February 10th, 2009 
Tushar Mathur 
Now that I’m back in Houston, let’s talk about Five Cool Rooms, my most recent hotel in Buenos Aires. Given that I had a choice where to stay, so long as I stayed within a certain limit, I opted to find a place in Palermo Soho. My preferred hotel, the BoBo, wasn’t available so I tried a few different hotels and settled on Five Cool Rooms.
Let’s start with the location – everyone talks about the location. It really is ideal… just two blocks east of Plaza Serrano and located in the middle of just about everything – restaurants, boutiques, bars – everything! Just two doors down is another hotel, SoHo All-Suites, as well.
The service was cordial although not “dazzling” like the BoBo. The front desk staff were always willing to help and to provide some insight although I can’t say they would really go out of their way. Next to the front desk was the lounge area with a TV, books and cool furniture. Outside were a patio, some chairs and a hammock. A nice area to hang out, particulary on cool comfortable nights. Up two flights of stairs was the breakfast area, terrace and jacuzzi. Breakfast was relatively straightforward but provided everything I needed for a quick stay.
I opted for one of the large rooms (#101 on the ground floor) at $150 USD/night. The room had plenty of space – cool, minimalist furnishings and a reasonable amout of storage space. The bathroom was nice and open with a very large shower but no bathtub (don’t really care about that). The bed was very comfortable and the A/C was more than effective – it actually would get pretty cold. Wi-Fi was available pretty much anywhere on the property and I would use my laptop in the lobby area, in my room and on the terrace. I can’t speak for the other rooms but would pass the small rooms often and, yes, they were quite small. Spend an extra $20-30/night for a bigger room.
Overall, I was pleased. Given my later experience at the Presidente, Five Cool Rooms was a great hotel and I would definitely recommend it. The location is ideal, the rooms (so long as you upgrade) are reasonable and the overall experience made the expense worthwhile.
