Moreno Hotel Buenos Aires

Class: First

Style: Contemporary classic

Rooms: 39

In 1920, the Argentine publisher Editorial Kapelusz commissioned Hungarian architect Johannes Kronfuss to design its headquarters. Krofuss's dramatic, Art Deco edifice was declared patrimonio nacional - roughly equivalent to a listed building - but by the late 1990s it had fallen into ruin along with much of the Monserrat district. In 2006, local developers began to convert the building into a 39-room, design-minded hotel. Kronfuss's fluted-stone exterior scales seven floors, its entrance hall is dramatically tiled in shades of turquoise and sunflower, and a venerable, concertina-gated elevator still clunks delightfully past stained-glass wall panels. Rooms vary greatly in size, but all have soaring, four-metre-high ceilings and abundant natural light from expansive, iron-framed windows. Acrylic-and-wood furniture in the Art Deco style, upholstered in sea-green, is set off by white drapes, interior-lit, opaque-glass cupboards, and paintwork in chocolate, burgundy and ultramarine. Service extras are extensive - although the staff may forget to explain what's on offer - and include a pillow menu and mobile-phone rental, babysitters, personal trainers and masseurs on request. Guests can also choose the contents of their mini-bar, borrow a laptop, or hire an in-room barman for a private party. Source: Conde Nast Traveller The Hot List 2008.