I just came back from a week long trip to BA.
I have been to Rio 6x, Costa Rica 2x,DR, SEA, etc I was looking to check out a new place. I was deciding between Cuba, Panama, and BA. To be honest i was not a huge fan. For a destination that takes 16 hours total travel time from NY i would rather go to SEA. Also once you have been to Rio its really hard because the GFE and sex appeal of the girls there is amazing. although Rio is not what it once was even 6 years ago its a lot harder to have a bad time there. the girls are passionate and they give you the fantasy. Let me state thati am not looking for as many girls as i can bang a day. I am more of a 1 girl/ day kind of guy or sometimes if she is amazing try her again and usually have had some of my best experiences the 2nd time around. Some guys are not interested in this butim just giving you my point of view so you understand where im coming from.
I am also not into hard core pros. i always look for the younger,less miles kind of girl.

Rented a nice Apartment from Paolo info@bairesrent.com.ar
He was very easy to reach and made the process super easy. A guy was waiting for me at the apt. 300 usd /week for studio i decided on the 1 bedroom and he gave me a deal for 375usd. had great wireless Internet, kitchen, balcony, separate bedroom. 2 tv's with dvd cable etc. the location was perfect in recoleta.
its a few blocks from Madaho's , good food, safe area. and its in the middle between Palermo Soho and downtown for the casas.

Casas..Not really my cup of tea. Sort of reminds me of Tijuana. Dirty, nasty, etc. Its very mechanical, the girls are ok in some but overalli dont enjoy walking down busy, crazy streets ringing doorbells , and having sex in a nasty environment. Again some people love this shit but not me.

Esmeralda 517 1B was one casa that was ok, bit cleaner.They bring you to a room and about 15 girls were there each day. they come in 1 x 1 give you a kiss and say their name. some were nasty, there was always a few cute ones. Isessioned there 3 x and each time it was just ok. prices here are 150pesos 1/2 hour 200 hour 250 completa 1 hour.
I chose completa and each time the girl was complaining. It was just annoying. The 3 girls i chose were all pretty hot+ about 19. 2 were from Paraguay. but again nothing compared to a terma in rio where you can literally pound a girl through the wall and she will tell you to keep going.

The only other casa i thought was ok was Esmeralda 779/ PB4
prices were the same as above. I went to about 10 casas in total. The other thing you have to watch out is some will try to give you a problem. After going to 1 on Esmeralda ( i cannot remember the exact address) wanted to charge me 100 pesos after i said i didnt like anybody + wanted to leave. They locked the door and there were 3 girls harassing me for money. I am pretty big guy 6' 200 lbs etc but you never know what can happen in these smaller casas. Some have security guys in other rooms. I speak some spanish so i basically told them to fuck off, and after 5 minutes of arguing i left. Its just a buzz kill to have to deal with that. So for me this whole Casa thing was shit. Some guys like it because you can go to a place like Maipu 359 apt 74 and have completa for 120 pesos hour but again not my kind of experience.

Everyone talks about Madahos so i had to check it out. It basically looks like a high end US strip club. paid 90 pesos to enter and it includes a drink. you can walk around freely or sit down. About 30- 35 girls the night i went. Age was older i would say 25-35 years old with about 4 girls that were around 21. Most had fake boobs, very aggressive, hardcore. Some hot girls but you can tell from their behavior that it was all business. There was 1 girli liked but did not partake. they all ask 200USD. You can neg down to about 400 pesos(1 hour) if your good. plus 120 pesos drink for them. If your the type of guy that just wants to say he banged a "playboy" type chick with a lot of experience then you will love it here. But the vibe is not very GFE to me.

My favorite were the clubs downtown in centro.Hook, Catto's and Ness ( Near Suipacha and Paraguay streets)they open around 10pm. Smaller versions of Madahos but with a friendlier non aggressive vibe. yes you will still find girls that are pushy but in each of these 3 clubs ( which are on the same block next to each other) you will find someone interesting. They are not 10's but when i was there each club had 2 girls that were 19+20 cute, newer to the business etc. I had a good time here and spent the next 4 nights hanging out in these clubs.
The thing is like in any city once you sessioned with 1 girl at the place you become"known" The girls all talk etc so it can work to your advantage. They all hang around you, wanting you to pick them etc and they end up treating you better in my experience if you treat them well. I didnt feel a lot of pressure to buy them drinks. they were cool with me. Once you decide you want to buy a girl a drink its 60 pesos. your drinks are 30 pesos no entrance fee. the girls will ask for anything+ everything.i paid 200 pesos for most 1 girl 300. and they all ended up staying all night but thats up to you + the girl. usually its for 1-2 hours. There are some dancers that come in just to dance that are incredible. the owner said some were avail but not most.

