It’s Raining Boutique Hotels

In Buenos Aires’ recent tourism boom, boutique hotels like Hotel Home and bobo have gotten much of the press (and spots on Condé Nast Traveller’s 2006 and 2005 Hot Lists, respectively). But they are far from the only ones—in fact, B.A. is a-frenzy with new boutique hotels. Since the B.A. trend toward boutique hotels (not as anonymous as a Hyatt, not as nervously intimate as a B&B) launched in the late ‘90s, there are now some 20 in the city, with ones apparently opening every month, often under loose boutique hotel confederations like Ten Rivers & Ten Lakes and Rusticae. At the end of 2005 the 11-room La Cayetana opened in Montserrat; in March 2006 came the 10-room Krista (above; photo from La Nación) in Palermo Hollywood; in April it was another 11 rooms in 248 Finisterra, the first boutique hotel in the Las Cañitas nabe; in June Palermo’s La Otra Orilla (with four rooms) was scheduled to finish a renovation; recently opened is San Telmo's five-room The Cocker (named after the owner's dog brand, you dirty-minded fool); and later this year, the 12-room Mansión Vitraux Boutique Hotel Wine Lounge & Spa is planning to open on San Telmo’s Plaza Dorrego. Prices generally run from $100-$200/night and come with free WiFi and groovy interior design. So screw the Holiday Inn and the horse it rode in on.