Latin America's 20 Best Hotels

Joe Yogerst October 27, 2008

 

The Forbes Traveler 400 experts pick the top hotels

From rowdy music to rebellious politics, and even the way they play soccer, Latin Americans have often marched to the beat of a much different drummer than the rest of the world. This is equally true of the hotel scene across this varied, vibrant region.

Global brands may dominate the landscape in other parts of the world, but the Forbes Traveler roll call of Latin America's 20 Best Latin hotels—as determined by the Forbes Traveler 400 board of experts—is dominated by home-grown groups and independent hotels. Nearly all of them have a unique local flair. From the moment you first walk through the front door, there is no mistaking that you are somewhere south of the border or below the equator.

See our slideshow of Latin America's 20 Best Hotels.

The family-run Fasano Sao Paulo is typical of the personal touch that defines so many top Latin American hotels. This chic 60-room boutique hotel is the culmination of more than 100 years of Fasano family hospitality in Brazil’s largest city. Four generations after opening an Italian brasserie in 1902, the Fasanos parlayed their gastronomic success—and penchant for entertaining the global glitterati like Marlene Dietrich, Nat King Cole and the Prince of Wales—into an equally chic hotel.   

Lapa Rios Lodge on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast is another family endeavor. It's the brainchild of an American couple, John and Karen Lewis, who originally came to the area as Peace Corps volunteers. In an effort to save local flora and fauna, they sold just about everything they owned to fund a private nature reserve and small environmentally friendly hotel. They'd unwittingly created one of the world’s first (and more successful) eco-lodges. Besides pampering tourists who venture deep into the rainforest, Lapa Rios also supports the local school and other community projects.

Likewise, Francis Ford Coppola had a clear idea of what a wilderness lodge should be. He originally built the secluded beachfront Turtle Inn in Belize as a private escape from the rigors of the film industry. But he decided to share his vision of paradise with the rest of the world—and thus was born one of Latin America’s most unconventional resorts.

Another eccentric vision led to the eventual creation of the Country Club hotel in Lima’s upscale San Isidro district. Built in 1927 as a private residence, the palace-like structure blends bygone Spanish Colonial and French Belle Epoque decor with original artworks on loan from local museums. The end result is a clubby gentleman’s club ambience that includes a special arrangement for tee-times at the plush golf links across the street. It's certainly not your typical Lima high-rise hotel. Nor, for that matter, is it like anything else in Peru.  

See our slideshow of Latin America's 20 Best Hotels.

That’s not to say that all of our Latin American picks are unconventional. But even the group hotels buck the cookie-cutter trend. All three Orient Express hotels are wildly romantic, but in very different ways. Rising above the eponymous Brazilian beach, the Copacabana Palace hotel is an Art Nouveau gem styled after the grand hotels of the French Riviera. The remains of a 16^th-century monastery in the middle of Cuzco were resurrected into the Hotel Monasterio, perhaps the best place to sleep (and eat) in all of the High Andes. And along the talcum-powder-fine sands of southern Mexico’s Riviera Maya is the modish Hotel Maroma, originally the private home of a Mexican architect and now a small, hip beach resort.

Even the Four Seasons hotels that made our list are different. Drag the group’s hallmark decor, flawless service and astonishing cuisine to the end of the earth, and you'll end up with the Four Seasons Papagayo in Costa Rica, the eco-lodge for those who require more creature comforts than nature alone can provide. The Four Seasons Carmelo resort, on the other hand, is a funky blend of Uruguayan gaucho, ancient Andean civilization and even Balinese beach themes that somehow works.

With its slick high rise tower, the Four Seasons Buenos Aires comes closest to that familiar post-modern vibe. But even here there’s a wildcard: The hotel annex is a meticulously restored 1920 Belle Epoque mansion where many of the more lavish suites are located. And like so many of Latin America’s best abodes, there is an endearing personal story behind its creation: the beloved manse was built by an Argentine aristocrat as a wedding gift for his bride.

See our slideshow of Latin America's 20 Best Hotels.

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