The most European of any Latin American city, Buenos Aires was once labeled the “Paris of South America” for its wide boulevards and the type of architecture you’d more expect to find in Madrid, Paris or Milan.

In its glory days at the turn of the 20th century, it was South America’s richest city and Argentina one of the world’s richest countries. Although its 16th-century Spanish founders never discovered the silver they hoped for when they named Rio de la Plata (River of Silver), later generations of Porteños found fortune in a distribution port for beef grown on Argentina’s vast grasslands.

Agriculture still accounts for 60 percent of exports, totaling $47 billion in 2012. Argentina is the world’s largest producer of soya oil for biodiesel and the world’s largest biodiesel exporter. Dollars are essential to Argentina’s economy, still choppy from sovereign debt default and cut off from international capital. After a strong rebound from the 2009 recession that brought a 12.5 percent rise in construction throughout the city, 2012 saw a slowdown and raging inflation. Although the official rate is 10 percent, the International Monetary Fund censured Argentina’s government last year for false figures masking inflation nearer 25 percent.

Ezeiza International Airport is a 45-minute ride from downtown. Hire a taxi (about $25) at the blue and white booth in the arrivals hall and be escorted to a car (tip the escort). Remis private car service costs about $30 to downtown and can be reserved ahead or at Manuel Tienda León kiosks. At the airport, exchange money only at Banco de la Nacion, just after baggage claim.

Buenos Aires has extensive subway (El Subte) and bus routes, but taxis are plentiful (use those with “radio taxi” signs) and the fastest way to travel; calling for a radio taxi is safer than hailing on the street.

Its grid layout makes Buenos Aires easy to navigate, and places are nearly always located by barrio, or neighborhood. Avenida de Mayo connects Plaza de Mayo to Congressional Square in a tree-lined mile of Art Nouveau and Neoclassical buildings declared a National Historic site in 1997. Crossing it is Avenida 9 de Julio, its 16 lanes making it one of the world’s widest boulevards.

Filling the east end of Plaza de Mayo is the pink Casa Rosada, the presidential offices. This is the heart of the city where public gatherings for everything from sometimes-violent political protests to World Cup celebrations occur. North of the plaza is Microcenter (or San Nicolás barrio), the commercial and financial hub, with Calle San Martín its main street.

Just beyond, the city’s poshest addresses are in the Beaux Arts buildings of Recoleta, an elegant and elite enclave catering to toptier international business travelers and a good choice for meeting associates. Opened in October 2012, Buenos Aires Grand immediately attracted business clients to its restaurant Club 31, and its lobby bar is a popular meeting place. A large salon for up to 100 people can be partitioned into two meeting rooms featuring state-of-the-art technology.

For a taste of Recoleta’s gilded grandeur, choose the 5-star Alvear Palace Hotel, built in 1932 and remodeled in 2010. Its L’Orangerie is positively palatial, perfect for entertaining an important client at lunch or for a power breakfast. A later option is high tea at 4:30 p.m., a lavish affair that will stave off starvation until the inevitably late dinner (9 p.m. is the usual dinner hour, but if invited for 9, arrive closer to 9:10 so as not to be the first).

The 5-star Palacio Duhau – Park Hyatt Buenos Aires opened in 2006 amid terraced gardens, incorporating a 1934 mansion and a 17-story tower. Its clubby, understated Oak Bar invites confidences and business conversations, while rooms are current with high-end technology. In good weather, reserve a terrace table at Duhau Restaurant & Vinoteca for Argentinean dishes featuring seasonal local ingredients.

The cigar bar Prado y Neptuno arranges private tastings with a sommelier who pairs Argentine wines and cocktails with Cuban cigars. Milión, located in a Belle Époque Recoleta mansion with marble staircases and a sumptuous garden, is an impressive place to host cocktails or dinner.

Also adjoining the Microcenter financial district, Retiro is a stylish neighborhood that befits Sofitel Buenos Aires, its Art Deco style created by designer Pierre-Yves Rochon. Entertain clients at Le Sud for French takes on Argentinean cuisine. It’s also a good choice for power breakfasts, while the hotel’s traditional Café Arroyo opens at 8 a.m. for a quick coffee and mezzaluna (croissant), and La Bibliotheque is an inviting bar, good for informal small meetings; all three have complimentary WiFi.

Between Plaza de Mayo and the river is the resurgent dockland of Puerto Madero, now a barrio of high-rise residences and high-end restaurants. Madero Walk is a dazzling $3 million event space that floats over the water. So does Santiago Calatrava’s graceful pedestrian bridge, Puente de la Mujer, inspired by a tango dancer’s leg. Still the too-cool spot for meeting and dining almost a decade after its initial splash, Phillipe Starck-designed Faena Hotel + Universe oozes luxury with all-white suites and El Bistro, serving molecular gastronomy designed by a protégé of Ferrán Adriá. Find more traditional Argentine steaks at El Mercado; El Cabaret’s sulky ambience and tango show are less conducive to business.

Cabaña Las Lilas is a good choice for a power lunch in Puerto Madero, widely acknowledged as the best of the best for carnivores. What it lacks in intimacy it makes up for in excellent Angus cuts. Try tenderloin with Madeira or confit of suckling pig in orange reduction.

The colorful Barrio of La Boca © Stillman Rogers Photography

Also south is historic and atmospheric San Telmo, its stone-paved streets lined by beautiful buildings from past centuries housing antiques shops, galleries and restaurants. A small former Italian neighborhood farther south is colorful La Boca, known for cafés, restaurants and Boca Juniors soccer stadium, of Diego Maradona fame. Don’t expect to impress clients with the ambience of El Obrero, where walls are covered in Boca Juniors memorabilia and table settings are right out of the ’50s, but expect top-notch steaks and friendly service (take a cab both ways).

For a break from non-stop city vibe, Tigre is a 45-minute train and boat ride north into the reed-lined waterways of the river delta. Restaurants have their own landings, and when you’ve finished a leisurely lunch, waiters will flag down a returning boat. In a beautiful park-like setting, Gato Blanco is known for ojo de bife (rib eye steak) and fish dishes such as hake with leek sauce.

If you find yourself with free time between meetings, be sure to stroll through Recoleta Cemetery, a marble necropolis of Argentina’s late and great; fresh flowers always mark the vault of Eva Perón, Argentina’s still-beloved Evita.