I also went to Cocodrillo and Newport both nightclub atmospheres. Cocodrillo is mostly locals. they have girls dancing on bars and the rest is setup like a club. I felt totally safe even though you will def stand out. There were some hot girls there but you have to be aggressive with them and approach them. Some will come to you but not most. I didnt find anyone i liked at either place.
Cafe Orleans is a cafe downtown that is horrible. No girls the 3 x i went that i would even think about.

There are a lot of cool restaurants to eat at with great food, there are some casinos, sight, its a big city thats spread out and there is no beach. There is enough to do that you wont get bored but for me i would not return.

There are some amazing, beautiful women there, but it was challenging to find the "good times" I didnt get the passion as much as Brazil and i just felt that there are so many other places like Colombia, Panama, Cuba etc that would be much more convenient and just a better overall time. For me it was better than Costa Rica+ Dominican Republic but not better than Rio or SEA.

(Message edited by lgjg24 on October 15, 2009)

Cafe Orleans is best around lunch time, or from about 5 PM to 9 PM. They are there to catch guys after work. Any other times, the pickings are really hit or miss.

Sometimes of Friday nights the pickings are pretty good also.

Just think you went there are the wrong times.

I will tell you that many guys really like this place.

Thankd for your report.

MM

Lgig, I really liked your report. You should post more considering you've been to all those other destinations.

It is interesting getting a perspective from a guy who makes a comparison to other destinations. Afterall, we go to these destinations to find a hot screw not the gutter trash. The "plastic" girls are not for me either.

I personally considered BA because of the value of the peso -- 3.8 (compared for example to the value of the Brasilian Real -- 1.7). After reading your report, I would have serious second thoughts of going to BA in lieu of Rio even with the poor exchange. It is certainly a much longer haul down to BA and then to not have a first class experience may not be worth it.
It sounds like a decent lay will cost you about $75 where it is really getting hard to get a good lay in Rio w/o spending over $100.

Thanks for the report.

Having spent a lot of time in Brasil, Thailand, and Buenos Aires (as well as many other places), Buenos Aires is my least favorite place, by a mile.

I earlier posted a preliminary trip report on casas in Buenos Aires and meant to later add additional information about other places. I may get back to that at some point, but found writing about BA rather depressing given that even the rare place that gave good service one day could easily turn into a nightmare on the next visit. Accordingly, recommending casas, at least, seemed rather pointless.

Although I haven't done the P4P club scene extensively in BA, I haven't gotten a good buzz at the clubs I visited, and doubt very much it would be worthwhile in comparison to Brasil, Thailand, or any of a number of other countries.

Weak peso or not, I wouldn't recommend the place for mongering, or anything else.

Well, I guess I am not the only one who found Buenos Aires to be extremely disappointing. My comments stem from a 4-day trip I took there last December, just before Xmas.

It was my 4th trip to BA in the last 6 years, and I really liked the town. The women are beautiful, the city has European charm, the restaurants are great and because of economic conditions were a great bargain. For me this all changed on this last trip.

First of all, while the exchange rate was still good,as I recall around 3.30 pesos to a dollar, prices are jacked up on practically everything-restaurants, bars, WOMEN!

Secondly, I was ripped off, or attempts were made to rip me off on multiple occasions (on a 4-day trip). I went into some bar near Reconquista in Centro (I think named Ladies). It's one of those "come in and take a look for free" come-on places. I do and make the mistake of sitting down on a small love-seat type sofa and a couple of girls plop down on either side of me jamming me in, and low and behold a couple of drinks magically appear. I said I didn't order them, and proceed to get up and leave. Well, at that point the two chicas become physically aggressive saying don't leave and literally shoving me back as I attempted to walk out. Then the bouncer comes over and he starts shoving me, at which point I said don't fuckin touch me. Then the manager comes over and says what's the problem. I explain that I didn't order the drinks and that i intend to leave, all the while the two females still pushing and shoving me. Finally, I had enough of this bullshit and started Yelling "Policia, Policia". They all backed off, and I got the fuck out of there.

