Rendez-Vous is a boutique hotel that perfectly fits in with its chic surroundings in Palermo Hollywood. Popular with Brazilians, this oasis in the middle of one of Buenos Aires’ trendiest areas is immaculately clean with a contemporary feng shui flair.

Overseen by the friendly and professional, Fréderic Dubois, the hotel features 11 uniquely decorated rooms with hardwood floors and huge windows in a 1904 French-style mansion. The staff here is very accommodating and willing to go the extra mile to make reservations for tours, the area’s best dining locales such as La Cabrera and of course the obligatory tango shows.

You can also take part in an Anuva Wine tasting, right on the premises to be introduced to some unique wines to take back home. The staff can also arrange massages, haircuts, laundry and other services. Amenities include en-suite jacuzzis, wifi, a computer center, a bar, a solarium and leafy patio area.

Prices fluctuate depending on the season, but this is a good value — a room for two with breakfast included runs around the US$130 mark. This non-smoking hotel is gay friendly, accepts pets and is well-equipped for disabled travelers. With only 11 rooms, this one books up fast so make your reservations in advance.

photos courtesy of Rendez-Vous

Rendez-Vous Hotel-$$$
Bonpland 484
Tel: (11) 3964-5222
Palermo

photo: courtesy xtasis.org

2010 contestants for the title of King of Vendimia Gay

Gay Vendimia started as a joke according to Ricardo ‘Tito’ Bustos, (link in Spanish) founder and iconic owner of some of Mendoza’s most popular gay nightspots.

Now in its 16th year, the ‘Fiesta de la Vendimia Gay’ draws revelers from across the globe and hosts 5,000 spectators for the main event.

As in the mainstream festival, there are activities all week long and a campy Las Vegas style grand finale that includes a beauty contest, with the ‘queen’ in this case in drag.

Where to Stay

Mendoza doesn’t have any gay-only hotels or bed and breakfasts but renting a stylish apartment with the gay-owned
Modigliani Art and Design Suites or the Dot Confort Suites is an excellent choice.

The staff speaks English and the modern-style fully-equipped suites are in the heart of downtown Mendoza. The group also runs an art gallery, Espacio Modlgliani which host events open to guests including exhibitions, live music and wine tastings.

Both options are a bargain too, with prices starting at US$80 per night.

To find out more or get tickets for the main event, get in touch with the Mendoza Tourism office or head straight to Mendoza’s local gay establishments and get swept up in the fun.

 

Gay Vendimia Festival Main Event
March 12: Angel Bustelo Auditorium, 11:00 p.m.
• Cost: AR$ 65-150, depending on seating

• Modigliani Art and Design Suites

• Dot Confort Suites

Espacio 348 — A gay-friendly bar with a cool oriental décor, decent food, and pretty good music, including their popular ‘Club Zen’ parties.
San Lorenzo 348
Downtown Mendoza
Tel: (0261) – 429-5082

Casa 3 — A fun gay-friendly pub and restaurant that brings in some pretty good DJ’s. The food is better than the typical pub fare and the atmosphere is comfortable.
San Lorenzo 490

• Closed Sundays

La Reserva Pub – A small boisterous pub that hosts theater and music during the week and drag shows on weekend nights.
Rividavia 32
Tel: (0261) 420-3531

• Closed Mondays

Estación Miro — Here you’ll find quite an eclectic mix of gay men and women and many transsexuals dancing the night away. Anything can happen here — and it probably will.
Ejercito de los Andes 656

• Open nights, Thur-Sun

Queen Disco —Mendoza’s oldest gay club, a little outside of the city center is the place to be on Friday and Saturday nights to boogie to pop hits, techno and Latin music.
25 de Mayo 318
Tel: (0261)-4315846

• Open weekend nights
• Cost: AR$20+

Gay milongas, (tango dance parties) have popped up everywhere in Buenos Aires in recent years. Queer tourists have known Buenos Aires is one of Latin America’s best destinations for years, but since 2010’s legalization of gay marriage even more gay travelers and expat residents have descended upon the city.

