Overall I thought my stay was ok. A few comments and thoughts however:

1) I am shocked the hotel has not responded to any of the comments on this site. They need to do reply to the negative comments as they are turning many people off to the idea of staying at the hotel.
2) The neighborhood where the hotel is does remain a bit sketchy. San Telmo further south by the Plaza is fine but the hotel is not in the heart of San Telmo. On my first day at the hotel as I was walking towards the main Plaza and saw a mugging mere blocks from the hotel. It was very disturbing and I am from large cities in the US so I am not a stranger to an urban environment.
3) Towels on the chairs by the pool need to be replaced more frequently.
4) Is there any way to add CNN in English or BBC World News to the cable stations?
5) Despite 1,000,000 attempts I could not get my phone to dial out for a local phone call. I even asked the front desk for help several times and it would not work. Finally the person at the front desk begrudgingly made the call for me. (I just needed to find out a particular shop’s hours.)
6) The sauna door – it was still broken! This has become a running joke now on Trip Advisor! Also some of the gym equipment was broken too. This is a shame for a hotel that just opened a few months ago!
7) Front desk help – only the manager was friendly and helpful. Many of the others were apathetic and not friendly. I think they really need a concierge (and for the rates they charge they should have one) who sits away from the check in desk and that can answer questions, offer assistance, etc.

The bottom line is they are charging a high price compared to many other hotels in BA which is fine but only if the service and property warrants it. In this case I think ythey are falling short.

The best feature about any hotel is the staff. If you smile and ask how they are you will get a smile in return. If you are humble and ask for help that what we got. We stayed for four nights from 2 to 6 January 2008 in room 309.

The hotel is a "design" hotel which has its problems. If you hung about in reception you saw other tourists wanting to come in to see the glass bottom hotel pool in the 5th level which is over the central atrim. Great concept but I do not think I want four floors of other guests looking at me from below as I swim. There is another pool on the ground level which is bigger.

I agree that maintenance is needed. The door to the sauna still come off in your hand. The 5th level pool leaks down the central atrim stairs - safety issue- the first room we were allocated - 312 - had water leaking in from the window - room 111 which is used for massage had water under the bed. The proper massage room is on the 5th level but adjoins the steam room and needs to be airconditioned. Good management will get this right or no longer be in business. We saw these as opening pains as it opened, we believe in October 2007.

The rooms could be better - a clock radio and fridge would be nice. TV with at least one english news channel also would be nice. The TV has at least 30 channels so adding BBC or CNN (English language) should be possible. It does have CNN (Spanish).

We seemed to stike a group of USA "scene queens" who were aloof unless you appealed to then as sexual partners - gym fit 25 to 35 years old. Some of the guys we met from Brazil were the reverse - some old & tubby like me & some young - but all friendly and happy to share their travel experiences.

The food was excellant - expensive but we paid without complaint as it was so good, well presented and served by knowledgable staff. Especially the wine waiter. The cost certaining what we would expect to pay in an Australian top restrauant.

The massuer was excellant. Do not get the idead that it was sexual just because it was a gay hotel. It was not and he found all those knots in my sholder from stareing at too many computer screens.

I don't know where to begin.

If you are looking for a gay hotel to meet other gay people/couples/friends, this is the perfect place to do so. The best part of our stay was the friends we made. The hotel itself is just wrong. The outdoor space is wonderful, don't get me wrong - pool area is fantastic and the upstairs pool/lounge area is great. However, the things wrong with this place outnumber the things right with it.

The nieghborhood is dirty and very poor. At night, it's pretty sketchy. The rooftop pool LEAKS onto the lobby and the staircases. The showers in the rooms leaked and flooded into the sleeping space. The elevators are dangerous and slow although there was someone there every day attempting to fix them. The rooms are small and poorly designed - poured concrete as floors, minimal lighting, and bugs. The staff is awful and inexperienced, although they try. They are rarely helpful and friendly, but slow and apathetic. Service just sucks, flat out, we saw no effort to improve. The staff near the pool in charge of laying out towels and water is slow and doesn't care when you need something, or takes a minimum of one hour to bring you a towel, water, etc. The gym is not seperate from the lounge area - you work out while others are sunning themselves - and is located near the windows in the hot sun. There are exactly 3 cardio machines and three weight machines (one which was out of service as of Jan. 2008).

I think that either the entire staff needs to be fired and a new experienced staff brought in, or they need to be sent away to another hotel and properly trained. They try, but the level of effort they exhibit falls short of what you should expect for your rate. When people complained to them, they just stared at you with blank expressions - no apology, no smile, no solution. This place has great potential, but I am afraid that if they don't shape up soon, they won't be around much.

The property is WAY COOL. Water, glass and steel everywhere and light! The showers in the bathrooms....all glass walls....loved it. Never did figure out the bidet though.

The staff was friendly and helpful. They could not be better.

The 5th floor glass bottom pool is worth the stay just to try it out. WOW! How did they do that?

The only downside was the neighborhood. Just not my thing. It's just dirty. Some guests really loved the area. You choose. Easy to get downtown and to the subway though.