Prodeo Lounge & Suites

Grooving, Rhythmic & Delicious: Building on the success of recent events, Prodeo will soon offer weekly tastings.

Located on the border of Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood, Prodeo Lounge & Suites is situated in the middle of one of the trendiest areas of the city. The luxury boutique hotel, with it’s chic, dimly-lit bar and two-story restaurant headed by Chef Jeroen Van den Bos, epitomizes BA’s renaissance.

The stark, modern interior is visually striking, yet manages to retain a certain warmth with its dark colors, delicate lighting and numerous water features scattered throughout. Music plays constantly throughout the hotel’s common areas, creating a distinct ambiance for each event.

At a recent wine tasting at Prodeo, led by sommelier Laura Pietraccone, guests were treated to a variety of Argentine wines in a relaxed, comfortable environment, starting with a sparkling chardonnay-pinot noir blend. Next came a Torrontes, an aromatic white wine, paired with salmon tartar topped with couscous of cauliflower.

This was followed by a Chardonnay with a yuca-crusted duck croquette in a teriyaki glaze. Two samples of the quintessential Argentine varietal, Malbec, which were paired with Cuban meatballs in a light ginger-and-cumin-infused tomato sauce, rounded out the tasting. The service was impeccable, with a small army of waiters and bartenders gliding seamlessly through the room, allowing guests to completely focus on the experience.

This 5-star boutique hotel will be the first in Argentina built to LEED certification standards.

This 5-star boutique hotel will be the first in Argentina built to LEED certification standards.

While yesterday’s post focused on a stalled Puerto Madero transaction, today we look at one that is already beyond the drawing board and poised to raise the bar of corporate sustainability in the Buenos Aires lodging arena.

Scheduled to open in 2011, the Hotel Own Puerto Madero promises to be the first hotel in Argentina built to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED standards, the benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings.

According to USGBC, 40 U.S. hotels are currently certified “green” with another 900 currently working toward certification. Swiss Finance & Property endeavors to build the Hotel Own to LEED standards which mandate varying degrees of water conservation, energy conservation, local material use, recycled material use, natural lighting and other green features.

SF&P describes the Own as “a boutique hotel with 5-star service, (featuring) 26 rooms, 4 of which are suites, full guest amenities such as pool, gym, roof top terrace and a restaurant and bar.” And the developer’s long term goal: “Make this new hotel the destination of choice for environmentally conscious tourists and businessmen alike.”

Only time will tell if other boutique and major chains follow SF&P’s green lead in Argentina: an important first step in a market where sustainability doesn’t usually factor into the equation when new buildings are in the planning stage. The additional costs and effort on the front-end should be more than offset upon the hotel’s completion given the number of international tourists who travel to Buenos Aires from countries where companies have already embraced sustainability initiatives.

Howard Johnson Buenos Aires Argentina

Howard Johnson S.A., the largest hotel chain in Argentina features luxury projects with polo fields.

As the wave of new developments and gated communities grows in Buenos Aires, Clari­n reports on the simultaneous growth in the number of local projects featuring luxury hotels and resort-style amenities.

“The goal is to offer a value-added service to the property owner,” says Clari­n, “giving them benefits within the development (assorted discounts) and enhancing the overall comfort level of the project. Several of these mega-hotels are located in the interior of the country (the majority in the Patagonia), taking advantage of the benefits and natural beauty in this part of Argentina.”

But BA residents don’t have to travel all the way to Bariloche or San Martin de los Andes to find these types of luxury developments. In fact, several hotels are being built in the surrounding Province of Buenos Aires, and U.S. investors will recognize one of the names behind some of the most high-profile projects.

Located in Brandsen, roughly 60 miles from downtown BA, the Howard Johnson Finca Maria Cristina features a 40-room hotel, Spa, Convention Center and Polo Fields. A HoJo with PoLo? That’s the level of style and sophistication the chain has achieved in Argentina where the Master Franchisee, H.J. Argentina S.A., has become the largest hotel chain in the country with 23 completed hotels and 18 under construction.

In addition to professional polo instruction and a helicopter transportation option, the Finca Maria Cristina project features a variety of accommodation styles including large, six-person Boutique Villas. The developer currently plans to build 15 of these upscale villas and make them available to the public.

For more information about Buenos Aires real estate opportunities, download IncomeBA and the new issue of InvestBA Privada.

 

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