Loving Buenos Aires

Yet again I’ve landed in a capital city and been metaphorically grabbed by the scruff of the neck to appreciate what a wealthy beautiful and dynamic city London is.

So many other capital cities look third world in comparison.

People here in Buenos Aires are friendly and there is a vibe but it’s so achingly obvious in everything you look at and feel, that this is a country on its knees economically. Sad, considering only 80 years ago they were the 5^th biggest economy in the world. It’s clearly had little investment in the last 40 years.

The low ceilinged airport terminal has worn linoleum tiles on the floor, with buckets everywhere catching leaking air conditioning units. Walls panelled with cheap melamine over chipboard sheets, are chipped and broken. Outside, small, old beaten up cars fill the streets, and there’s a pervading sense of things not working.

My hotel is lovely though. The Faena is an old refurbished grain store, built just over 100 years ago with bricks from Manchester, in a pretty regenerated area around docks. The main city square is just a pleasant 10 minute stroll across the water.

Good staff, pretty surroundings and views over the river from my junior corner suite. Philip Stark’s playful witty design hasn’t replaced functionality unlike some of his early offerings. Everything in my room works. Downstairs, the breakfast restaurant has a strong underlying theme for the interior, “What Granny sent to the car boot sale”. A kitsch collection of housewares from Victoriana through to Art Nouveau. It’s fun.

The outdoor pool is beautifully contained in a walled terrace garden and lounging and lunching here competes easily with sightseeing. They have a Tango theatre in house where you can dine and then watch a cast run through an hour of classic dance routines. The bar had good live entertainment which runs ‘from’ midnight. The gym is surprisingly large and well equipped and they also have a decent sized yoga room. In fact it was all so accommodating I didn’t want to venture out too often and would happily have spent another week there. Premium haircare doesn’t see too advanced here in Buenos Aires, probably down to the poor economy of recent decades, but I expect things will be better in Brazil tomorrow.