The single most visited attraction in Recoleta is Recoleta Cemetery, an above-ground city of the dead, where a who’s who of Argentina’s most important citizens are forever enshrined. The elaborate crypts form a 14-acre (5.5-hectare) “neighbourhood” of narrow lanes and broader avenues so complex it requires a map to navigate. You can also opt to take one of the guided tours, which are regularly scheduled. The walled cemetery has been in use for nearly two centuries, and several former Argentinean presidents now reside here, but by far the most visited tomb is that of former first lady Eva Perón, better known as “Evita.”
Photography courtesy Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
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Known simply by its acronym, MALBA, the Museo de Art Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires just celebrated its 10th anniversary. While it features a vast collection of Latin American art from the early 20th century to the present, MALBA is best known for housing one of the art world’s most recognizable Frida Kahlo paintings, a 1942 self-portrait. The museum is also home to many important works by Argentina’s most celebrated artists, Xul Solar and Pablo Curatella Manes.
Photography courtesy MALBA (Museo de Art Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires)
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No nation loves steak as much as Argentina—it boasts the highest per capita beef consumption on earth—and no city is as famous for its great steakhouses and grass-fed local cows as Buenos Aires. Two of the very best are quite close to the Hotel. El Mirasol is just a block away, and its indoor and outdoor seating caters to a business and political crowd. Go here for a larger than typical selection of fire-grilled meats, sides and salads, including Buenos Aires’ most traditional dishes. A few blocks farther is Fervor, an upscale Recoleta neighbourhood favourite and the only major steakhouse in the city that also dry-ages its grass-fed beef.
Photography courtesy Fervor Brasas
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The most luxurious shopping mall in the city is just two blocks away from the Hotel and largely concealed within an arcade building reminiscent of London or Milan, with expansive domed skylights and polished marble. Patio Bullrich contains the best of both local purveyors and international brands. Stop into Astton and El Nochero for local shoes and leather goods. La Martina Saddlery is the top shop for polo equipment and attire, while Alpaca 111 carries a wide variety of woollens. You’ll also find luxury standards such as Hugo Boss, Ermenegildo Zegna, Christian Lacroix, Salvatore Ferragamo, Tiffany and Kenzo. Patio Bullrich is also home to several good restaurants and an outpost of Havanna, the top purveyor of Argentina’s national dessert, the dulce de leche–filled alfajores cookies.
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More than half of the city’s residents sport Italian surnames, and ice cream and gelato shops proliferate, but few rival Arkakao Gelato, a new artisanal one located a few blocks from the Hotel. Only the best and freshest ingredients make this menu, which includes Italian standards such as Sicilian pistachio, Argentinean standards such as dulce de leche, and original innovations such as chocolate spiked with blood orange.
Photography Thinkstock
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A contemporary design centre laid out like a shopping mall, Buenos Aires Design Recoleta is a must for anyone who loves interiors. Set just north of Recoleta Cemetery in the epicentre of the neighbourhood, this area landmark features restaurants and lively open-air bars on the first level, and then two more floors of nothing but home furnishings and design-related retail shops.
Photography Yadid Levy
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Paris has the Eiffel Tower, a dramatic steel vision of one designer, and Buenos Aires has the Floralis Genérica, a giant stainless steel flower created by renowned local architect Eduardo Catalono, who gave it as a gift to the city. Located in the United Nations Plaza adjacent to the University of Buenos Aires, the enormous sculpture weighs 18 tons, stands 70 feet (23 metres) high, and spans nearly 100 feet (26–32 metres, depending on whether the petals are closed or open), and is fronted by a large reflecting pool. The sculpture’s six enormous steel petals—each weighing tons—open every morning at 8:00 am and close again at sunset, both occasions drawing large crowds of onlookers.
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Argentina is one of the world's top wine producers, and while it is especially famous for its Malbec, the nation’s vintners also produce exceptional Cabernet Franc and Bonarda wines. There are several high-end retailers in the Recoleta district where you can sample the best of these, including Tonel Privado in the Patio Bullrich mall; Wine Gallery on a quiet neighbourhood street; or Alpataco Vinos y Cuero, a boutique that also carries wine accessories and leather goods, very close to the Hotel.
Photography courtesy The Wine Gallery
Buenos Aires is known for its wide, tree-lined boulevards, extravagant statues and sculptures, grand buildings, parks, museums, and countless sidewalk cafés. Many of these are within easy walking distance of Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires, which is in Recoleta, the city’s most exclusive residential neighbourhood, but just on the edge of the Microcentro, the city’s beating commercial heart. During your visit, you’ll find that all of the things the city is famously associated with, from handmade leather shoes to polo supplies, grass-fed steaks to fine Malbec wines, are very close at hand.
