My wife and I stayed at the Vain for 3 nights recently and enjoyed the hotel. It is in a great location in Palermo Soho and the staff were very accomodating to us. We did have to change our room on the second floor from the room facing the street (I think 201) to one in the middle (I think 203) due to the noise coming from Thames Street. But once in the other room it was very quiet. There is a nice roof top deck where we would go for a glass of wine before going out at night. It is a little more expensive than the other place we also stayed at, BoBo Hotel, but really not that big a deal. We found the breakfasts very good. Would stay here again.

I had a very bad experience in this place (I can't call it "hotel"). I've been there with my girlfriend and when we arrived we couldn't believe we were paying about 200 USD for such a place. The room was ridiculous small and it had no windows, no natural light at all, no shelves, no local air conditioned, no privacy... It was very noisy (a strange bird starts to sing extremely loud at 6AM and the cleaning staff starts to work at 7AM) and the bed was very small too (it was more appropriated for just one person). The staff was not professional at all. They were always unavailable. Even for leaving the building we had to wait for several minutes for someone from the hotel, because we had no other way to open the door that gives access to the street! Breakfast was not the buffet kind and we had to ask several times for coffee, fruit, bread... Things were coming very slowly and in ridiculous small portions... There’s a very heavy atmosphere among the breakfast tables, since all the guests seem to be very annoyed with the rooms they got (I heard some comments) and with the unfriendly treatment they receive from the staff. Before and during my stay, I tried to contact the hotel several times by phone but the only answer I got was an answer machine saying silly things about "boutique hotel" that made me waste a lot of money without reaching any of the results I wanted. The beautiful photos you can see on the website are very far from reality. That’s not what you find when you reach the place. The word “universe” (from “Vainuniverse”) makes you think that this place belongs to the “Universe Chain” (to witch belongs the Hotel Faena) – but it doesn’t! This place belongs to no chain at all – and perhaps this can explain the lack of professionalism. There are many other options that I visited in the area and all of them are by far better. The night we arrived, we said to Mr. Blaz, at the front desk, that we wanted to change room. There was a room with a small window available, but we were told that the only person in the world that could allow the change of room was Julieta Vince. Anyway, Mr. Blas "was not allowed" to contact Miss Julieta that night. Since he didn't want to contact her, I personally sent her a mail, explaining that if that was the room they had for me, I wouldn’t stay at that place any longer. I didn't get any answer from her for two days. I also left several messages at the front desk, but I never got an answer. When Julieta was finally available, at my request to speak with her, she tried to speak with me by phone...I refused that and only then she showed up to speak with me personally. She offered me an unacceptable offer (sleeping one more night at that "prison cell" and then change to a room with a small window). I said I wanted to leave. After some discussion and no excuses at all, the manager was called (that was the first time I heard about this “manager”) but all I got from him was paying an extra night of penalty for leaving earlier!... Before that, however, he tried to convince us to stay offering us a glass of wine and some “tapas” to “compensate” us for any inconveniences. Can you believe such a nonsense and impoliteness?!

the hotel is conveniently located. it's modern decor is pleasing but looks slightly worn down. the rooms are not soundproof and you can hear people walking down the hallway. the room service menu is basically a sandwich, although i enjoyed the complimentary breakfast with eggs, breads, freshly squeezed juice and coffee. the staff is very nice and warm as most people are in argentina. at 200 usd i think it is overpriced for what you get. i would have rather payed either more for ammenities like a pool, full room service and a feeling of privacy or payed half for something else.

We had a great experience at Vain. The staff was great -- very nice and incredibly helpful (we used them constantly for recommendations, directions, reservations, etc). We stayed in a "V" level room, which was the biggest. While our room was modern and comfortable, it was not especially large (though we got the sense that most boutique hotels in Palermo would have similarly sized rooms). Vain has a common "living room" on the top floor which was very nice, complete with books, couches, a computer with internet access, and and adjoining roof deck. Breakfast was included in the room rate and was delicious. We loved being in Palermo -- the hotel is about a 10 minute walk from Honduras St, which seems to be the center of the action.