Buenos Aires
For those who want to immerse their business travel into colorful dances, historic culture, and exquisite wine, there’s no better place than the Paris of South America: Buenos Aires. Emmy-winning host and dancer Mickela Mallozzi shares her experiences with milongas, which is more about connecting with people than just dancing tango. Meanwhile, Juan Melo Pacheco explores the Argentinian hospitality they take pride in at The Faena Hotel, making it an excellent event destination for any purpose. For their destination favorites, Andy McNeill and Todd Bludworth look at everything Buenos Aires has to offer by going beyond the wine tastings and tango dancing.
Andy McNeill and Todd Bludworth are travel and hospitality entrepreneurs and owners of the global meetings organization, American Meetings, Inc. From sourcing hotels in Buenos Aires to corporate event management around the world, their team selects corporate event venues and meeting planners for a wide array of enterprise business clients, providing ideas for convention themes and strategies for running global meetings and events. Learn more at www.americanmeetings.com.
—
Watch the episode here:
Buenos Aires
Emmy-Winning Host and Dancer Mickela Mallozzi Shares Tips To Tango and Experience Argentinian Hospitality with the Faena Hotel
Buenos Aires is considered as the Paris of South America, drawing influences from France, Italy, and Spain to create its colorful history and culture. It is known for its unique love for tango and exquisite Malbec wine. Andy McNeill and Todd Bludworth explore these amazing things and more, highlighting the incomparable beauty of Buenos Aires.
Mickela Mallozzi, Emmy-Winning Host And Dancer
It cannot be denied that Mickela Mallozzi produced a great show in the form of Bare Feet, a travel series about dance all over the world. It ranks fifth behind shows with way bigger productions and budgets, such as Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy and Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi.
Mickela credits the strong edge of their show over others to her nature of seeing dance as a universal language instead of just an art form. She doesn’t care so much about her looks or if she’s making a lot of misstep, but uses dance as a way to connect with others and share a personal moment.
With this mindset, Mickela found the milongas of Buenos Aires a really fitting social event for her. It is a tango dance party, where conversations between locals and tourists happen not through words but by the body movements of dancing.
Lots of places where you can attend milongas have appeared throughout Argentina, with some embracing more modern approaches. Mickela still recommends tourists and first-timers to try tango in its traditional form first to fully appreciate the incredible experience it has to offer.
Mickela’s Top Picks On Where To Find Traditional Milonga
- La Glorieta
- La Catedral Club
- Milonga Zona Tango
Andy and Todd’s Destination Favorites
- Watching a tango show at El Cabaret
- Joining a Malbec wine tasting session
- Booking private guided tours of polo stables
- Seeing world-class ballet, choir, and orchestra at Teatro Colón
- Grabbing a coffee at Café Tortoni, Buenos Aries’ oldest café
- Strolling through the colorful streets of Palermo Soho
- Attending International Circus and Tango Festivals
- Riding a hydrofoil from Buenos Aries to Uruguay
- Visiting Casa Rosada
- Reflecting in the Recoleta Cemetery
Juan Melo Pacheco, Group Sales Manager at The Faena Hotel
Those looking for a high level of Argentinian hospitality embedded in local history and deep cultural values should definitely visit The Faena Hotel. This five-star building is something tourists must not miss, especially those who want to enjoy an authentic Buenos Aires lifestyle.
According to its Group Sales Manager, Juan Melo Pacheco, it was originally a British-style warehouse converted into a sophisticated building many people know and love today. They also chose red as the color of their brand, symbolizing the passion they uphold in delivering top-notch accommodation that cannot be found anywhere else.
The Faena Hotel’s Dining Options
- El Mercado, a typical Argentinian restaurant
- Bistro Sur, an Argentinian food place with modern twists
Juan also presents their wine and cheese tasting experience for VIP guests. It is only available to a select few, offering the best drinks to complete everyone’s stay. They also hold tango shows in the hotel as their most recognized piece of entertainment complete with five-star luxury dining services.
Must-See Locations Near The Faena Hotel
- Puerto Madero. It is great for long walks and early morning bike rides. It also has two miles of well-known restaurants, giving tourists a chance to have a mesmerizing food trip.
- San Telmo, one of the oldest neighborhoods in town. It served as the hometown of immigrants at the beginning of the 19th century before spreading into the Argentine territory. Tons of flea markets can be found here on the weekends, with couples making the streets lovelier with tango dancing.
- Boca Juniors Field, home to one of the biggest soccer teams in Argentina. Here, you can play or watch games with family and friends.
About Mickela Mallozi
Mickela Mallozzi is the four-time Emmy® Award-winning Host and Executive Producer of Bare Feet with Mickela Mallozzi, a travel series highlighting the diversity of dance that airs on PBS stations nationwide and on Amazon Prime Video globally.
A professional dancer and trained musician, Mickela decided to start a journey around the world, taking her camera with her to follow dance in the lives of everyday people wherever she went. From re-discovering her family’s heritage in Southern Italy to dancing tango on the main stage in Buenos Aires, the series covers Mickela’s adventures as she experiences the world, one dance at a time.
She has been featured in The New York Times, O Magazine, AFAR Media, Travel Channel, Dance Magazine, Forbes, National Geographic, Condé Nast Traveler, and more, and she has performed on various television shows including Sesame Street and The Doctor Oz Show. Mickela has learned over 65 dances in over 33 countries in the past decade since she started Bare Feet in 2010.
About Juan Melo Pacheco
Juan was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina; he is a results-oriented sales manager with Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Associate’s degree in Hotel Management.
Juan has been working in the industry for 17 years and specifically in group sales for 11 years, only in luxury tier properties. He has expertise in almost any sort of groups, ranging from leisure tours to high scale incentives; from worldwide renowned artists to official state visits of a king and from a local corporate meeting to a multinational company CEO visit.
Juan has a profound interest in technology and its application in the business world. He normally tells his co-workers to call him before contacting the IT guy (and he won’t ask if they rebooted the pc!). In his spare time, he enjoys video gaming, motorcycle riding, movies or ‘binge-watching’ a new TV series. And a gathering for a nice Argentine barbecue with friends is a must from time to time.
Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! https://americanmeetings.com/podcast
Frances Mayes recently published “Always Italy,” which won the Lowell Thomas Award for best travel guide of 2020. Previous bestsellers include “See You in the Piazza,” “Under the Tuscan Sun,” “Bella Tuscany,” “Every Day in Tuscany” and “ Year in the World.” These books about travel, taking chances, and the “voluptuousness of Italian life” have been translated into 54 languages.
Federico Cerelli graduated in the year 2000 at the Università Degli Studi di Firenze with a degree in Enology and Viticulture with a maximum score of 110/110. Since 2005 he is a member of the official commission of the DOCG Chamber of Commerce of Florence and Siena. In the year 2006 attended a master for “winemaking process and sensory analysis of high-quality red wines” at the Facultè d’oenologie, Universitè Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2. Since 2008 he is a teacher at ONAV classes in the Florence department (National Organization Wine Tasters).