One of the best neighborhoods to learn tango is San Telmo, the neighborhood that lays claim to the birthplace of the sultry dance. Straight females take notice — gay milongas as the best places to learn, without the macho ‘are-you-good-enough-to-dance-with-me?’ attitude found in some straight tango establishments.

Tango Entre Muchachos

A big draw for gay tango enthusiasts who are just starting to learn the dance is Sunday’s Tango Entre Muchachos. This reasonably priced two-and-half hour class takes place at San Telmo’s oldest gay guesthouse, Lugar Gay. The crowd is mostly an international mix of guys, but women are welcome as well.

Lugar Gay
Defensa 1122
Tel: 4300-4747

• Sundays: 5:30—7:30 p.m.
• Cost: AR$35

Tango Queer

Tango Queer has been going since 2007 at Buenos Aires Club. The low-key black and white tiled dance floor is a nice, non-intimidating place to practice your steps, whether gay or straight. This is the best place for lesbian milongueras (tango dancers) in San Telmo, as they are usually plenty of females in attendance.

Tango Queer
Buenos Aires Club
571 Perú
Tel: 15-3552-6894

• Tuesdays: 8:00 p.m.—2:00 a..m.
• Cost : Free

Bayres Folk

This queer milonga and peña (folk club) started in San Telmo but has since moved to the nearby Congreso neighborhood. It is a good option for those interested in learning tango as well as other types of Argentine folk dance in a festive environment. Founder, Mariano Garcés also runs the week-long Buenos Aires Queer Tango Marathon.

Lessons begin at 8:00 p.m. and the milonga really gets going around midnight.

Bayres Folk
Dean Funes 447
Balvanera
Tel: 15-6554-1658

• Mondays: 8:00 p.m.
• Cost: varies

Buenos Aires’ most popular gay club, Amerika has three floors of music and room for 1,800 people meaning here there is something for everyone — gay or straight.

The roots of the Amerika gay club scene harkens back to the days of Argentina’s repressive military government when it was still taboo –and even dangerous– to be gay in Buenos Aires. At that time, the privacy of the clients was the name of the game. By the time Amerika debuted as Buenos Aires’ largest gay club in 2000, things had started to change and the owners of this mega club were only to happy lead the charge. Originally frequented mostly by gay guys, Amerika now has a reputation of being a definitively hetero-friendly club where anyone queer or straight is welcome to let their freak flag fly.

Although not as popular with foreigners as many of the city’s other large clubs, here you’ll find a congenial straight-gay mix with loads of glam boys eager to strut their stuff, a smattering of lipstick lesbians and hetero kids eager to get in on all the dance floor fun.

Straight girls love this place because they can dance without being constantly harangued by the sometimes-relentless machos of Buenos Aires. Secure straight guys swear this is one of the best places to pick up girls because the atmosphere is relaxed and the odds are in their favor.

On three dance floors, each with their own name; Carribean, Continental and Crystal,  you’ll hear techno, house, cumbia, and dance hits including an abundance of Lady Gaga among a varied crowd that isn’t afraid to let it all hang out. Those 18 years old and up are permitted entrance but the crowd tends to be 21 and over — sometimes way over.

Amerika has opened and closed a few times through the years for permit violations, and some gripe that the vibe changed when they started with a canilla libre (all-you-can-drink) policy a few years back, but its still a great destination to dance all night among the smoke machines and bubbles. These days the entrance tends to be a little pricey for many young locals unless they can drink their weight in alcohol. The cover charge ranges from AR$40-$70 and gets you free drinks all night — if you can manage to weasel your way past the thirsty and sweaty crowds to actually reach the bar.

Amerika
Gascon 1040/corner Cordoba
Almagro
Tel: 4865-4416

• Hours: Thurs—Sundays from 12 am
• Costs: Fri. & Sat: AR70; Thur & Sun: $AR40
•Entrance free for birthday boys and girls

The crowd is a diverse mix of attractive middle-aged couples and groups, well-read European bohos and upper crust students from the prestigious University of Film across the street. Pride is the perfect hangout for those who prefer to skip the discos and enjoy the daylight hours on a picturesque side street away from the usual hustle of San Telmo.

