Some B.A. Information

[trilingual]

Having a festive time here in B.A. Not much trashing (after all, I'll be back in Rio next week) but finding lots of stuff to do, including opera, movies (I've got LOTS of catching up to do), theater, dining out, etc.

 

Two places M4Mers might find interesting are a couple of newer places with strippers. One is Titanic, on Av. Callao near Av. Santa Fe, right next to the main entrance of the Wilton hotel. It's a bar and gets going around midnight. Another is a "resto-bar" called Inside, on Bartolomé Mitre in, I believe, the 1500 block. It´s a new place, run by the Valentino-like Diego (with whom at least one M4M is badly smitten, I´ve heard. . .) For the exact addresses, check La Otra Guia, free at most bars, or the insert in Imperio magazine, available at most center city newstands, especially on Av. Santa Fe. There were two strippers at Inside the night I went with Roberto. One was nice-looking and nicely built, with a nice dick. The second wouldn't show the meat, but is an extremely handsome guy with a flawless physique and buns of steel. The next night Jorge reported he went and there was a very tall, good-looking and well-endowed fellow named Fernando, whom I hope to have the opportunity of experiencing in person before my departure!

 

Roberto and I went hotel-exploring (one of his favorite hobbies) and he showed me the new Howard Johnson's on Calle Florida near the Plaza San Martin. Yours truly was impressed. Forget any preconceptions you may have about American HoJo's, because this hotel bears no resemblance. It was built to be a Marriott, but they apparently dropped out of the project after it was built. However, the hotel is definitely up to Marriott standards without the prices. The hotel is built over a formerly fashionable shopping gallery, the Galeria del Este. You enter the hotel through the gallery, on Florida, and take the elevator up one flight to the main lobby (the hotel has a small welcome desk just inside the gallery entrance to orient guests). The lobby is attractively done, and the rooms and baths are U.S. standard. The Argentine HoJo's are very aggressively cultivating the gay market, and are advertising in all the local gay publications as well as in Spartacus. There are a few others in Buenos Aires and elsewhere in Argentina, including a hotel in Mar del Plata, the big beach resort which now features an exclusive gay beach in summertime (with shuttle service, I understand, between the hotel and gay beach).

The Florida location in B.A. is the nicest and certainly the most convenient, because it's only steps from shopping, dining, sightseeing, and subway service. Rates are approximately US$65/night, single OR double, so if you share a room you will save! The staff are attractive, friendly, and eager to please. They understand that the hotel is trying to appeal to a GLBT clientele, and you can be completely comfortable there, either as a single or as a couple. (Evidently the hotel will be hosting one of the U.S. gay choruses later this year; THAT should be interesting!) No problems whatsoever in bringing people to your rooms, although the same cautions that apply in other large cities apply in B.A. The hotel also has a "book" of local escorts discreetly available at the front desk for your perusal. . . As I said, they seem to be VERY service-oriented!!!

 

Nearby, and more upscale, is the new Sofitel, in a recycled art deco skyscraper. This is a place for those who like hotels of the Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton standard, and will be giving the Alvear Palace, Hyatt and Caesar Park a run for their money! The hotel is located on very elegant, trendy Arroyo Street, with many art galleries and nice cafes and restaurants. Because the Sofitel is new, it may still have good introductory rates available thru its website. Recently it was offering rooms for US$140, and this is the kind of hotel that would be three times the price in NY, DC, SF or LA. However, the HoJo is only marginally less attractive than the Sofitel (although it's in a more modern style than the Sofitel) and I'm willing to bet that there's not that much difference in the room sizes or amenities, unless you're looking for suites, which aren't available at HoJo's.

 

A couple of nice places to eat or have coffee are Babieca, on Av. Santa Fe at the corner of Riobamba (near Callao) and Cafe Monaco in the Village Recoleta movie complex (similar to the Sony Metreon complexes elsewhere). Also in Village Recoleta is the trendy Pizza Cero, which has more than pizzas. There's no shortage of places to eat, though, in Buenos Aires, and it's a fairly good bet that if a place is crowded you'll get a good meal! Bad places just don't stay in business that long in a city with this much competition!

 

Later, guys!

[Guest amopriapo]

Tri, back in 87 when I was in BA, I stayed at a hotel called 'Plaza Francia' in front of the Recoleta cementery, in a very chic area of BA. The hotel was great and at a very resonable price. If you have a chance could you check if it still exists? It was pure eurepean charm.

 

Have you noticed any street hustler scene in BA?

 

Amopriapo

[Guest Deweywop]

Trilingual, you are a great scout. My travel plans for BA gets further and further delayed, but perhaps you can inspire me. About the strip places, are these strippers available for "personal experience" (as you put it, though perhaps in a different meaning)? I hope you have some time to scout out the bordellos and any other places where you get to see and meet the boys before hiring them.

[R1]

Take a look to

http://www.bluemodels.com.ar

[trilingual]

I'll double check with Roberto, but I think the Plaza Francia hotel is still in business. Prices may have gone up since in '87.

 

There IS a street hustler scene in B.A. One, for which a car is most helpful, is on Charcas (officially called M.T. de Alvear) between Callao and Pueyrredon. There were quite a few there last night when we drove by with Jorge on our way to the strippers at Punto G, on Anchorena between Charcas and Santa Fe. I can't say I was inspired by the guys I saw on the street last night, but chacun a son gout! There also used to be quite a T-room scene at the main trains stations, and in some porno movies on Plaza Once. Jorge would be your best bet for information about that. You can contact the Trashy Tenor through Roberto. Jorge is an invaluable companion and source of information on matters ranging from opera to strippers to interesting t-rooms. . . You can bank on the fact that in a city of 13,000,000 people, with 20% unemployment, that there are a lot of available men, in various locations in the enormously sprawling metro area.

 

Some of the strippers are available for "private performances" for approximately AR$100 (a few ask for more), according to Jorge. This takes some Spanish, usually, but if you don't speak the language make arrangements for a night out with Jorge and he can help set you up!

[trilingual]

Well, guys, I can report in person that the T-room at Retiro station is still alive and well! I dropped in yesterday afternoon at the tail end of a long walk through the B.A. Design Center and the Avenida Alvear neighborhood. I hadn't been in the station since it was refurbished (it's one of the great railroad stations of the world, but had been slowly becoming a ruin until the recent renovation). The T-rooms, at the far end of the main lobby as you come from Avenida Libertador, have been renovated, too, and the layout is different. However, no sooner had I walked in to relieve myself than an attractive young gentlemen sidled up to me waving a sizeable piece of Argentine tube steak!

 

I didn't actually do anything, because it was the end of a long afternoon and I was tired, plus I had to meet Roberto shortly because we had bought tickets earlier to see "The Hours" (superb!). (At Argentine cinemas, at least the modern ones like Village Recoleta) you can buy tickets in advance, and the seats are numbered so you can choose your seat/row, just as you can at the theater.

 

Anyway, this is just to let you know that the Retiro scene is still alive, it seems. If you go, be discreet, but interesting things can happen! :9