Buenos aires

Take a taxi. The dollar goes very far down there.
You would get more bang for your buck by not staying in an international hotel chain.
you might be able to get better recommendations on lonelyplanet.com which does not just cover Europe in depth.

We stayed at the Plaza Hotel on Plaza San Martin and liked it. A big older place, walkable to many sights, nice bar and restaurant. It was on the pricey side in January but might be better in August, check it out.

The metro is good public transportation in the city but I don't think it goes to the airport. A taxi worked fine for us.

Buenos Aires is wonderful!

While the BsAs subway (or "subte") is pretty good and comprehensive, it doesn't go to EZE. So if you really wanted to take the subway you'd have to likely take a bus from the airport itself to the nearest subte station. Other train options would involve the same - a mixture or combination of buses, taxis, rail, subte. So really your best bet it just taking a taxi.

Central BsAs is pretty much the Monteserrat area, running roughly north to Retiro, and west of the Puerto Madero (if you look at it on a map you could find where Avenida 9 de Julio runs north/south from Avenida Belgrano to Retiro). There's tons of great hotels all over. Even stretching from Monteserrat up to Retiro and then through Recoleta and Palermo, you can find lots of place to stay and countless things to do, great places to eat, wonderful shopping, great cafes.

If you're looking for red meat, you're in for a treat. The city is full of amazing parrillas. If you're curious about any specific restaurant recommendations feel free to ask!

Something worth keeping in mind is tax free shopping also.

https://turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar/en/article/vat-free-accommodation

has more information in English. Essentially you should automatically get a rebate applied when staying at a hotel with your foreign passport and paying with a foreign credit card. If you keep at eye out for the blue tax free stickers in store windows and make a purchase there for over 70 pesos (which is easy to do), you get your receipt and ask for the tax form. At the airport when you leave there's a booth to go take your forms and receipts and get your VAT refund. I took maximum advantage of this my last time in Buenos Aires, when buying a leather jacket for myself and a few as gifts for family back home!

Thank you for response, will be staying at the Alvear palace hotel for business mtg but would like to find a more affordable hotel close by after mtg, personal holiday ( Alvear too exp) . Any suggestions more affordable close by? Also any subway stations around Alvear place hotel to main attractions? Thank you

Taxis are not expensive in Buenos Aires. Once you are in the city center, you can use the subway to get around, but not from the airport.

Use Kayak to find a hotel downtown. Palermo is the nicest area, but it is away from the city center.

Not familiar with the Alvear Palace Hotel and haven't stayed at any hotels around it (in Recoleta) but a couple quick looks online suggest there's all kinds of options nearby. Alvear is fairly well-located so there must be tons of options within just a few blocks.

If you do use Kayak or another site like that, try searching by address (use the Alvear's address to get an idea of how far they are from that hotel). That location is already pretty close - easy walking distance - to Recoleta cemetery, a number of museums. I think Line H (to the west) is the closest to that area but actually by the time you walk from Alvear to the nearest subte station you'd have likely walked far enough to get to many things worth seeing nearby. If you were to walk about the same distance east you'd be at Retiro with a couple subte lines available there.

Be sure to get an authorized taxi from inside the airport rather than the unregulated cabs hanging around outside. The old advice for hailing a cab in downtown Buenos Aires was to get a radio vehicle from a legit company. As the doorman or restaurant staff for help.

When we were there in 2016, we arranged for a driver, through the hotel, to pick us up at the airport. We stayed on the other side of town at the Scala hotel in San Telmo and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a block from the Independencia metro stop and within walking distance (1 mile) to most sights. We did take a bus to La Boca area and also to Recoleta cemetery; everything else we walked. While the Alvear is in an upper scale area, the Scala is in a working class neighborhood, but we never felt unsafe walking around.

Thank you for everyone's responses- just reserved NH hotel 9 de Julio. Anyone familiar around this area n walking distance to Recoleta Sights( ie Recoleta cemetery, etc). Google map shows 31 min by foot and 28 min by bus... Not sure if that is accurate walking time?
Also, any reviews on the Hop on hop off bus? Does the price include all 3 lines mentioned on website? thanks!

The Alvear is probably the best rated Argentine hotel in Buenos Aires.. The block directly behind the Alvear you will find the Melia Recoleta Plaza, Juan Peron’s former home. Nice rooms, excellent service, one of our favorite hotel experiences.
The staff stressed that we never should get into a taxi unless it was called for us. The one time we didn’t follow their advice when out touring the city, we literally escaped from the car and ran as the driver headed down a one way street in the opposite direction from where we had asked him to take us. We felt safe in Recoleta.

Thank you for all responses. Are there many money changers in the city. Will I get a good exchange rate at airport? Does anyone know if they accept Canadian dollars? Thank you

Does anyone know if they accept Canadian dollars?

If they do, it will not be to your advantage just like anywhere else in the world where you don't use the local currency. As a Canadian, how much do you get charged for using your debit card at an ATM overseas? I never used $ USD in Argentina, simply Argentine pesos. At the time, there were two currency systems and a lot of shenanigans going on, and severe shortages of coins. I think the economic situation has improved hopefully to the point where they have a single official currency/exchange rate, and you can simple use an ATM and not a money changer who will rip you off.

Does anyone know if they accept Canadian dollars?

Probably to the same extent that your local merchants accept the Argentine peso.

Planning to do the hop on hop off bus is BA. Is it recommended? Or anyone has suggestioms on day tours? Thanks

I bought some Argentine peso before the trip, and exchanged some at the hotel when there. I didn’t have an ATM card when we visited.

Hello, do taxis in BA accept credit card?

There is at least one currency exchange at the international airport which will take your Canadian currency for the local money. But, like many other parts of the world, you are better off using an ATM machine run by a bank. Your Canadian bank will likely charge a fee (read your agreement's fine print) but the rate of exchange is as good as you can do without seeking out a dank back room and slippery characters. At the start of the century there was plenty of informal exchanging but this seems to have died down as the economy stablized at least in part.

I would not count on taxis accepting credit cards.

We had our B&B arrange for a driver for us instead of relying on taxis from the airport, which can be expensive.