Usually when we highlight a hotel on this luxury travel blog, it’s because we’ve just posted a detailed review of it on the website. In this case, the review is coming in a couple months but we’re welcoming a new advertising partner Las Clementinas. It’s a boutique hotel in the heart of historic Panama City, Panama.

We’re thrilled that these guys have appeared on the scene because while we love the gleam and gloss of Panama’s thriving capital city, it’s nice to wander through a sleepier part of town where everything is on more of a human scale. That’s the Casco Viejo section, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. No high-rises here and very little traffic. You can dine at an outdoor cafe without getting exhaust in your face.

Las Clementinas has six large “chambers” with all the amenities you’d expect, plus a kitchen and a sofa bed. They’re like small apartments, with a separate bedroom. There’s a roof deck up top and a cafe/bar with a garden area on site.

Nearby is their sister property, Canal House, which is a three-room luxury guesthouse in a building dating to 1893.

If you book three nights or more a Las Celentinas, they’ll even pick you up that the airport. Tocumen International is way on the other side of the city, so this is a nice perk.

Watch for a combined review of these two properties after one of our correspondents visits in late March. If you’re headed to Panama City before that and your tastes run more to small luxury inns rather than towers of steel and glass, check out Las Clementinas and Canal House.

If you do want something larger, see our reviews of the best luxury hotels in Panama.

With a big drop in visitors due to a natural disaster, we’re still forging ahead and highlighting a new property in Argentina: LUMA.

They haven’t had it so well this past year in the normally lovely Argentine region around Bariloche. Last June a volcano erupted so forcefully in nearby Chile that the ash closed the San Carlos de Bariloche airport for seven months solid—until just a few weeks ago. But then it shut back down again a few days later when the winds changed direction.

Eventually the nearby volcano will stop its burping and the natural beauty of this area will draw visitors back again, including to the less crowded Villa la Angostura area.  We’ve featured quite a few intimate hotels from this area and are happy to add another worthwhile one for you to consider: LUMA Casa Montaña. This is an Italian style mansion on a lake, with just 8 elegant rooms for guests. With personalized service, a terrific view, and excellent meals, it’s the kind of place you check into and then don’t want to leave. A hands-on owner who understands upscale hospitality helps too.

You feel the passion and the commitment that is poured into this hotel. And when they tell you to make yourself at home and to feel free to explore every nook and cranny of the place as if it were your own, you get the sense that they really mean it.

See our full review of LUMA in Villa La Angostura, Argentina.

We’ve just posted a review of Quincho Country Home, an intimate, high-service inn just outside of Puerto Varas, Chile. If you’re planning to spend some time in this lake district of Patagonia, we’d recommend this one over our only other featured hotel there, Hotel Patagonico.

Our reviewer just stayed in both and found that Patagonico has declined a bit since Melia management pulled out and there were lapses in maintenance and service. We see this time and again in areas where tour groups seldom stay for more than a night and the front desk checks people in by the busload.

For a more personal and attentive experience, Quincho Country Home will set you up right. You’ll talk with the chef who is going to prepare your meal, with the guide who will lead your excursion, and with the manager who will see what special requests you may have for your room. And they’ll all communicate with each other, not in silos. If you’re a foodie, this is your spot:

If you have a passion for cooking, you will be interested in knowing that you are welcome in the kitchen at any time. If you want, you are invited to go along with the chef as he does his shopping at the markets in the morning, and you can the work alongside him as much or as little as you like preparing the food. As many ingredients as possible are sourced locally, including free range eggs, veggies from the on-site garden, and fish from the local fisherman. Only the top Chilean wines are served.

Sure, this place is a little further out, but you have eight acres for roaming. They’ll pick you up from Puerto Montt airport and see to it that your wishes are granted in terms of activities and sightseeing while you’re there. See our detailed review of Quincho Country Home.

One of our contributors recently popped over to Uruguay from Buenos Aires to review some noteworthy hotels on the coast before the crowds appear in January. First up is Posada del Faro in Jose Ignacio.

Like many great hotels right on the beach, this feels like an enlarged version of a rich friend’s vacation home, casual and comfortable. You can use the bikes, mix some drinks at the honor bar, or lounge around all day in the library on a rainy day. The key thing is, the staff will act like they’re at your service.

“Take your breakfast in bed, at any time of the day. If you stay out late one night and don’t wake up until 2pm, perfect. The staff couldn’t care less about holding you to a schedule…after all, you are on vacation! Outside of high season, management is also incredibly accommodating about check-out time.”

San Ignacio doesn’t have the glitz and crowds of nearby Punta del Este. Instead this is a laid-back region where the rich and famous move around in flip-flops and golf carts. If you want quiet glamour instead of casinos and packed beaches, this is your Hamptons equivalent.

See our detailed review of Posada del Faro in San Ignacio.

It seems like every month or two we get a press release about some new Buenos Aires boutique hotel that has been featured in a magazine’s “hot list” or “it list” some other accolade of trendiness. Very few of these hotels are as good in practice as they are through a magazine photographer’s eyes.

I’m happy to say we’ve added reviews of two new ones, however, luxury boutique hotels that held up to the scrutiny and are worth your consideration.

MIO Buenos Aires is in Recoleta, the fashionable district that houses most of the city’s other upscale hotels. MIO is different though, with only 30 rooms and plenty of friendly, personal service. You don’t have to put up with the tiny, underfurnished rooms offered by many other boutique hotels in the city and these are stocked with more amenities than even some of the big luxury brands nearby. (For starters, there’s an espresso machine and chilled wine dispenser in the rooms.) Our reviewer says, “From the quirky textural details that make the place truly comfortable and one-of-a-kind, to some of the friendliest service in the city , there is something about MIO Buenos Aires that gets under your skin and leaves you wanting to stay forever.”

Fierro Hotel Boutique is in Palermo Hollywood, a neighborhood teeming with hipsters and fashionistas, so of course it had to be stylish and modern—that’s a given. Beyond the sleek lines and contemporary furniture, however, are basics done well: effective double-glazing to keep out the city noise and ultra-comfortable bedding. The terrace suite is well worth the splurge, with its own terrace whirlpool and outdoor grill.

Fierro is a magnet for foodies, thanks to the well-known restaurant Hernán Gipponi. Our reviewer says, “Ranked in some publications as the number one rated restaurant in the city, chef Hernan brings his years of experience from the Guggenheim Bilbao and Quique Dacosta’s El Poblet in Valencia, both of which received two Michelin stars under his guidance. To be able to experience his ever-changing, seasonal menu, complimented with organic vegetables and herbs grown in an on-site garden, without leaving the comfort of your hotel, is a rare treat. A must to try is the 9-course tasting menu, which includes a tapa, two entrees, fish of the day, a rice dish, a meat dish, pre-dessert, and two desserts, all paired with great wines. The massive wine list is overseen by Andres Rosberg, who happens to be the President of the Argentine Sommelier Association.”

A lot of Buenos Aires boutique hotels look pretty and are staffed with beautiful people, but these two actually function well and have staffers who can meet your needs—often before you even know what you need.