BIT cramped. The "view" consisted of looking outside at an inner shaft with great vistas of our neighbors' windows. Still, we were hardly in the room so all of the other positives outweighed the negative.
The Avenida Arenales, on which the hotel is located, is a street divided between baby stores and luxurious interior design shops with beautiful displays so for those travelers interested in seeing how another country presents itself, one would be in paradise !!
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.