The hotel has a great design. The roof top indoor pool is impressive as it is transparent and you can see people swimming inside.
The rooms are not very big but very comfortable.
It is great that there is free Internet all over the hotel.
Breakfast is great and on Sundays you can have it until 12.00
Staff is generally friendly but not always very efficient.
The cleanliness of the indoor swimming pool and the Jacuzzis is definitely the worse of the hotel and this is very sad.
Will return for sure

The Axel Buenos Aires is a great hotel. I had a superior room with a king sized bed that faced the outdoor pool and garden. If memory serves, it was room #202. It had two small balconies. I loved the plush towels and the unique design of the room, in particular the tub/shower. True, the room does not come equiped with a hair dryer, but all you have to do is ask the front desk for one and it will be provided, or an iron too.

I am a light sleeper and had no problems with noise at all, with the exception of the first night of my stay (a Thursday) which was the one year anniversary of the hotel and there was a party that lasted until about 2am. Even though I was told there is a regular event on Friday nights in the hotel lounge, I didn't hear any noise from it at all. Had my room faced the street, I would definiely have had sleep issues. This is true of any hotel I stay in, however, which is why I booked the superior room and not a city room.

Breakfast at the hotel is great. There's a wide selection. I was really impressed with the overall design of the hotel. I didn't realize that the indoor glass bottom pool was on the top floor allowing you to see all the way down to the ground floor. The glass stairs took a little bit of getting used to. I'm not afraid of heights, but it was an odd sensation nonetheless, which is part of what makes the hotel so unique.

I loved the fact that the top floor (in addition to the heated indoor pool) also includes two whirlpools (one hotter than the other), a sauna, a steam room, showers and an outdoor sun terrace overlooking the outdoor pool. Also, each floor of the hotel has a mini refrigerator stocked with free water bottles; a nice touch.

Now, about the location. Montserrat/San Telmo is not a posh area of town, if that's what you're looking for. You're close to Plaza de Mayo, which is nice, but I much prefer Recoleta and Palermo for the shopping, bars and restaurants. For me, however, it is worth giving up location to be in a gay-friendly hotel.

Now I've been to the Axel in Barcelona and Buenos Aires, and they were both fantastic. I can't wait to check out the new Axel in Berlin.

Fantastically designed hotel in San Telmo, an interesting if somewhat over touristy neighborhood in Buenos Aires.

I stayed in this hotel twice (each stay 3 nights) while passing through the truly lovely Argentine capital for work.

The glass-bottomed swimming pool suspended over the atrium is incredible. Likewise the architectural structure (if clean lines, glass and water are to your taste).

Breakfasts are generous and tasty with a wide range of food: from healthy to heart-attack fodder. The waiters and waitresses were very attentive, professional and friendly.

On the minus side - and these were big minuses - the hotel is extremely noisy. Club type music blasts out from early afternoon to late night and the atrium design acts as a giant amplifier feeding the music to the rooms. If you don't mind having to use the hotel-supplied earplugs and waking up several times all night then you might be ok. Not the place for siestas or peace and quiet.

Also the staff at the reception are nice to look at and what they lack in the ability to perform efficiently they more than compensate for in attitude and arrogance.

We stayed for a total of 8 nights starting on 24 October 2008. When we first arrived we were given room 311 and the room turned out to be full of fruit flies (no pun intended) for this gay hotel. However, when we called the reception to complain about the situation, someone from housekeeping came immediately with a spray can of insecticide, but upon seeing all the fruit flies all over the room, she promptly called the reception and we were given another room.

We found the new room to be clean - the only complaint we had about the room was that as many other modern hotels, the quality of the sound-proofing was poor. Because of the open plan, we are able to hear people talking from the lobby, not to mention noises from the street - no wonder there were ear plugs in the room. So for those who are light sleepers, we would suggest getting a room that does not face the city/ out. While shampoos and soaps were replenished daily, stuffs near the sink like cotton pads were not added, and in our view, this is unacceptable for the USD150 per night rate we paid. What´s unbelievable we believe is the fact that the room did not have a hair dryer ... how is that possible for a gay hotel? Finally, it would have been nice if we could get CNN or CNBC in English, although there were several English speaking channels.

The best part about Axel was the breakfast in our view with fresh juices, high quality breads, jam and machine-made lattes. However, don´t expect breakfast to be ready by 7am as the reception claim. When we came down for breakfast one day at 8am, the kitchen staff were just preparing breakfast and the hot scrambled eggs were not served until at least 8.30am that morning.

Another very positive experience we had at Axel was the ever-so-helpful front-desk staff. Conrado, for example, was always extremely helpful with his tips on where to visits (i.e. clubs, spas, restaurants, etc) even at very late hours. We also did not have any problems when we wanted to leave our suitcase with the hotel when we decided to fly off to Calafate for three nights. Additionally, when we needed a larger airport transfer due to our oversized luggages, they were extremely helpful helping us with the booking. When we lost the key to our suitcase, they managed to get the maintenance guy to come with a small saw to cut off the lock. Finally, when we had guests/ friends over to the hotel, they had no problem coming up to our room, after the reception would call us to confirm that our guests were at the lobby.

Last but certainly not least, the issue of the neighborhood as stated by several reviewers. We personally did not have a problem, as even Buenos Aires is a dirty city period - you will find garbage-strewn streets EVERYWHERE even in nice avenues like Santa Fe. For us, the hotel was just three blocks away from Defensa Street (an easy 5-minute walk), where all of the antique shops are located. It is also within walking distance to Palacio, one of the most happening night clubs, and we felt safe walking even at 2 or 3 o´clock in the morning. Finally, Axel is also just two blocks away from Florida Street, where there are lots of shops which you can find just about anything (we found a new lock for our Samsonite suitcase there).

Overall, we found our stay rather pleasing and we would definitely stay there again. During breakfast, we always managed to make new friends with other gays from all over the world, and that alone is worth the stay in our view.