The Grandest Hotels in Buenos Aires
A super-slick boutique offering, a hotel with a distinctly French feel and a grande dame.
Alvear Art Hotel
Alvear Palace Hotel may be the grande dame of Buenos Aires but her younger sister, Alvear Art Hotel, is the one turning heads. Located in the centre of the CBD, this Leading Hotels of the World property is glossier and cooler than its Recoleta counterpart, its rooms featuring dark timber panelling, leather bedheads and twin-sink bathrooms. Guestrooms on the upper floors offer some of the best views in town. Check in to Studio Premier No. 1207 and observe the Obelisco de Buenos Aires from your bed or go to the top-floor pool to see all the way to the waters of the Río de la Plata. The hotel is within walking distance of some of the city’s top attractions, such as the Teatro Colón (one of the world’s grandest opera houses) and the Casa Rosada (the pink-hued headquarters of the president). It’s also a short taxi ride to La Recoleta Cemetery. Among the jungle of mausoleums – some as elaborate as cathedrals – is the resting place of Evita, Argentina’s revered Eva Perón.
Suipacha 1036, 1008AAV, CABA
Sofitel Buenos Aires
Located only a few minutes’ walk from the CBD, the Sofitel hotel is within easy reach of the Plaza San Martin park as well as Florida Street – the pedestrian-only road considered one of the most colourful and lively in Buenos Aires, with great restaurants, cafés, bars and shopping. The French-inspired property boasts 172 rooms and suites and one apartment but – thanks to a sprawling high-ceilinged lobby, well-attended reception and concierge desks, and multiple lifts, it never appears to be overcrowded. The rooms are furnished in a soothing palette of gold and beige with work desks and good-sized bathrooms. Ask for a room on a higher floor for views of the city’s suburban rooftops. There’s a French restaurant (Le Sud) and a bar (La Bibliotheque) in the lobby as well as a swank subterranean spa with swimming pool and hammam. If you want to step out, one of the city’s best speakeasies is right across the road. Hidden below a florist shop, Floreria Atlántico (floreriaatlantico.com.ar) is a tunnel-like bar that seems to go on forever. It is vigorously energetic – particularly around 6pm when locals working in the CBD clock off – and renowned for tapas-style Argentine fare as well as inventive cocktails.
Arroyo 841 Capital Federal, C1007AAB, Buenos Aires
Alvear Palace Hotel
If you insist on staying at the city’s most prestigious digs – and an address every cab driver in town knows by heart – then make a beeline for Alvear Palace Hotel (a Leading Hotels of the World property) in the Buenos Aires’ posh Recoleta neighbourhood. Expect to be greeted by acres of marble in the lobby as well as spiral staircases, plush rugs, magnificent chandeliers, velvet sofas and soaring halls. The luxe theme continues upstairs where the rooms and suites are endowed with gleaming marble bathrooms, spacious sitting areas and comfortable beds with Egyptian cotton sheets. Opt for one of the recently launched Junior Lounge Suites with vast floor-to-ceiling glass windows to let the sunlight in – you can always summon the automatic curtains if pitch darkness is required. Enjoy buffet breakfast or Sunday brunch at L’Orangerie in the lobby, or head straight for the hotel’s elegant La Bourgogne where resident chef Jean Paul Bondoux regales guests with his exquisite French food. Whatever you do, don’t forget to drop in at the 11th-floor Alvear Roof Bar for spectacular sunset views and cocktails.
Avenida Alvear 1891, C1129AAA, Buenos Aires
Top image: Alvear Palace Hotel
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