A great stay at Casa Vaiven

My family (me, my husband, our daughter (8) and our son (5)) had a wonderful stay at Casa Vaiven in Buenos Aires. We stayed there for seven days over the course of our two weeks in Argentina. Casa Vaiven was well located for our sightseeing excersions in Buenos Aires; an easy walk, bus ride, or cab trip to anywhere in the city. It was also nice especially for our children to have space to stretch out in the common area and be able to play Metabol (foosball) when we spent down time in Casa Vaiven. However, the best thing about it is its warm and helpful staff. Analia, Cecilia, and Daniel were very welcoming and helped us with our travel plans and reservations both in and out of Buenos Aires, making reservations for us, providing us with transportation information and recommendations on where to stay and what to see. Our room was large and comfortable, and breakfasts were always delicious, with hot coffee, hot chocolate, pastries and fresh fruit.

Justo lo que deseaba ... sentirme como en casa !!!!!!

Fui con mis mellizos, tenia mucho miedo porque quería sentirme como en casa y no sabia si un hostel me podía proporcionar la calidez y comodidad que mi familia y yo buscábamos. Soy Argentina y vivo en brasil. Tenía que encontrarme con muchos parientes y casa vaivén fue el refugio perfecto para que me vengan a visitar y me llamen. el lugar es fresco y natural y mis chicos podían correr y jugar. la acústica del lugar es muy particular porque no deja de ser un loft pero les aseguro que después de unos días de sentirte tan bien eso no les va a importar. recomiendo el lugar para familias y gente que prioriza calidez y familiaridad a excelencia.

Indimenticabile! Un vero punto di riferimento!

Ho visitato Casa Vaiven con mia moglie pochi giorni fa e vi aconsiglio di fermarsi. Ci siamo trovati cosi bene, principalmente perche le ragaze ci hanno aconsigliato in continuazione sui posti da visitare e adirittura Cecilia ci ha preparato una vera "Parillada Argentina" (stupenda grilliata) che non dimenticaremo mai. Il posto è vicinisimo a Piazza Dorrego e il quartiere e molto tranquilo. Non conta con l'aria acondizionata però i tetti sono molto alti e ci sono ventilatori ovunque. Gatti non ho visto, si invece una buona colazione in compagnia che ci permeteva di pianificare la nostra giornata.

Ein Gaeste-Loft fuer Individualisten

Casa Vaiven ist eine zu einem charmanten Gaesteloft umgebaute ehemalige Keksfabrik in San Telmo in der Naehe vom Plaza Dorrego und Lezama Park. Dieses mit einfachen aber liebenswerten Details ausgestattete Gaestehaus ist sicher nichts fuer Gaeste, die Wert auf einen konventionellen und anonymen Hotelservice legen. Hier treffen sich vielmehr junge und aeltere Gaeste aus aller Welt, Tangobesessene ebenso wie Antiqitaetenliebhaber und Weltreisende auf der Durchreise. Man trifft sich morgens im lichtdurchfluteten Atrium des Hauses an einem grossen Tisch bei einem Fruehstueck mit Tee, Kaffee, ofenfrischen Medialunas und Broetchen, hausgemachter Marmelade und frisch gepresstem Orangensaft und tauscht in einem froehlichen Kauderwelsch von Spanisch, Englisch, Deutsch Reiseerfahrungen aus. Manch wertvoller Tip zur Erkundung von Buenos Aires und seinen Sehenswuerdigkeiten haben wir hier bekommen. Mit stets guter Laune und unkompliziert stand uns Cecilia del Valle, die Eigentuemerin und Seele von Casa Vaiven mit ihrer Crew zur Verfuegung. Seien es Restaurantempfehlungen, das Herausfinden guenstiger Verkehrsverbindungen zu beliebten Ausflugszielen in die Provinzen, ein Friseurbesuch oder Orte fuer einen guenstigen Einkauf von Tangoschuhen, Cecila weiss immer Rat, auch in schwierigeren Faellen. Casa Vaiven ist sicher keine Oase der Ruhe. Der Loftcharakter dieses Gaestehauses sorgt fuer eine manchmal allzu gute Uebertragung der Gerausche aus dem Atrium. Aber man fuehlt sich dafuer, wenn man nicht gar zu laermempfindlich ist, umso schneller zu Hause. Sicher auch deshalb ist Casa Vaiven fuer Alleinreisende ein guter Start, Buenos Aires aus einem geschuetzten Umfeld heraus zu entdecken.

Casa Vaiven verfuegt ueber zwei Kategorien von Zimmern. Einfache Doppelzimmer mit und ohne Bad und zwei geraumige Suiten mit Kochnische und TV. Das Fruehstueck ist im Preis inbegriffen. Der kostenfreie Internetanschluss steht allen Gaesten tag und nacht kostenfrei zur Verfuegung.

Casa Vaiven gehoert zu den charmanten und preiswerten Unterkuenften in Buenos Aires. Wir haben uns zwei Wochen hier aufgehalten und uns sehr wohl gefuehlt. Und wir kommen bestimmt wieder.

Special holidays

I have stayed in Casa Vaiven for a whole week last August. I think it's a very special place full of energy and really warm. They served breakfast for us every morning in a very home-made style and the rooms were cosy and comfortable. The house is completely amazing - spacious, colourful, so nicely decorated -and even though it's not in the center of San Telmo you can get to many places very quickly. I strongly reccommend this place.

Great place che!

