When we first sent someone to review the best hotels in Brazil, the Mofarrej business hotel in São Paulo didn’t come close to making the cut. Now completely revamped as the Tivoli Mofarrej São Paulo, it has a different face and attitude to show off.

“Although in theory, the São Paulo Mofarrej has been around for some time—it spent more than 25 years under the aegis of both Sheraton and Gran Melia–the hotel had the recent good fortune to land in the hands of Portugal’s Tivoli chain. After spending seven months closed for (much anticipated) renovations, the new and very much improved Tivoli São Paulo Mofarrej reopened in February 2009 to great acclaim. Within months it joined the exclusive Leading Hotels of the World club and was named by the Quatros Rodas guide (Brazil’s equivalent of the Michelin) as one of the top hotels in the country.”

We don’t automatically add hotels that have paid to be part of the Leading Hotels of the World marketing group, but it’s a good sign, as is the addition of a spa run by Banyan Tree. Since our contributor Michael Sommers lives in Brazil and is a guidebook writer, his endorsement tipped the scales and we’re happy to add this rejuvenated hotel in a great location to our reviews of the best hotels in Brazil’s capital. See our full review of  Tivoli São Paulo Mofarrej.

The first W hotel opened in South America recently, in Chile’s capital of Santiago. We’ve got a detailed review of it, turned in by our man on the scene in Chile: W Santiago Hotel review.

This isn’t the only W hotel in Latin America, as the W in Mexico City has been a trust fund kids’ social magnet for years. I’m kind of surprised Starwood hasn’t opened more of these in the region, actually, since they are struggling in the U.S. and have lost two key hotels because of financial problems. The concept might not fly in a place like Buenos Aires or Sao Paulo, where there are already more than enough designer hotels without bringing in a corporate version, but in many other Latin American capitals there’s a serious dearth of hip hotels with good aesthetics that will appeal to people under age 50.

This Santiago version is too large to be considered a “boutique hotel” since it has 196 rooms and is attached to a huge real estate development with “a convention center, offices, luxury apartments, a sprawling gym, and several boutique stores including a local wine store—a store that is installing on the premises the largest wine cellar in Chile.” It’s got all the right visual touches though and has quickly become the place to see and be seen in Santiago.

If your taste runs to the modern rather than the frilly antique reproductions you’ll find at the Ritz-Carlton Santiago, then Chile’s new W Hotel is ready to welcome you. See the full review here.

“Central America” and “great golf courses” haven’t exactly gone together like chocolate and peanut butter, despite all the opportunities for scenic vistas and locations next to the sea. Mostly this has been a matter of economics since the local demand wasn’t there and the stream of upscale tourists wasn’t dependable enough.

In some places the situation is improving though in the lands south of Mexico and La Reunion outside of Antigua, Guatemala is a great example. We just posted a review of La Reunion Golf Resort in our luxury Guatemala hotels section. Even if you’re not a golfer, how about that view in the picture here? If you’re a golfer, can you think of any other place where you’ve teed off having a view of four volcanoes? Nice.

“Its designers, Pete and Perry Dye, gleaned inspiration from the Mayan Solar Calendar, which consists of 18 twenty-day months. Each of the course’s 18 holes is named after its corresponding month on the Mayan calendar. The 19th month, Wayeb, is a five-day month dedicated to rest and contemplation and so makes a fitting name for the bar and restaurant. Facilities include a driving range, putting green, chipping green, practice bunker, and pro shop. Incidentally, Pete’s eldest son Perry Dye recently spent the last days of 2009 on vacation at the resort with his family and nailed a 178-yard hole-in-one on the course’s 12th hole.”

This review was from the author of the Moon Handbook Guatemala guidebook and Living in Guatemala. See our interview with Al Argueta for more.

It’s been a long time coming, but the luxury hotel scene in Mexico City now has another addition: luxurious boutique hotel Las Alcobas.

I met with one of the owners of Las Alcobas almost exactly a year ago. At that point the hotel was quite far along and the lobby furniture had already been delivered. It looked like only a matter of weeks until the doors would open and guests would arrive.

Alas, Mexico got hit with a triple whammy of woes after that and they decided it was not the best of times to make a big splash and take a huge risk of opening an empty hotel. Not too many visitors were intrepid enough to land in Mexico City when the whole H1N1 scare broke out.

Thankfully, we’re a year closer to better times and Las Alcobas has opened its doors. Designed by Yabu Pushelberg in a style best described as Mad Men meets Milan, it’s chic, organic, and enticing, with a style like nothing else in the city. With just 35 rooms and a personal concierge at your beck and call, this is the place to land if you want to rub shoulders with the rich and famous in Mexico City’s ritzy neighborhood of Polanco.

See our full review of Las Alcobas luxury boutique hotel then click over to their website listed at the end to see more photos and check opening special rates.

The Leading Hotels of the World just put out its new directory for 2010 and it includes four new hotels in Latin America. Fortunately for you, we’ve got reviews of three of them.

Banyan Tree Mayakoba, Riviera Maya, Mexico (pictured above)

Grand Velas All Suites & Spa Resort, Riviera Maya, Mexico

Bristol Buenaventura, Buenaventua, Panama

I don’t always agree with which hotels they sign up as “leading” and the fact that it’s a paid membership program can skew the results. I’m skeptical about the fourth new one—Tivoli São Paulo Mofarrej—but overall the group is pretty good at including large hotels with plenty of amenities and a good reputation for service. We’ll keep an eye on the Tivoli to see if it’s worth adding to our reviews now that it’s gone through a renovation.

See the full list at LHW.com.