The first
five-star gay hotel in Latin America opened Wednesday in
Buenos Aires, an increasingly popular destination on
the worldwide gay tourist circuit. The hotel, set near
the historic San Telmo neighborhood, is the second of
its kind developed by Spain's Axel Corp., which opened a
five-star, 66-room gay hotel in Barcelona in 2003.
"Like any other
business, we have economic objectives," says general
manager Nacho Rodriguez. But "we're also about fighting to
help the normalization and acceptance of gays in society."
The hotel was
designed to be open and airy. "Many gay hotels and
places are closed off and can't be seen from the street,"
Rodriguez says. "We wanted our hotel to be open and
visible. Why should we try and hide ourselves?"
Swimmers in one
of the hotel's two pools certainly can't hide themselves:
The hotel's top floor is a glass-bottomed pool that draws
visitors' gazes upward as they enter the breezy lobby.
Guests can also choose between the typical "do not
disturb sign" or a racier "please disturb" sign.
The 48-room hotel
is "hetero-friendly," company officials say, noting
that about a quarter of the Barcelona hotel guests are
heterosexual. Axel Corp. is anticipating a similar
percentage of heterosexual guests in Buenos
Aires.
Buenos Aires has
vied with Rio de Janeiro for the title of South
America's gay capital. In September, Buenos Aires was host
to the first International Gay World Cup Soccer
Championship. In 2002, the city became the first
capital in Latin America to legalize same-sex civil unions.
(AP)