Buzzworthy: Faena Hotel + Universe

Phillipe Starck has done it again. After conceiving the Hotel Delano in Miami, Mondrian in LA, and New York’s Asia de Cuba restaurant, the master designer continues to knock our socks off with the extraordinary Faena Hotel + Universe in Buenos Aires. Decadent, lavish, imperial—the hotel is a contemporary, stylish masterpiece housed in a historic building. The hotel’s “Universe” is a sophisticated multifunctional space that includes an intimate library, elegant restaurants, a swimming pool (i.e. poolside-pretty-people-watching), a caberet, spa with hammam, and academy, offering tango and cooking classes. Each of the 105 rooms have river views, revealed behind automatic velvet curtains and Venetian blinds. Instead of a concierge, personal assistant or butler, lucky guests get “Experience Managers”— who organize every minute detail of the guest’s Porteño experience, including tango dancing, antiquing or—for the brave—polo-playing. We’re all about the hotel’s flexible check-in/check-out policy. (Guests check in whenever they want, and are guaranteed a 24-hour stay.) And with the peso still weak, the glam Latin capital is enticingly cheap. Thus living it large-- whether for a few nights, or a few months-- is not tough.