Buenos Aires is, hands down, the most elegant and European of South America’s cities. With sweeping avenues and city parks that glow with lavender jacarandas and pink blooms in the summer, historic neighborhoods like San Telmo and La Boca, the Rio de la Plata river with Uruguay just visible across the water, and beautiful buildings topped by more cupolas than you can count, this city holds promises that only a visit can reveal.
The Four Seasons Buenos Aires in the upscale Recoleta district has rooms with views of the central Obelisk and a super-busy nine-lane highway. But the excellent insulation means there is no traffic noise, and many rooms and suites look onto the garden and Recoleta’s only outdoor pool.
Of the 165 rooms (the biggest in this part of the city), 49 are suites, and seven of these are in the magnificent Mansion, which was built in the 1920s by a wealthy landowner as a wedding gift for his bride-to-be. In the adjacent 12-floor Tower, the rooms and suites are in three categories: the 430-square-foot entry level suites; the 646-square-foot junior suites; and the 861-square-foot one-bedroom suites. All can sleep up to three guests and have spacious marble bathrooms with TV mirrors.
The contemporary rooms sport cool beiges, and the signature equine theme—Argentina is famous for its polo prowess—is subtly present with details like stirrup-shaped handles on cupboards and carved horse bedside lamps. Public relations manager Delfina Daponte (Delfina.Daponte@fourseasons.com; +54-114-321-1654) told us that 50 rooms connect, and there are also some for guests with mobility issues. This is a family-friendly hotel, so younger guests are welcomed with fun gifts; plus, there are kids’ menus and baby-sitting facilities.
For families, we liked the Tower’s one-bedroom suites with dual sinks in the bathroom and a rollout bed, but for romantics and honeymooners, it has to be the chandelier-bedecked Mansion, which has a private entrance. These start from the 839-square-foot Ambassador Suite with a living room and master bedroom. The most opulent is the Presidential Suite with 18th-century antiques. It measures 1,937 square feet and has a canopy bed, a large living room, a dining table for 10 and a half-moon balcony overlooking the garden and pool. The huge bathroom has a piece worthy of any museum: a free-standing carved white marble sink with a golden bowl, which was chosen by the owner for his bride.
To secure specific suites or rooms, Delfina told us it is best to book a year out, and the high season runs through the spring and summer months from October to April. For VIP enquiries and restaurant pre-bookings, make contact with the guest experience team, helmed by Charo Muro (guestexperience.buenosaires@fourseasons.com; +54-114-321-1200). Transfers, city tours and personal shoppers can be arranged by the city-savvy concierge team helmed by Paola Pantanalli (concierge.buenosaires@fourseasons.com).
The large gym is open 24/7 and looks over the garden, as does the Cielo Spa, which has four treatment cabins and uses local botanical-based products, chosen to replace the former French label and thus reduce the property’s carbon footprint. Top Tip: Book ahead with the spa manager (spa.bue@fourseasons.com; +54-114-3211-1642) for the signature 80-minute Tango Porteno massage, which is synchronized with hypnotic tango music and uses wine-based products.
Elena is the only hotel restaurant in Latin America on the Best List for 11 years in a row, and its wood and leather décor has the vibe of an Argentinian cattle ranch. Our lunch steak, served on a wooden platter with a side of roasted cauliflower, was deceptively simple and sheer perfection.
We mixed with locals in the Pony Line Bar for live DJ music and cocktails, skipping its famed gourmet burgers for Nuestro Secreto. This is the city’s only restaurant with a lady chef, Patricia Ramos, in charge of a gourmet grill, and we chose the air conditioning in the conservatory dining room over the tables in the garden. Here, too, the accent is on Argentinian beef, with the signature dish being a 33.5-ounce T-bone Angus. We voted our sizzling cast-iron skillet of short rib ravioli a strong contender for the best Italy can do. Topped with melted burrata, the four large ravioli were stuffed with fall-off-the-bone rib beef and smothered in fresh tomato sauce.
With commendable Four Seasons’s discretion, we were not given the names of the glitterati who have stayed here. But we did learn that the Mansion—all of it—is taken by Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones when on tour, and that last year, Taylor Swift made headlines when she was there (we’re guessing the Presidential Suite) with Travis Kelce.
The Recoleta neighborhood is home to the city’s most famous cemetery—where Eva Peron, the Evita of musical and movie fame, is buried—as well as to Buenos Aires’ most elegant streets, homes and shops. Just across from the Four Seasons, the Patio Bullrich mall has designer brands, and the nearby Posades and Alvear avenues have local designer boutiques.
Wanting to try a local eatery, the concierge pointed us down the road to Fervor, which, of course, does beef but also a really good selection of shellfish. Further afield—but thanks to the plentiful taxis, getting around this huge city is surprisingly easy and very cheap—we gave the thumbs up to Anafe (+54-411-563-4197). The owners call it a “city kitchen,” and the menu of small plates designed for sharing is arranged by portion size, and from cold to hot dishes. Our starter was Vietnamese beef carpaccio with nuoc nam sauce and we followed with crispy battered chicken—both were heavenly. Tables need to be reserved at least two weeks ahead, and those without a booking wait in line outside hoping for a cancelation.
The best way to eat like a local is to choose a bar notable, one of the city’s 80 protected small cafés of historic and cultural significance, where the atmosphere is charged with nostalgia. The charming Café de Marco close to the Obelisk opened in 1801. It has masonic symbols on its façade and walls (the Grand Lodge is across the road) and delicious empanadas, the typical local pastry turnovers stuffed with meat or vegetables.
One must-do is the Sunday morning San Telmo flea market to pick up memorabilia and vintage costume jewelry. More serious antique hunters will find small shops tucked behind the market stalls that are well worth perusing for period pieces, and they should remember that bargaining is standard practice and amps up the excitement. For lunch, nearby Disnivel at Defensa 855, and Parilla La Brigada at Estados Unidos 465 are top choices for carnivores.
No visit to Buenos Aires is complete without an evening of tango. For clients who want a good night’s entertainment our number-one choice is La Ventana (+54-11-3220-3300) for the authenticity of the dancing and musicians, and for the excellent dinner.
Or, if they want to try a traditional milonga dance hall, the entrance only costs a few dollars, and they can order drinks and light food. Anyone can join the dancing but warn your clients that getting around a Buenos Aires dance floor is not for the faint-hearted as the locals are phenomenally good dancers.
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