EAT, SLEEP AND DRINK IN LUXURY BUENOS AIRES

Special anniversary on the horizon? Got a few extra (thousand) pesos burning a hole in your pocket? Need to impress a hot date? From the fanciest restaurants to the most sophisticated places to sleep, Buenos Aires delivers your luxurious solution. Eat, drink, and snooze in style with our guide to the city’s finest.

EAT

Forget empanadas and pizza for a minute. Buenos Aires fine dining restaurants serve up a luxurious dinner to remember in stylish surroundings. Put on your posh pants and get ready to nibble on ceviche or nosh on steak with the celebrities in these top choices.

Elena

A deluxe hotel with a similarly fancy restaurant, Buenos Aires Four Seasons does not disappoint. Elena is the award-winning palace of a restaurant inside the hotel, decorated in plush leather and marble, serving fresh seafood and succulent meat. Posadas 1086/88

Aramburu

For a gastronomical extravaganza in the form of a 12-course tasting menu, Aramburu is your spot. Unique in the city with its elaborate spread of intriguingly presented dishes and matching wines, Aramburu in Constitución puts the excitement back into modern Argentine cuisine. Salta 1050

Chila

Puerto Madero is somewhat of a red herring for luxury-seekers. Sure, it looks the business with its stretch of fancy-pants restaurants overlooking the water but most of these are not worth the big bucks you spend. Chila is the exception. A gorgeous place with a distinctively attractive tasting menu that varies with the seasons, Chila delivers chic and delicious gastronomic luxury. Alicia Moreau de Justo 1160

La Cabrera

It’s been top of the $$$ section of Buenos Aires guidebooks for years but La Cabrera still delivers the deluxe steak experience with style. While La Cabrera far from resembles the authentic parrilla, it does serve huge slabs of succulent meat in classically handsome surroundings. José Antonio Cabrera 5099

La Mar Cebicheria

Fans of Peruvian classic ceviche head to La Mar for Buenos Aires’ take on this seafood treat. Laze away some hours on the sunny terrace for a more laid-back take on luxury dining. Arévalo 2024

L’Orangerie

Luxury doesn’t start at dinner. Get your deluxe fix earlier in the day with high tea at the Alvear Palace Hotel’s L’Orangerie restaurant. Expect fine china tea cups, delicate finger sandwiches and all the mini pastries you can eat. Alvear Palace Hotel, Avda. Alvear 1891

Tarquino

Chef Dante Liporace at Tarquino serves an inventive take on Argentine classic dishes at this converted colonial mansion. You’ll probably be surprised by what’s on the menu. Rodríguez Peña 1967

More Luxurious BA Dining….

Tegui: Crazy-expensive but suitably fancy tasting menu

Sunae Asian Cantina: A taste of spice from this former closed-door restaurant serving Southeast Asian specials.

Roux: Bijoux Buenos Aires bistro in the genteel neighbourhood of Recoleta. Check out the wine cellar with private chef’s table.

Omakase: A cut above the disappointing salmon rolls that dominate the BA sushi scene, Omakase is a tiny place with a delicious selection of Peruvian and Japanese inspired flavours.

SLEEP

Looking for high thread-count sheets, marble lobbies and decadent atmosphere? Buenos Aires presents you with your choice of opulent hotels from Recoleta to Palermo to Puerto Madero. Honestly, you could sleep in a different luxury hotel every week of the year. If you were a visiting President. Or Michael Bublé.

Alvear Palace Hotel

A city institution. A gorgeous place with suitably gorgeous prices, plus all the decadent trappings like marble lobby and impeccable service that will make you feel like a celebrity. The Alvear Palace Hotel is possibly the most renowned luxury hotel in BA. Don’t miss L’Orangerie for brunch or high tea (see above.) Avda. Alvear 1891

Fierro Hotel

Palermo Hollywood hosts this friendly, stylish addition to the boutique hotel scene. Fierro Hotel is right in the middle of all the Palermo action and has a refreshing splash pool on the seventh floor for cooling off on those hot BA nights. Soler 5862

Mio

Mio is a fusion of hi-tech and traditional oak, furnished with silk and marble and steel. Located in Recoleta, this boutique hotel is one to investigate for a deluxe hideaway. Quintana 465

