'NYT' on BA: "Cheap & Gay!"
The Gray Lady is all atwitter about Buenos Aires. The New York Times has named BA "cheap" and/or "gay" in four separate items in the first half of December alone! First, on December 2, T Magazine ran a "Style Map" titled "Cheap and Cheerful." "A still-kicking dollar" and "great shopping" richly reward travelers, says T. (Incidentally, the one place to eat mentioned in this roundup of Palermo Hollywood is Casa Felix -- a meat-free underground spot profiled here on Gridskipper when it opened back in February 2007.)
Next, on December 3, Rio-based bureau chief Alexei Barrionuevo turned his attention away from hard news to tackle this story: "In Macho Argentina, a New Beacon for Gay Tourists" The aforementioned beacon is Latin America's first five-star gay hotel, the Axel Hotel Buenos Aires (covered here in June 2006 and on November 1). The Times bureau chief carefully notes:
The devalued currency made Buenos Aires a relative bargain for Western tourists, including many who are gay and like the city's European sophistication.That brings us to this past Sunday's coverage. On December 9, Buenos Aires was declared #27 of the "53 Places to Go in 2008." The two-sentence write-up aims to let you straight readers in on "what many gay travelers already knew: the Argentine capital is becoming South America's next party capital."
In the same Sunday Travel section, the "Practical Travel" columnist visits websites to check hotel prices in "Budget Destination: Argentina: Where the Buck is Still Worth a Buck." She starts with capital city Buenos Aires:
A weekend stay at the Four Seasons in Buenos Aires in mid-January starts at $425 a night, based on a recent online search. Similar rooms at the Four Seasons in Milan and London were listed at 650 euros ($975 at $1.50 to the euro) and £385 ($770 at $2 to the pound), respectively.With high-season rates starting at $425, this article is also careful with the word "cheap" -- preferring "cheaper" and "bargain" to describe room rates. (Psst: Back in July, Gridskipper looked at lower, off-season rates at the Four Seasons.)