Excelente che! It is one of the most confortable and warm places we visit in Argentina. Me and my girlfriend spend almost two months going around Buenos Aires, Patagonia and Iguazu. We stay in Buenos Aires more time than we think because it´s a beatifull city. This hostel is in a tipical and old neibourhoud San Telmo, near La Boca and the center of the city. We walk around a lot. Our room was great and the living room is huge. We really enjoy to get a tipical argentine breakfast in the luminous dinning room. In the morning you can hear the birds and drink mate! The staff is helpful and there is tango classes there.

Gracias Cecilia! Hope to see you soon!

¡Sólo si te gustan los gatos!

En el lugar viven gatos que se pasean libremente por las habitaciones y el olor puede resultar insoportable si no te gustan estos animales. Los baños y la decoración en general son rústicos. El vecindario puede resultar atemorizante y los buses que estacionan justo al frente son muy ruidosos. Bien atendidos por el personal, pero de los dueños, ni luces.

No dormimos ahí, y perdimos varias horas buscando otro hotel, pero creo que fue lo mejor que pudimos hacer. Lástima por la pérdida de tiempo, por el pago de la reserva y por una noche de alojamiento que nos cobraron de todas formas.

Very cool place

Me and my boyfriend stayed 5 nights at Casa Vaiven. We took the pink room downstairs and it was very ok. The lack of windows didn´t bother us, because the room is very wide. It is fine decorated, the bed is big and comfortable and the shower works perfectly. We only didn´t realize that the clean-up is not automatic - you have to ask for it. A nice breakfast was included: coffee, milk, different types os bread, fruits. Just to make it clear: those who choose the big room upstairs, which is larger and has a kitchen, don´t get included breakfast. It makes sense to me.

It´s true that the owner, Cecilia, is not always around. But the girls that take care of the house are there all the time and you can ask them everything. Josefina, for example, lived in Villa la Angostura and gave us a lot of tips about Bariloche and its surroundings.

It´s also true that Casa Vaiven is a few blocks away from Plaza Dorrego, the heart of San Telmo. But I reallly don´t see the problem! It´s a short walk afterall, and there are plenty of good places to eat on the way.

We really enjoyed our stay at Casa Vaiven and do recommend it for travellers who dare to stay outside the borders of Palermo - Recoleta - Calle Florida.

Casa Vaiven - A total waste

Casa Vaiven was the worst part of our four week tour through Argentina. My wife and I had planned on taking the advice of the former traveler and took the upstairs apartment. While it is decorated nicely and their is good space, there are many downsides and things that have obviously changed since the review.

First, there is not breakfast included in the price of $55 a night...which in itself is not a big deal.

What was a big deal though is the complete lack of fresh air in the space, which is basically a large warehouse space made solely concrete and steel. This makes for a very noisy experience within the B&B (it is not really a B&B since the couple no longer stays there - they have split up and the owner was never around, which was disapointing since they advertise on their website a very homey feel - which it certainly is not). The single staircase to the top floors, where the rooms entrances are, is also made of steel...so it is very noisy whenever anyone is moving up or down the stairs, which is exacerbated by the double height concrete box which basically makes it a large echo chamber...a single cough can be heard throughout the whole building. To add to the noise in the apartment was the fact that it faces a street, Finochietto, that the city buses use 24 hours a day to rest between stops, so there is always screaches and loud sounds coming from the street. If you happen to even crack the window to allow some fresh air in , the noise is greatly elevated - a complete catch 22 which was more than annoying...I recieved at most 4 hours of sleep in the 3 nights we stayed there (We had booked 7, but after 3 we decided to leave as the only option given to us was to stay downstairs in a room with no air circulation or windows, basically a cell).

Once we decided to leave due to lack of sleep, they changed the price and added days which we had not stayed. Only after lengthy debate was I able to bring the price down to even a somewhat reasonable charge, I felt as if they were taking advantage of our miserable time...charging us basically $70 a night for leaving early(which they attempted to make $90 a night), even though all of the forementioned issues (lack of owners around, awareness of 24 hour bus noise, lack of being IN San Telmo - it is actually about 6 blocks away from the REAL San Telmo) were never mentioned on their website. Despite leaving an hour past the checkout time they also charged us for an extra night that we did not stay...saying we cost them rental space, even though no one else was there at all...it was a ghost of a place.

I recommend Casa Vaiven for no one, unless you are very willing to waste both time, energy, and money on your Buenos Aires experince.

Feel free to email me with any questions and I can give you more details.

Great budget choice; beware in summer

Casa Vaiven is a great budget choice. We loved the way the large loft area was decorated, and the rooms had concrete floors, colorful walls, and nice touches like bidets, pretty bath fixtures, antiques, etc. The owners are very nice, though we didn't interact with them too much. They have a sweet cat named Greta who paid us several visits during our stay. A simple breakfast of fresh fruit, bread, and coffee/tea was included with the room, as was access to the internet through their computer. Daily maid service was not included.

There were two downsides to Casa Vaiven. First, it's advertised as being located in the popular San Telmo neighborhood, but it seemed to be more on the outskirts of San Telmo, about a 10 or 15 minute walk from Plaza Dorrego. It's about the same distance from La Boca, and we gathered that it wasn't a good idea to walk at night in that direction. We felt fairly safe walking in the direction of San Telmo at night, and just took cabs if it was really late.

The second problem was the lack of ventilation. We started out in the downstairs room, and there was no window/transom/etc. There was a fan but it just recirculated the hot air. After two fairly uncomfortable nights we moved upstairs to their efficiency apartment (for only about $10 more!) and were very pleased. A window makes a HUGE difference! I would recommend the apartment if you are visiting in the summer.