Accommodations

Even nonbackpackers may want to consider the private rooms at the Paraná Hostel (Andrés Pazos 159, tel. 0343/455-0847, www.paranahostel.com.ar [1], US$11 pp dorm, US$25–30 s or d), a handsome new facility just a block off the plaza.

The charming Hotel San Jorge (Belgrano 368, tel. 0343/422-1685, www.sanjorgehotel.com.ar [2], US$26 s, US$37 d) occupies a handsome early-20th-century building with a luxuriant patio and stylishly modernized rooms with air-conditioning and cable TV.

New in 2008, in an ideal neighborhood near Parque Urquiza, the Posada del Rosedal (Santiago del Estero 656, tel. 0343/422-3148, www.posadadelrosedal.com.ar [3], US$36–45 s, US$50–59 d) is a tobacco-free three-room B&B with an abundant breakfast and reliable Wi-Fi. Parking costs extra, however.

On the peatonal, Gran Alvear Hotel (San Martín 637, tel. 0343/422-0000, www.granhotelalvear.com.ar [4], US$40 s, US$55 d) is a decent value. Rates include parking and air-conditioning.

The facade of the Paraná Hotel (9 de Julio 60, tel./fax 0343/423-1700, www.hotelesparana.com.ar [5], US$34–52 s, US$42–60 d) is deceptive, as its interior is more modern and most of its rooms smaller—compact, one might generously say—than the exterior suggests. Several original rooms that surround the interior patio are used only when the hotel is full, because of heavy foot traffic.

Facing Plaza 1 de Mayo, Gran Hotel Paraná (Urquiza 976, tel. 0343/422-3900, www.hotelesparana.com.ar [5], US$40–74 s, US$53–92 d) is a mixed bag—rooms on the lower floors, which generally go to tour groups, are utilitarian, but those on the upper floors live up to its four-star billing.

Towering over the riverside, the Howard Johnson Mayorazgo Plaza Resort (Etchevehere and Miranda, tel. 0343/420-6800, www.hjmayorazgo.com.ar [6], US$115 s or d) is the new casino hotel.