This happened again a couple days later. I was walking around town checking out the various Privees on my list and stopped in to a interesting appearing bar. This time I actually agreed to buy the two girls a drink. However, I was in there no more than 10 minutes and the old lady manager brings over the check for around 330 pesos (around $100.00). I said you're fucking crazy, I'm not paying this (quite frankly, I didn't have it on me anyway). The girls start whining that they are going to get into trouble. I said who cares, and threw 40 pesos on the table and left-no scene this time. Now, I'm not a naive newbie. I've been to plenty of these bars in BA, and if you buy the girls drinks you play around with them and feel them up and they do the same to you, but if you decline to buy them a drink they get up and leave, and the prices are understood when you order-so there is no sticker shock at the end. In fact, there is a pretty nice bar around the corner from the Marriott Plaza Hotel.

Another rip-off I experienced is counterfeit money. I was given a counterfeit 20 peso note in a cambio. A taxi driver caught it and wouldn't take it. Incidentally, I left this particular 20 peso note at the above-mentioned rip-off bar as part of the 40 pesos I left there.

yet but another rip-off I experienced occurred while I was walking around town on a Sunday afternoon, and I suddenly felt something wet on my t-shirt and pants. A couple of citizens, one male and female, who just happened to be there pointed up to a tree as if they observed something drop from the tree onto my clothing. They then proceeded to help clean me up with some paper towels and water bottle, that they conveniently have with them. In their helpful enthusiasm they started feeling around the pockets on my multi-pocketed cargo-type pants, at which time I yelled at them to get the fuck away from me or I would kick their fucking asses. They hightailed it down the sidewalk.

As you can see this trip is not working out.

As far as P4P goes-I used to think and tell friends of mine that I thought I died and went to heaven when I discovered Cafe Orleans. I would go in there around 12:00-1:00 p.m.and there would be at least a dozen stunning, gorgeous Portenas smiling and winking at me. They would give their phone number, and I would call and they come to the hotel for a 2-hour session with great memorable GFE and passion. There was another place nearby named Exedra or something with a similar set-up and vibe, but it's now closed down. On this trip I went to Cafe Orleans several times. Nothing. Nada. The women were skanky, fat, not even from Argentina, but from Paraguay or the Dominican Republic, and quite frankly, I don't particularly like being called papi. It just isn't sexy.

I went to various clubs. Cutty Sark and Jaz on Reconquista were totally dead. The only place that was cookin was this dance place named El Verde where there are old, and I do mean old BA women looking to dance and score. I went to the three neighboring clubs on Suipacha, Hook, Cattos and Ness. There were plenty of chicas, but the places are so dark, it's really difficult to see what they look like. I did pull one chica out of one these places, I think it was Hook and took her back to my hotel-Sheraton Liberatador. The session cost around $100.00 U.S., and was unspectacular. She split right after I was done, and I really didn't care. She also had a bad complexion, which as I said before the club was very dark.

I generally like the BA privees, had some good experiences in the past, even videotaped one of them for a few extra bucks. On this trip I visited a couple on this trip, and the only one that was truly enjoyable was on my last day in BA, which happened to be Xmas eve. I think the place was on Esmeralda. You get in the elevator go up and when you get off the elevator and enter the apartment there is a reception desk and large sign with the name of the place-kind of like a termas in Rio. I sessioned with a cutie named Uma-claims to be a university student working on a degree in economics. Cost $100.00 U.S. The sex was good,but not great in that there just isn't that Brazilian passion and reckless abandon. It's just about the money. No photos.

Amigos. Thanks for allowing me to get this off of my chest and out of my system. I really had put it out of my mind until I read these recent reports about BA, and I wanted to contribute. .

Coolguy1:

Thanks for your input. I am surprised though you initially had some good trips to BA and then you had one went all wrong. As one who regularly travels to BA I haven't really seen it go downhill, at least not in the last few years; it has pretty much been the same shitty place each time I visit. To be fair, they do have good beef in the restaurants, (although I am sure it would taste much better if it was served by non-Argentineans--LOL). Not much else to speak highly about though.

