50 Utterly Charming Hotels Around $100
 
(Rachel Olsson)
NOVEMBER 2006 ISSUE
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Buenos Aires has seen a bunch of contemporary hotels open in the past couple of years, but this older hotel is more classic. It's a house built in 1880, in the Monserrat section of the city. Tango lessons and itineraries can be arranged. 011-54/11-5917-7710, tenriverstenlakes.com, from $60, includes breakfast and tax.
A British expat (Tom Rixton) and his Argentine-Irish wife (Patricia O'Shea) opened Home last December after they couldn't find suitable places in the Palermo Hollywood neighborhood of Buenos Aires for their wedding guests to stay. He's a music producer, which explains why there are iPod connectors in the 17 pretty rooms. Room service is available 24 hours a day. 011-54/11-4778-1008, homebuenosaires.com, from $115, includes breakfast.
Located in the Salta region of northwest Argentina, the resort was constructed recently, but with the character of an old estancia. Every room has a balcony with vineyard views. The furniture looks like it was chosen by a monk with money. 011-54/11-5917-7710, tenriverstenlakes.com, from $75, includes breakfast and tax.
Like many members of the Design Hotels group, the Daniel--in Graz, Austria's second-largest city--has a cool, minimal aesthetic. The fun shines through: There are rain showers in the bathrooms, and the hotel rents Vespas starting at $19 a half-day. The Daniel is owned by the Weitzer family, the city's largest hotel operator. Rates are the same for singles and doubles. 011-43/316-711-080, hoteldaniel.com, from $75, includes tax.
The Anima is a collection of nine environmentally sensitive bungalows outside Morro de S?o Paulo, on the island of Tinhar?. (It's two hours by boat from Salvador de Bahia.) Each has a private outdoor shower; four have decks with hot tubs. The resort is on 15 acres of forest, and there's a shuttle into the village (free until 10 p.m.), when the isolation--and the 88-yard-long beach--simply become too much. 011-55/75-3652-2077, animahotel.com, from $84, includes breakfast and use of snorkeling equipment.
The old French governor's estate in Siem Reap has retained a colonial-outpost vibe, especially in the bar: It opens at 7 a.m., and is a popular expat scene (half-price cocktails during happy hour). Rooms are named after local spices. The chic hotel is a bike ride from Angkor Wat; if the effort is too taxing, a 90-minute hot-stone massage at the spa costs just $60. 011-855/63-760-280, fcccambodia.com, from $90, includes breakfast, welcome drink, and airport pickup.
Located in the old French Quarter of Siem Reap, Shinta Mani is affiliated with the Institute of Hospitality, where young Cambodians at risk learn the hotel business. Shinta Mani also makes it easy for guests to help the community--they can give in advance, and then, when they arrive, meet the people who received school clothes and supplies ($15), a bicycle ($46), a pair of piglets ($70), or even a house ($1,000). The restaurant is just terrific, and there's a small pool, handy for getting rid of the day's dust. 011-855/63-761-998, shintamani.com, from $66.
