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Part 4: Couple Notes on the One Night Stand

If you’re looking for the one night stand (not for everybody, but no doubt for a number of you), ending your evening at 8 am isn’t always a good thing. So, making your move confidently before it gets too late (or early, depending on how you’re looking at it) remains essential.

Another key cultural consideration is, as in many other Latin/Latin American countries, most young adults live with their families before marriage. So, you can pretty much throw out going back to their place (set aside the odd late night escape mission, or all-too-awkward morning brush con la familia).

Two viable alternatives present themselves.

First, obviously, is take them back to your place.

The other… a fascinating part of Buenos Aires life, known as “hoteles por hora.”

Hoteles por hora, while at first sounding a bit shady, are, in fact, a normal part of the Buenos Aires night scene. So common in Buenos Aires that local universities include a portion about them during orientation for foreign students, helping introduce newcomers to the local social life and dating environment.

Simply put, they’re pay-by-the-hour hotels where upon paying for your room, a barrier obstructs the view between you and the person with whom you exchange money. This way neither of you actually see each other, and your away-from-home tryst goes on without eye-witness evidence. Thus, serving the needs of a culture where many people live with their folks ’til matrimony, and where persisting remnants of Catholicism means low divorce rates but no shortage of cheating spouses.