Some of the best hotels in the world are also the best hotels in Latin America. In the category of stylish urban boutique hotels, here are 10 that should be on your itinerary.
Tag: boutique hotels
My Puerto Vallarta: Travel Tips from Don Pickens, Owner of Casa Cupula
Travelers looking for a gay-friendly Mexico beach should look no further than Puerto Vallarta. The owner of Casa Cupula hotel shares his fave travel tips.
Hotel Review & VIDEO: Olive Boutique Hotel, San Juan, Puerto Rico
One of the newest luxury hotels in Puerto Rico, the Olive Boutique hotel is small, upscale and has a great restaurant. Here’s my hotel review.
HOTEL REVIEW & VIDEO: Hacienda Xcanatun in Merida, Yucatan
Hacienda Xcanatun: a luxurious hotel getaway just outside of Merida, Mexico. VIDEO & REVIEW BY MARK CHESNUTThe Mexican state of Yucatan is known for its many historic haciendas, several of which have been converted to luxury hotels. During one particularly enjoyable visit, I stayed at Hacienda Xcanatun, which sits just four miles from downtown Mérida….
SNEAK PEEK: Hotel Americano Brings Mexico City Style to New York
Warm welcome: A stylish cocktail party gave New Yorkers a sneak peek of the brand-new Hotel Americano. BY MARK CHESNUTThere was no name on the crystal-clean glass facade. We didn’t see a street number on the building. And attendees had to sign a liability waiver before entering — this was, the doorwoman explained, technically still…
HOTEL REVIEW: Relaxed Retro Chic at Boca Chica, Acapulco
Yesterday afternoon, I checked into a hotel where several decades earlier a Hollywood starlet named Rita Hayworth slept. That was back when Acapulco was becoming Mexico’s first jet-set resort destination, and celebrities were flocking to small, independently owned hotels in the hills by the bay. Today, Hotel Boca Chica — which opened in March 2010…
HOTEL REVIEW: El Encanto, Acapulco
After some nine years with no new openings, the city of Acapulco has welcomed no less than three new upscale properties within less than a year’s time: The villa-style Banyan Tree Cabo Marques, the retro-chic Boca Chica (which is where I’m staying now — more on that later) and El Encanto. So even as Acapulco has…
5 Hot Hotels in the Atacama Desert, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
The craggy bluffs, dusty trails and sandy terrain of the desert aren’t usually associated with luxury hotels. But in Chile’s Atacama Desert — by some accounts the driest desert on earth — a remarkable thing has sprouted in the past few years: An oasis of upscale desert lodges that combine amenities and style with a…
Sun and Sand Take on New Meanings in Chile’s Atacama Desert
The Atacama Desert in Chile offers postcard-perfect photo opportunities. On Wednesday, I flew from Santiago de Chile to Calama, the main airport serving the most tourism-friendly region of Chile’s northern deserts. After the two-hour flight, we took a one-hour van ride to San Pedro de Atacama, where a growing number of luxury desert resorts have been…
HOTEL REVIEW: The Aubrey, Santiago de Chile
I’m staying for four nights as a guest at Santiago’s hottest new boutique hotel: The Aubrey. Set in a mansion built in the 1920s in Santiago’s now Bohemian Bellavista district, the Aubrey (which just made Conde Nast Traveler’s 2010 “Hot List“) sits at the foot of the Parque Metropolitano’s funicular railway and just around the…
Arriving in Santiago de Chile, and all is well
Santiago’s airport is up and running fine. It’s 8am, and I’m sitting on a private balcony at the foot of the Parque Metropolitano, a verdant, hilly city park in Santiago de Chile. I’ve just checked into the Hotel Aubrey, a new luxury boutique hotel set in a former private mansion. I’ve just landed in Chile’s…
7 Interesting Hotels in Uruguay
During my recent visit to Uruguay on a trip with Borello Travel & Tours, I checked out a bunch of noteworthy and interesting small hotels set in various interesting locations — many in and around Punta del Este, the chic, sun-drenched getaway that’s sometimes called the St. Tropez of South America. Here are a few…
Montevideo’s Architectural Treasures: Headed for Landmark Status?
The glistening tower of the Comando General de la Armada, with the Mercado Central in the foreground. Uruguay’s capital city may be smaller than Buenos Aires and carry less of a jet-set image than Punta del Este, but it’s laden with interesting and diverse architecture that some feel should warrant UNESCO World Heritage ranking. Peek…
Shopping and Sleeping in Colonia, Uruguay
Founded in 1680 by Portugal as Colónia do Sacramento, what is commonly called simply Colonia is a quick and comfortable 45-minute ferry ride from Buenos Aires, Argentina — it’s easy enough to visit that some people do it as a day trip from Buenos Aires, or else as a stopover en route to Montevideo and…