Fun trip, not sure value add was worth cost outside of the community
The trip I had to Buenos Aires was amazing. Great city, lots to do, perfect location, even better group of people, but I’m not sure the community itself (the main pro of hacker) was work nearly 3000$. To explain, I didn’t really use any other features. The coworking didn’t have a lot of private space that was functional (too hot, booked, too small, etc) so most of the time I worked from our apartment. I didn’t get my moneys worth there but if you didn’t have meetings it would have been fine.
Second. The apartment wasn’t very clean. It needed a through dusting, mopping, etc upon arrival and never felt that clean w our weekly cleanings. It was in a great neighborhood though.
Third, facilitators and logistics. Other than the housing planning, didn’t feel like there was too much value add here. We did have a couple of cool events lined up (la bomba and some theater performance) that I liked. However there are better asado than the one we did and we had a less than stellar soccer game exp due to overselling that wasn’t the hosts fault. Those I talked to felt we could have been much better set up with money expectations. It was covered that you can send yourself money on WU and exchanges however a major point missed that I learned in a week is for BA bring as MUCH USD as you think you’ll spend. You’ll never get as close to the rate from WU but this was something we has to learn on our own even though the hosts have been there before. Also for the price we should also be picked up and taken to the airport, know our group events weekly ahead of the trip for our own planning, etc. If should have also been shared that BA is a VERY reserverion based city and if you went into the best restaurants , to see the opera, etc, you need to make reservations 1-2 months ahead. It felt very lower intern level logistics for a group of professionals who are working hard jobs and like to be on top of things.
Lastly big group dinners didn’t happen as much due to Splitwise. The app is a pain in the butt to use and requires double entry on slack and the app. Most people preferred to just dine on small groups and pay cash to avoid the headache.
Overall the community is amazing. I love the people I met. Would try another company to compare as prices have gone up since this trip. If it was cheaper, would do again. Wouldn’t recommend program only, because being in the same space is worth it, however if you’re just using the housing, it’s pricy.