Home Hotel

The go-to luxury option for the coolest kids in BA, Home Hotel is a fresh and chic option for decadence with a slightly smaller price tag than the Alvear. Get over your jet lag in the cool spa and relax with the rest of the hip Palermo crowd sipping cocktails by the pool. Honduras 5860

Palacio Duhau – Park Hyatt Buenos Aires

Mmmm…picture that elegant mansion that forms the old part of the Park Hyatt accommodation, with its red marble flooring, open fireplaces and a sense of history. This is the place to stay if money is no object and you love the high life. The Palacio Duhau rooms are great and the extras – restaurants, bar, spa – are fantastic. Avenida Alvear 1661

Four Seasons Buenos Aires

What did you expect? A list of luxury hotels that didn’t include the Four Seasons? The Buenos Aires branch of the luxe chain doesn’t disappoint in terms of service, accommodation, and attention to detail. Choose a suite in La Mansión for the biggest bang for your buck. Posadas 1086/88

Faena Hotel

Take a step away from the converted mansions and head to a converted silo. Faena is the stylish new addition to Puerto Madero – lavish, over-the-top rooms designed by Philippe Starck you’ll either love or loathe, a cool spa, and classy pool, Faena delivers the luxury experience with a twist. Martha Salotti 445

Villa Maria

You don’t get much closer to downtown Buenos Aires than this, while still being able to get away from the stress of the city. This luxury estancia is close to Ezeiza airport and sits on 200 acres of manicured grounds, with elegant suites, a library, and even a cigar room. Perfect for a special getaway – you can even get polo lessons.

Escape

Sometimes, the decadence of the city wears you down and escape is essential. Discover the luxurious pleasure of spending the night away from the bright lights, in a deluxe estancia with all the trappings of a special stay – spa, pool, asado, candlelit restaurant…

La Candelaria

Gourmet home-produced food, opulent rooms, extensive grounds and classy accommodation, this estancia is in San Miguel del Monte and is a favourite with porteños as a getaway treat.

La Bamba

Located close to San Antonio de Areco around 120km from Buenos Aires, La Bamba includes a colonial-style mansion on its 32 acres. The perfect place for relaxed alfresco dining and a spot of croquet on the lawns.

DRINK

It’s hard work being this fancy. You’re thirsty. You need to relax. Luckily Buenos Aires has some stylish bars to ease your pain.

The Harrison

A speakeasy in Buenos Aires? Make a furtive entry into this exclusive bar, hidden away behind a sushi restaurant. The Harrison is for members only but you can score an invite by dining at the restaurant and later transferring to the hip haven with its sophisticated atmosphere. Although entry is never guaranteed. Cross your fingers. Malabia 1764

Pony Line

Whether your experience of Buenos Aires involves staying at the Four Seasons, or not, you can still enjoy the hotel’s opulence in its bar, Pony Line. Inspired by the Argentine love for all things polo, Pony Line is an effortlessly cool bar serving outstanding cocktails to a fashionable crowd. Posadas 108

Artesano Bar

Located at the Alvear Palace Hotel’s hipper sister, the Alvear Art Hotel, Artesano Bar is a true cocktail-lover’s paradise in an elegant, relaxed setting. Suipacha 1036

878

Always on the list of the best bars in BA, 878 is a luxurious little gem in Palermo, holding onto a stock of over 130 different wines, as well as providing a tasty menu and the obligatory fancy cocktails. Thames 878

Florería Atlántico

Surely the sweetest smelling spot in the city for a glass of wine, this cute bar is beneath a florists shop in Recoleta and provides a hyper-stylish setting for gorgeous cocktails and signature drinks like the yerba mate gin. Arroyo 872

Bio
Latest Posts

Louise Carr de Olmedo

British-born Louise arrived in Argentina in 2009 for a five-day visit while travelling through Central and South America. Five years, one marriage and one baby later, she lives with her family in the wilds of west Buenos Aires with a bouncy dog and a cat with an attitude. In between making pureed versions of classic Argentine meals for baby, she writes about travel, wine and food, and ponders storms, sunsets and the complexities of the Argentine football league at her blog West of Buenos Aires. She spends her spare time taste-testing empanadas, obsessing about the weather, and plotting Gabrielito’s introduction to Marmite.