As to the counterfeit bills: unless you can rule this out definitely, I would say the taxi driver switched bills on you when you weren't looking. One of the common taxi scams, particularly among pirate (i.e., non-"radio") taxis is to take a bill and give back another saying you had just given the taxi a counterfeit. I often mark the bills I give to taxis (or write down the numbers on the bills) as a sort of protection against this scam. Although it is possible a cambio gave you the counterfeit bill, it is much more likely (unless you can really rule this out) the taxi did.

I also noted you mentioned an instance where the girls were not from Argentina, but rather from Paraguay, etc. Actually, my experience is the Paraguayans generally give much better service than the Argentineans, so I am usually disappointed when a girl says she is Argentinean. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, but I believe my take on this is rather common among mongers who frequent BA.

Fortunately, there are places other than Buenos Aires to monger. The culture of the country, and most particularly Buenos Aires, is truly dysfunctional.

On my last trip to BA recently, I don't think the issue was that the prices are jacked up, just that inflation is eating up whatever increases in the dollar exchange rate.

This last trip I did not monger, as I was with my wife, but we both decided that we would most likely not go back. For me it is a quick flight from Rio, but I find BA not to be all that much fun. Remembering mongering by myself, I was bored stiff most of the time. Plus the majority of people in BA are not all that nice. The "normal" nightscene (which I, under normal circumstances tremendously enjoy) starts very late - around 2 in the morning.

For those of you coming from North America, I am not sure why you would want to travel any further south then Rio for mongering. Yes, it is more expensive but it is worth every penny compared to BA.

There are maybe one or two exceptions, but the majority of guys I have spoken with have been disappointed with BA.

If you decide to try BA, I would suggest doing it as a side trip from Rio - but for no more then 3 nights.

Laguy.

No I cannot rule out that the taxi driver was behind the counterfeit currency scam. The basic facts were that I ate dinner at a very nice and popular steakhouse in San Telmo district and the restaurant summoned the taxi when I was leaving, and yeah, I did really enjoy this town prior to this trip, and it was a sidetrip diversion for me after spending 10 days in Rio staying in one of Don's apartments in Copa.

"I don't particularly like being called papi. It just isn't sexy." Hilarious.

I have very fond memories of the casas.
Many sweet girls.
I speak Spanish though. Don't know if that makes a difference.

I almost got jacked by that same bar/girls/2 drinks appear out of nowhere trick.
Thanks to this board, when it happened, I knew what was going on.

I went to use the bathroom in this club. Asked permission. When I was done, there was the girl, I was backed into a chair, a clap, 2 drinks appear. 2 seconds had elapsed. I immediately headed for the door. What I find UNBELIEVABLE to me, is that there were people/couples milling about like it was a REGULAR joint. The second I head for the door, they all start blocking my path towards the door while they're still talking to each other.
The WHOLE place is IN on it. And it's choreographed/rehearsed. And the REGULARS act all defensive "Don't push me." At this point someone probably tries to pick pocket you.
Seems like it would be a lot easier to just FIND a job.

No one mentioned Blacks. I saw a Brazilian girl there who was probably the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen.

I was in BA a year ago and quite enjoyed it actually. (I toured Southern argentina afterword but did not monger at all. For those with the taste for this sort of travel, i would recommend it).

Perhaps it was me, but unlike many others, i found the Portenos very friendly in the street and in restaurants. I look very non latino, but I speak spanish (at about a 80% fluency level), so perhaps this helped a lot.

I mainly went to the privados and avoided the clubs as i had no need to experience overpriced sex from strip clubs (i can get that in costa rica where I live). I found my experiences in the privados wildy varied, from bad (thinking why am I even here), to wild/rio like experiences. It just seemed my milage would vary considerably. On a number of occasions if i had a good experience I would tip 30 Pesos or so (10 dollars), and on a repeat, the experience went up markedly. I know you don't have to tip, but considering the prices of the privados (and i was typically tipping in the cheap ones), i found it was well worth it and the experience on a repeat went up decidedly.

In terms of the clubs on the streets that attempt to rip you off with drink prices, i was walking along a main street and an argentinian policeman stopped me and warned me not to go into any of them as they were all rip off joints. In terms of your experiences i think you are lucky to get out how you did, as I was told by the police guy that most of them are run by gangsters and the like.

On the whole, i like Rio a lot more, but I think if you speak spanish BA is worth a try. If you don't speak spanish, i would not recommend it.

cheers