The Goya Hotel (Suipacha 748, tel./fax 011/4322-9311, www.goyahotel.com.ar, US$40–60 s, US$55–75 d) is one of the Microcentro’s best small hotels. Rates include private bath, cable TV, and air-conditioning; some slightly dearer rooms have whirlpool tubs. It may be advantageous to pay pesos in cash, as their exchange rate is unfavorable.

The Ayacucho Palace Hotel (Ayacucho 1408, tel./fax 011/4806-1815, www.ayacuchohotel.com.ar, US$60 s, $US70 d) offers some of the exterior style of more elegant porteño hotels without extravagant prices. Its 70 rooms are plainly but comfortably furnished.

On a block-long street, Palermo Soho’s Che Lulu Guest House (Emilio Zolá 5185, tel. 011/4772-0289, www.luluguesthouse.com, US$20 pp–US$70 d) is an artist-inspired B&B where eight small but colorful rooms go for bargain prices. The spacious common areas, well isolated from the bedrooms in this three-story house, make staying here a sociable experience.

Only half a block off Plaza Dorrego, catering exclusively to gay men, San Telmo’s Lugar Gay de Buenos Aires (Defensa 1120, tel. 011/4300-4747, www.lugargay.com.ar, US$40–60 s, US$50–80 d) is nicely recycled eight-room B&B with secluded rooftop terraces. Payment is by cash only.

At Hotel Dos Congresos (Rivadavia 1777, tel. 011/4372-0466, www.hoteldoscongresos.com, US$79 s, $US84 d), the stately exterior is a misleading approach to a refurbished interior, where spacious and comfortable rooms with cable TV, air-conditioning, telephones, and other standard amenities come with a buffet breakfast. Reservations are advisable for the loft rooms, which have spiral staircases and whirlpool tubs.