The Alvear Palace Hotel, MrFiveStar Hotel of the Month, April 2011
The Alvear Palace, befitting its nam
e, treats its guests like royalty! Our five nights there brought new meaning to extraordinary. Located in the exclusive Recoleta section of Buenos Aires, not only is the building an exquisite representation of architectural splendor and an interior elegantly decorated in Louis the XIV and XVI style, but the staff is well known for its dedication to customer service clearly placing the Alvear Palace in a class by itself. All 5 stars are shining very brightly at this outstanding hotel.
The Alvear Palace was built in 1932 and is the only 5-star hotel in Buenos Aires that has been continuously owned by an Argentinean family. The hotel enjoys the elite status of
being included in the collection of Leading Hotels of the World (please take a look at the beautiful pictures accompanying this article). With its 197 luxurious rooms (100 are suites), all have butler service, along with modern conveniences including WiFi, direct fax line, TV and DVD players. Each beautifully decorated room features fresh flowers (ours had an assortment of colorful roses). Each day we enjoyed a bowl of assorted fresh fruit and bottled water delivered by staff. It is most apparent that this Argentinean family makes every effort to set their hotel apart. With 550 employees, this translates to about 2.8 per guest, one of the highest of all luxury hotels.
An example of the hotel's attention to detail was very much enjoyed by my husband and me. One of our days out and about walking all around Buenos Aires, we were a bit tired from all that wonderful sightseeing and shopping. My husband called ahead to the butler on our floor (each floor has a butler). When we returned to our beautiful and well-appointed hotel room, our Jacuzzi bathtub (each room has one), was filled with swirling warm water in which this weary sightseer/shopper could immediately relax and luxuriate! By the way, at the foot of the tub a flat screen TV, no less!
While I enjoyed my glorious Jacuzzi, my husband headed straight to the Alvear's 8,000 sq. ft. Spa and Fitness Center. The Gym and Spa facilities are designed to offer hotel guests an unforgettable experience of both physical and spiritual well-being. The gym features the Italian-designed Technogym, but my husband's favorite was the core training Kinesis system (unique for Latin America).
If you enjoy pampering, as I do, then treat yourself to the Alvear Spa for a truly amazing experience. Amidst luxurious surroundings, all the usual spa services are offered, but all are way above usual when executed by very talented hands of spa personnel. The signature La Prairie body and facial treatments were my favorite.
A must at the Alvear Palace is the especially elegant late afternoon High Tea. Inside the truly lovely surrounding of the hotel's Le Jardin, a garden room, we were treated to this extraordinary and scrumptious experience. The waiters were most attentive and particularly handsome in their red coats. All served us with white gloves. The choice of teas...extensive, but our favorite is the Alvear's very own special blend. It goes without saying, we enjoyed consuming all those wonderfully delicious calories in the form of the tea sandwiches and pastries. What a splendid way to spend the late afternoon!
Because the hotel features many outstanding restaurants, my husband and I are pleased to announce we enjoyed them all! The elegant lobby bar (known for being the place to meet for Buenos Aires high society and business people), features a menu of delicious appetizers and those luscious Argentine Malbec wines! The Alvear's La Bourgogne Restaurant is a member of Relais & Chateaux (an exclusive collection of the finest hotels and restaurants in 60 countries and is the only restaurant with this designation in Latin America). French Chef, Jean Paul Bondoux creates the most superb French cuisine bound to please the appetites of the most discriminating gourmands. Another restaurant, L'Orangerie, is located in yet another of Alvear's truly beautiful rooms. With its very high ceilings and natural light, this is where we enjoyed outstanding buffet breakfasts and delicious lunches prepared by the hotel's talented executive chef. And, for worldwide wine lovers, the Alvear Palace is known for its wines. Featuring 650 national and international wine labels, it is consistently sited by Wine Spectator as having one of the finest wine lists of any hotel worldwide.
As if superb service, exquisite surroundings, delightful and delectable meals were not enough for discriminating national and international travelers, we found the hotel's business facilities extraordinary as well. The Business Center has six computers, along with dedicated hotel staff members on hand, who assisted my husband with all of his business and communication needs. In addition to the Business Center itself, there are a number of small and medium-sized meeting rooms, all nicely decorated and wired for current technological devices, for use by hotel guests.
A new addition to the hotel is the elegantly decorated Cigar Bar. An avant garde experience for sure. To complement one's smoking pleasure, this elegantly decorated room offers cigar lovers a wide variety of internationally well known brands, as well as an extensive collection of liqueurs, cognacs, spirits, etc. And, the piece de résistance has to be, chocolates made with cacao from all over planet earth! Even though my husband and I are not cigar smokers, we enjoyed the room's special ambiance. As we sipped our after dinner drinks, we consumed way more than our fair share of delicious chocolates.
By now it should be clear to the readers of this article, that my husband and I truly loved our Alvear Palace experience. Anyone traveling to Buenos Aires, whether on business or for pleasure, should definitely plan to stay at this extraordinary hotel. In our opinion, it is one of the most elegant hotels in all of Latin America, perhaps the world. Consider this... in recent years this Buenos Aires Palace has been visited by the Her Majesty the Queen of Netherlands, His Royal Highness Prince Charles of Wales, His and Her Majesty the King and Queen of Spain, among others. If you wish to receive the extraordinary service usually reserved for Kings and Queens, then the Alvear Palace is the perfect choice. From personal experience, my husband and I state unequivocally the hotel lives up to its reputation for providing its guests with what we now designate as the Alvear Palace's exclusive and special brand of the royal treatment. Our return trip cannot come soon enough!
Please click here to go directly to
Alvear Palace Hotel web site.
This article was written by Daphne Goodyear. Daphne and her husband Richard are well seasoned International Travelers, traveling the globe for decades.Daphne is the VP of MrFiveStar "Boutique Properties Editor". Daphne and Richard call home Sarasota Florida and Jackson Hole Wyoming. Daphne can be reached at
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Click "Read More" to view some additional pictures of this world class Hotel.
