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Have you ever wondered where the most expensive hotel suite in Latin America is? All is revealed at the Buenos Aires Faena Hotel and Universe. The price of $9,500 a night for the ultimate suite may cause some to blanche and use the F-word, but that’s OK as this pricey pad is known as the F Suite.

Designed by Philippe Starck in corroboration with Alan Faena, the suite includes imperial style furniture and red velvet curtains with touches of lapacho wood and arabasceto marble. The centerpiece of the living room is a Murano glass chandelier, and despite probably paying for this opulent artwork, you don’t get to take it home with you. The walls are decorated with oil portraits of Argentina’s golden couple, General and Eva Peron.

With spectacular sixth floor views across the city, the suite does have its own private entrance. Along with an outdoor terrace, the suite has a living and dining area, kitchen, library and two bedrooms with state-of-the-art entertainment systems. The master bath is marble throughout with a rain shower and Jacuzzi. The services of a dedicated Experience Manager are also included.

Although this may be the most expensive suite in Latin America, for me it lacks that something special to really make it worth the money. Perhaps it’s just the rocketing inflation which the Argentine economy is plagued with that makes the price so high.

by Gillian at Luxique luxury hotels

Zoos have long been an attraction for tourists and city residents alike. But what about a zoo where you’re encouraged to climb in with dangerous animals?

Some extraordinary holiday snaps have been appearing from visitors to the zoo at Lujan, 42 miles out of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires: a woman sitting on the back of a lion, another bottle-feeding a young tiger, a 12-year-old boy getting close up and personal with a brown bear.

The zoo says it’s dedicated to the conservation of endangered species and adds that no-one has ever been injured through its interactive policy. The manager, Claudio Nieva, said: “We feed the animals so they aren’t hungry when a human is in the cage.”

But the animal protection charity, The Born Free Foundation, has condemned the zoo and urged tourists not to visit it.

The Foundation’s CEO, Will Travers, commented: “The zoo is, in my view, placing the lives of its visitors at great risk by encouraging them to have ‘close encounters’ with dangerous, potentially lethal, wild animals. Anyone who has any knowledge of big cats will understand that they are wild animals and, as such, are unpredictable.”

That doesn’t seem to have bothered various travel bloggers who’ve tried it. One said it was her best zoo experience yet.

by Andy Moreton

As well as the zoo, Lujan’s attractions include a large neo-Gothic Basilica, to which more than six million people make pilgrimages every year, many walking from Buenos Aires. Tour companies in the capital will arrange a day’s visit to the area and, of course, Luxique has the pick of luxury hotels in Buenos Aires.