In 1979, Andrew Harper founded a monthly magazine of tourism aimed at rich and sophisticated travelers. Harper became famous because of traveling incognito and refusing ads in his magazine. 28 years later, the Hideaway Report is one of the most important publications of luxury tourism, and in September of 2007, two Argentine hotels were included in the Harper’s list of the best lodgings in the world.

One of them is House of Jasmines, in the province of Salta, estate of the American actor Robert Duvall and his wife, the actress from Salta Luciana Pedraza. This hotel and spa, located in a centenarian colonial house, has a park of one hundred hectares and only seven bedrooms.

The other Argentine hotel elected by Harper is a classic in Buenos Aires: the Alvear Palace (Alvear Ave. 1891). It was built in the 1930’s in the neighborhood of Recoleta, one of the most sophisticated in the city. The Alvear–which offers a butler service to its guests–is found in the tenth place of the list of the 20 best urban hotels in the world.
Porteños, if they can afford the pleasure, visit the Alvear in the afternoon to drink the famous tea or at night to have dinner at La Bourgogne, one of the most renowned restaurants in the city.

Among the offer of luxury tourism in Buenos Aires, three hotels have been inaugurated recently. They are relatively small (up to 50 rooms) and are focused on the design excellence. All of them are found in the oldest part of the city, in the neighborhoods of Monserrat and San Telmo. The Axel Hotel (Venezuela 649), aimed at a gay public, has a swimming pool with traslucid floor above the lobby. The Moreno (Moreno 376) is found in a Art Deco building of the 1920’s and its interior decoration has the same style. The Ribera Sur (Paseo Colón 1145), with only 16 rooms, was built using materials like marble, lapacho and cedar.

Do you know any luxury hotels? What was the experience like?

*info

Alvear Palace — House of Jasmines — Andrew Harper’s web site — List of hotels in the city

Esta entrada fue escrita el Lunes, Diciembre 3, 2007 a las 15:59 y esta en la categoría General, Hotels. Puede seguir los comentarios de esta entrada mediante RSS 2.0. Puede escribir un comentario, o trackback desde su sitio.