Azur Hotel, The boutique hotel that was recognized among the best in the world by The Guardian and Wallpaper.

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An old two-story business house, the Rodríguez family runs this 16-room hotel that stands out for its personalized service.

Pleasant moments, an experience that awakens the senses, personal attention and little surprises. Celeste Rodríguez defines the concept of hospitality that her family gave to Azur Real Hotel, the first boutique hotel in Córdoba, a premium format that has been going on for 12 years and recreates its validity in a permanent search for the authentic.

Due to its strategic location and the charming details that qualify the excellent service, the English newspaper The Guardian included it among the 10 best hotels in Argentina and the international magazine Condé Nast Traveler noted it among the favorites of South America. Recently, the prestigious Wallpaper considered it in a list of the best boutique hotels in the world for its design and architecture, highlighting the balanced atmosphere between the old and the new.

“We understand the accommodation of each passenger as a kind of story that has a beginning, a middle and an end. From the moment he arrives until he says goodbye, different moments are triggered almost magically, which at the end of the stay give him a complete notion of what we do”, says Celeste, also speaking for her brother Ramiro, CEO of the hotel and equal of dedicated host. They dedicate quality time to details to provide close, personal attention, with a sustainable approach.

For them, Azur is above all a very dear home that they enjoy caring for and sharing, and that is the spirit that all the staff transmits.

They created a hotel with all the services of a 5-star hotel but it feels like home. It has double daily cleaning of rooms, percale sheets, restaurant with dinner in steps and a circuit of ancient baths that is unique in the country.

On the bed, an origami. “It is a small gesture, the idea is that they can disconnect from their own moment. We are changing it; Last month it was a little bag of lavender to smell and keep under the pillow”, Celeste graphs.

Hidden Treasure

The hotel is a hidden treasure right in the center. The house with two floors, basement and terrace, built in 1915, was part of the commercial corridor that at the beginning of the 20th century connected the train station with Plaza San Martín. It was designed by the Crespo family, who set up a saddlery with a business facing the street, a leather dryer in the basement and a private home on the top floor.

They made contact with the Dutchman Cees Houweling, an international benchmark in the new hotel and hospitality industry (Nuss Hotel Buenos Aires, Posada Puerto Bemberg), and together they thought of the first boutique hotel in Córdoba. They opened in 2009.

There are 16 rooms, all different, according to the dimensions presented in the original plan. Those on the upper floor look out onto the central patio that bathes the living room in natural light, where an exposed brick wall was exposed. The contemporary setting with signature furniture and the interior design by Sofía Camps, with a strong presence of noble and natural materials, make the ancient and the modern harmony.

Bruma

The terrace with gazebos, sun loungers and lounge chairs. Has a gym, a solarium and a small pool (splash pool) exclusively for guests and is one of the most appreciated spaces for public. The powerful view of the city it offers, in the middle of a succession of domes that cut out the sky. It is ideal to wait for the sunset or to enjoy the gastronomy of Bruma, the restaurant where the premise is that everything is made with fresh, organic, own or local producer’s ingredients.

It opens from 8pm to 11pm with a menu that changes with each season and all the freedom to create fleeting lunches and menus that always have an allusion to the land, ties or family. “Emotional cuisine”, as chef Bruno Martín, who is from La Pampa, likes to say, like Gonzalo Olivera, his teammate.

The buffet for breakfast and snacks transcends the classic with sourdough breads and a line of artisan pastries that include white chocolate and yerba mate cookies, or carob and mocha cream “alfajorcitos”. There are the fruits and the natural juices, but also the irresistible Detox (celery concentrate, green apple, spinach and orange), the homemade yogurt, the menu of selected herbs so that each guest can prepare their infusion to their liking and all the imaginable cheeses from the dairy basin.

The 100% edible terrariums that can appear as a surprise in the room are also from Bruma. The wooden box encloses a microcosm of local flavors’: on a base of carob flour, crispy white polenta, peanut truffles, little dulce de leche pastilles and wild thyme sprouts.

Azur Bathrooms

The latest addition to the hotel, from December 2020, are the bathrooms Azur, a wellness circuit inspired by the ancient Roman baths. The project by the architect Mario Urbino, a specialist in heritage preservation, recovered the underground floor of the house, about 400 square meters, and used demolition bricks to cover walls, arches and vaults that provide warmth and are a nod to the passageways and the crypts left by the Jesuits.

There are pools with natural salts and ozone bubbles, rooms to experience the benefits of steam, rain beds at different pressures and temperatures, hydromassages, foot baths, a place with ice flakes, and relaxing waterfalls. He leaves the black marble stretchers for last in a semi-dark room where a work of kinetic art by Santiago Viale from Cordoba casts circular shadows on the ceiling.

The circuit takes two hours and can be done individually, in pairs or in groups of up to four people. It can be complemented with massages, therapies and gastronomy. Hotel guests have priority.

Source: El hotel boutique entre cúpulas que fue reconocido dentro de los mejores del mundo por The Guardian y Wallpaper - LA NACION