Sofitel Buenos Aires is a

five star hotel Hotel ratings are often used to classify hotels according to their quality. From the initial purpose of informing travellers on basic facilities that can be expected, the objectives of hotel rating have expanded into a focus on the hotel experie ...

in the Retiro section of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

.Tablet Hotels: Sofitel Buenos Aires
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Overview

Commissioned by local shipping magnate

Nicolás Mihanovich Nicolás Mihanovich (1846–1929) was a Croatian Argentine businessman closely linked to the development of the Argentine merchant marine. Life and times The Beginnings Nicolás Mihanovich was born Nikola Mihanović in the Kingdom of Dalmatia, A ...

, a 20-story office complex was built which would allow him to look out towards the

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (, "river of silver"), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and fo ...

, where his

steam ship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ca ...

s could be seen plying the waters between Buenos Aires and

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Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. Inspired in part by the Tomb of

Mausolus Mausolus ( grc, Μαύσωλος or , xcr, ��𐊠��𐊸𐊫𐊦 ''Mauśoλ'') was a ruler of Caria (377–353 BCE) and a satrap of the Achaemenid Empire. He enjoyed the status of king or dynast by virtue of the powerful position created by h ...

Caria Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionians, Ionian and Dorians, Dorian Greeks colonized the west of i ...

, the eclecticist building was designed by the local architectural studio of Calvo, Jacobs and Giménez, and was opened in 1929 (shortly after Mihanovich's death).Otra Mirada:Palacio Mihanovich
/ref> The tallest building in Argentina and Latin America at the time, the 80-meter tower remained a city landmark even after its height was superseded by the nearby

Kavanagh building The Kavanagh Building () is a famed skyscraper in Retiro, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Designed in 1934 by architects Gregorio Sánchez, Ernesto Lagos and Luis María de la Torre, it is considered a pinnacle of modernist architecture. At the time of ...

in 1936. The first in Argentina to include in-wall

wind braces In architecture, wind braces are diagonal braces to tie the rafters of a roof together and prevent racking. In medieval roofs they are arched, and run from the principal rafters to catch the purlin A purlin (or historically purline, purloyne, pur ...

, much of the uppermost roofing and façade and made from

ship hull A hull is the watertight body of a ship, boat, or flying boat. The hull may open at the top (such as a dinghy), or it may be fully or partially covered with a deck. Atop the deck may be a deckhouse and other superstructures, such as a funnel, der ...

portions. It was later sold to its builders, the Bencich family, and became a residential complex. The tower gradually declined with the proliferation of upscale, balconied highrises in subsequent decades, however. Nearly abandoned, it was acquired in the year 2000 by

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

-based hospitality giant

Accor Accor S.A. is a French multinational hospitality company that owns, manages and franchises hotels, resorts and vacation properties. It is the largest hospitality company in Europe, and the sixth largest hospitality company worldwide. Accor op ...

for the purpose of developing Argentina's first

Sofitel Sofitel Hotels & Resorts are a French hotel chain of luxury hotels based in Paris, France, and owned by Accor since 1980. Founded in 1964 in France, Sofitel quickly developed worldwide to reach more than 200 properties. In 2008, Sofitel became a ...

Hotel."Página/12: La vuelta del Mihanovich"
/ref> Designed by the local Daniel Fernández & Associates studio and decorated by Pierre-Yves Rochon, its refurbishment was accompanied by the construction of a 10 m (33 ft) basement for a pool, gym and parking garage. A T-shaped alley resulting from the two adjacent 5-story wings was covered by a glass roof and converted into a black-and-white

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

-tiled lobby (notable also for a 0.6-ton, 4-meter bronze spiderweb

chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...

). Opened in January 2003, the hotel maintains 144 rooms, business facilities, a literary café and ''Le Sud'', a Provençal restaurant.

Closure

The Hotel ceased operation on 17 December 2017 due to the termination of the contract with the owner of the property
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/nowiki>Despite many rumours it is still unknown what Plans the building owner has for the Building's future.

References and external links

Sofitel Buenos Aires
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sofitel Buenos Aires Hotels in Buenos Aires Sofitel Office buildings completed in 1929 Hotels established in 2003