In the morning you can get a nice breakfast with options such as ‘country bread,’ cereals, yogurt and fresh-squeezed juice. The early hours are also the ideal time to bring your laptop and take advantage of the free wifi while sipping on a delicious Pride Café — coffee with honey and cream.

For lunch or a light early dinner Pride offers a lovely selection of salads and homemade soups, cheese plates, bruschettas (try the smoked salmon) and exquisite desserts such as apple pie and chocolate cake served up on square ceramic plates. Summertime thirst quenchers include fresh squeezed lemonade with mint and ginger. A well thought out and reasonably priced cocktail list includes the refreshing Scropino – vodka and lemon sherbet.

On weekends, particularly Sunday, Pride gets busy— consider yourself fortunate if you get one of the sleek metal tables on the sidewalk to sit and people watch, and if you do, make sure you secure your belongings. A favored San Telmo café, but be aware; like a boyfriend who becomes inattentive when others come ringing his bell, a bit of the charm gets lost when the place is packed.

Pride Cafe
$$, Cash only
Hours: Mon-Fri: 9am—8pm
Sat: 11am—8pm
Sun: 10am—8pm
Balcarce 869
San Telmo
Tel: 4300-6435

The music is also mercurial; you can hear anything from reggae to laid-back dance music to Sinatra, depending on the guys’ mood. Seating is limited to several stools at the bar, and about a dozen small tables and booths, meaning that with only a handful of customers, the place feels quite full. The bar features a decent selection of spirits, and a good wine list. The food is surprisingly excellent for a spot that feels more like a bar than a restaurant. Although the menu is not extensive, a nice variety of dishes offers something different from the usual downtown cafe/resto fare.

Highlights include the steaks (Lomo Dadá and Lomo Mediteraneo) and some superb appetizers that will almost fill you up on their own, such as the Polenta, and the Hummus with warm Turkish bread. Quality comes at a price, unfortunately, and dishes are a little more expensive than your average bar cuisine (A$45 for a steak, A$28 for an appetizer). Despite this, most patrons find it very hard to resist having a bite to eat to accompany their drinks once they see the delicious creations being wheeled out of the kitchen.

Dadá is the kind of place that will impress a date, but can also fun with a group of friends, or just to have a drink at the bar. It’s definitely one to check out.

Dadá, $$$
San Martin 941
Microcentro
Hours: Midday – 3am, Monday to Saturday

Le Merval has the usual happy hour specials, but what sets it apart is its ‘stock market’ price list. It’s a concept that originated in Belgium, spread to other countries around the world, and has been introduced to Buenos Aires exclusively by Le Merval.  The idea is that you have a constantly changing price list, which fluctuates depending on what drink people are buying.  Three plasma screens display the current prices and are refreshed every six minutes.  For example, if a group of people decide to all buy shots of tequila, the next time the board refreshes, tequila prices will probably have gone up, while other drinks in the ‘shooters’ category will have dropped in price.

The game can be a little annoying for the kind of person who likes to stick to the same drink all night, because you are never sure how much the next round is going to cost, but for those who don’t mind trying a few different drinks, it can be a lot of fun, and also a way to save money if you play the game well.

Needless to say, drink prices at Le Merval can vary quite considerably. A bottle of Corona can go as low as AR$7 and as high as AR$14 or 15, so it pays to keep one eye on the screen.  Aside from this fun gimmick, Le Merval has all the things you need from a good bar: friendly, skilled bartenders, a wide range of drinks, and a resident mix-master, DJ Lucky on weekends.

Le Merval is owned and run by three Frenchman; Stephan Gouyer, Adrián Bonachera y Frederic Dath, who ensure the atmosphere is always cosmopolitan and congenial. With a large following of regular customers with both French and American backgrounds, some nights you may for a moment think you are in Paris or New York, especially if you have already consumed a number of the nicely mixed Mojitos on offer.

Nightly themes include ‘Gay After Office’ on Thursdays and ‘Ladies Night’ on Wednesdays. Merval also specializes in hosting birthdays and other parties, which can be pre-arranged with the owners.

Le Merval—$$
Viamonte 852
Microcentro
Tel:4326-0183

•Hours:  Weekdays 4pm-1am, Weekends 7pm-morning (both can vary)
•Cash only