The Alvear Palace Hotel is a luxury hotel located in Avenida Alvear in Recoleta, an upscale neighbourhood in

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 ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. The hotel was inaugurated in 1932 and, following extensive refurbishment, was reinaugurated in 1994.

History

The hotel was built by Buenos Aires businessman and socialite Dr. Rafael de Miero, who had been to Paris in the early 1920s and wanted to bring some of that Belle Epoque grandeur to his then flourishing hometown. He bought and demolished a large house on the corner of Avenida Alvear and Ayacucho in 1922, which began the decade-long on-again, off-again project, which finally opened in 1932. A success, it was expanded in 1940, consuming another old mansion on Avenida Alvear. In 1970, ownership passed to the 26-year-old Andreas von Salm-Kyrburg Wernitz, Duke of Hornes, Spanish cousin of King Juan Carlos I, who presided over the hotel's slow decline as a result of labour disputes and a general Argentinian economic stagnation. With bankruptcy threatening, in 1978 Wernitz sold the hotel to the Aragon Hotel Group, and since 1984, it's been part of David Sutton Dabbah's Alvear Luxury Hotels. It was renovated in 1984, and again in 2004.

Anecdotes

* In 1948

Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta Prince Aimone, 4th Duke of Aosta (''Aimone Roberto Margherita Maria Giuseppe Torino''; 9 March 1900 – 29 January 1948) was a prince of Italy's reigning House of Savoy and an officer of the Royal Italian Navy. The second son of Prince Emanu ...

died in the hotel. * In 1962 the actor

Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor whose career spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s (Kansas Raiders, 1950) and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 f ...

and his family (

Janet Leigh Jeanette Helen Morrison (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, ...

, Kelly Curtis,

Jamie Lee Curtis Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, children's author, and activist. She came to prominence with her portrayal of Lt. Barbara Duran on the ABC sitcom '' Operation Petticoat'' (1977–78). In 1978, she m ...

) stayed in room 606 during the filming of ''

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''. * In 1964 in room 805, the actress Juliette Mayniel tried to commit suicide when she learned that her husband

Vittorio Gassman Vittorio Gassman (; born Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as , was an Italian actor, director and screenwriter. He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors, whose career includes both important productions ...

was deceiving her. A hotel employee saved her just in time. * On May 4, 1992, the Swedish music group Roxette recorded the songs "Here Comes the Weekend" and "So Far Away" in the room 603, which were included in the album ''

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''. * Christina Onassis bought suite 334 only to speak on the phone during her frequent stays in Buenos Aires. * Horacio Ferrer Lived in the hotel for 38 years until his death in 2014.

In Media

* The 1964 movie '' Il Gaucho'', was filmed largely in the hotel. * The 1995 movie ''The Things of Love, Part II'', from the director

Jaime Chávarri Jaime Chávarri (born 20 March 1943) is a Spanish film director and screenwriter, best known for his films '' El desencanto'' and '' Las bicicletas son para el verano''. Life and career Chávarri comes from a prominent family. His mother Ma ...

has scenes filmed in the hotel. * In 2009 the hotel was featured in the movie '' Walt & El Grupo'', about when

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

came to South America in 1942.

Notable guests

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* David Em * Jacques Chirac * Antonio Banderas *

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* Sean Connery *

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and Michiko *

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* Al Pacino * Alain Delon * Marcello Mastroianni *

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and Queen Sofía of Spain *

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and Máxima of the Netherlands * Wim Wenders * Nelson Mandela *

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* Fidel Castro * Shaquille O'Neal * Francis Ford Coppola *

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* Rod Stewart *

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* Omar Sharif * Muhammad Ali *

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and

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* Daniel Barenboim * Jane Fonda * Roxette

References

* *

External links

Alvaer Palace Hotel Site
{{Authority control Hotels in Buenos Aires Hotel buildings completed in 1932