Avenida Alvear is an upscale thoroughfare in Buenos Aires , Argentina . Located in the neighbourhood of Recoleta , it extends for seven blocks, from the Plazoleta Carlos Pellegrini to Alvear Plaza . The avenue is famous not only for the most exclusive representatives of haute couture , but also for its numerous demi-palaces and extensive presence of the French academy architecture that was so much in vogue in uptown Buenos Aires at the turn of the 20th century. The Buenos Aires Legislature approved the bill to declare it as a Historic Protection Area. A study by the U.S. television network NBC , placed it among the world's five most distinguished avenues.
6-628: The Alvear Palace Hotel is a luxury hotel in Avenida Alvear in Recoleta , an upscale neighbourhood in Buenos Aires , Argentina . It opened in 1932 and, after extensive refurbishment, reopened in 1994. 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 a comparably grand Belle Epoque hotel to his then-flourishing hometown. He bought and demolished
12-422: 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
18-476: 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. Avenida Alvear The avenue was begun in 1885 on the initiative of Mayor Torcuato de Alvear , whose tenure
24-782: Is remembered for its ambitious urbanism projects patterned after those used by Baron Haussmann in Paris . The Ortiz Basualdo Palace (today the French Embassy) and the Pereda Palace (the Brazilian Embassy) are the most famous among Avenida Alvear's many examples of Belle Époque architecture. Other well-known buildings include the Tudor Revival Hume House (the Secretariat of Culture and
30-472: The country due to government's import restrictions which severely hindered the import of foreign goods. Near the avenue stands Patio Bullrich , which also used to house numerous international high end shops such as Carolina Herrera , Kenzo , and Tiffany & Co. Under import restrictions, only a few international brands have chosen to stay such as Calvin Klein , Salvatore Ferragamo and Zara . The avenue
36-755: The oldest of the avenue's mansions), the Duhau Palace (converted into the Park Hyatt Buenos Aires hotel), the Fernández Anchorena Palace (today the Apostolic Nunciature ), and the Alvear Palace Hotel , which dates from 1932. Many designer brands which used to be located throughout the avenue, specifically Emporio Armani , Valentino , Louis Vuitton , and Ermenegildo Zegna , have left
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