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Guests at Four Seasons Buenos Aires reap the benefits of brand familiarity without losing sight of where they are, especially those who stay in one of the seven suites in the hotel’s mansion (closed at press time for a restoration and slated to reopen this fall), a magnificent Louis XIII–style edifice built in 1916—with antique iron doors at the entrance and a marble staircase in the lobby—and the site of the hotel’s renowned Sunday brunch. An adjacent contemporary tower contains the other 158 rooms and suites. The spa—offering all-natural treatments inspired by the Incas—ranks among the city’s best, and the small garden-side outdoor pool has views of the bustling Recoleta streets below. During my first visit here, Fidel Castro was a guest. On another trip, a security guard trying to control the throng of enthusiastic fans as the valet double-checked my “alleged” dinner reservation at the hotel’s contemporary Mediterranean restaurant Le Mistral, in case I was a sneaky U2 fan trying to get a glimpse of Bono (he and his band had rented the whole mansion during the tour’s stop in BA). Guest rooms in the main tower are spacious and comfortable if slightly corporate in feeling. Bonus: Rooms come with a mobile phone that is an extension of your room phone, so you can receive calls when you are wandering around town. Rooms from $295.

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As the latest addition to the city’s collection of A-list hotels, the Palacio Duhau in Recoleta represents the best of traditional and brand-new Buenos Aires. Though the palace side of the hotel, which faces Avenida Alvear, is a restored mansion built in 1934, the newly constructed adjoining posadas building (where nearly all of the 165 rooms and suites are located) features a majestic lobby awash in Bordeaux leather and travertine marble and a soaring ceiling. The gentleman’s club–style Oak Bar (a favorite aperitivo and nightcap spot of well-heeled locals), La Vinoteca wine bar and cheese room and the expansive gardens have a classical feel, yet Park Hyatt’s cool brand of minimalism kicks in at its impressive underground art gallery and exhibition area, 8,000-square-foot spa and fitness studio (with an eighty-two-foot indoor swimming pool), and within many of the rooms and suites. And while the twenty-three guest rooms of the palace boast Persian carpets, silk curtains and antique crystal chandeliers, those in the posadas have a clean, Asian-inspired ambiance. Rooms from $410.