The Palacio Duhau - Park Hyatt Buenos Aires is a five star establishment located in the city's Recoleta

Recoleta

Recoleta is a downtown residential neighborhood in the city of Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina; it is an area of great historical and architectural interest, due, particularly to the Recoleta Cemetery located there...

 section.

Overview

The Palacio Duhau - Park Hyatt was built on an Alvear Avenue

Avenida Alvear

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...

 lot belonging to Alejandro Hume, a railway executive

Rail transport in Argentina

The Argentine railway network comprised of track at the end of the Second World War and was, in its time, one of the most extensive and prosperous in South America. However, with the increase in highway construction, there followed a sharp decline in railway profitability, leading to the break-up...

 of English Argentine background. Shortly after Mayor Torcuato de Alvear

Torcuato de Alvear

Torcuato de Alvear y Saenz de la Quintanilla was a 19th century Argentine conservative politician. He was the son of soldier and statesman Carlos María de Alvear and father of Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear, president of Argentina from 1922 to 1928.In 1880 Buenos Aires was declared the capital city...

 widened and extended what was then known as the Camino Bella Vista during the 1880s, Hume had a Tudor Revival mansion designed by architect Carlos Ryder built in 1890. Built over a bluff

Cliff

In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...

, the lot behind the house remained unimproved until the City Parks Commissioner, noted urbanist Charles Thays, was hired by the family to landscape the property, in 1913.

The property was sold to the Duhau family during the 1920s. The Duhaus - prominent landowners - commissioned architect León Dourge for the design of a new residence adjacent to the old Hume house. Inspired in the Château du Marais (in Le Val-Saint-Germain

Le Val-Saint-Germain

Le Val-Saint-Germain is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France.Inhabitants of Le Val-Saint-Germain are known as Val-Saint-Germinois.-References:** -External links:* *...

, near Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

), the resulting Neoclassical

Neoclassical architecture

Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...

 palace and its guesthouse were completed in 1932. The Duhau siblings eventually relocated to the Hume house, however, and the last of these died in 1976. The palace itself remained empty until, in 2002, local developer Juan Scalesciani purchased the property and secured a partnership with the Hyatt Hotels Group. The Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

-based hotelier planned a Park Hyatt to replace the Retiro

Retiro, Buenos Aires

Retiro is a barrio in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Located in the northeast end of the city, Retiro is bordered on the south by the Puerto Madero and San Nicolás wards, and on the west by the Recoleta ward.-Urban character:...

-area highrise sold to the Four Seasons Hotels

Four Seasons Hotels

Four Seasons Hotels, Inc. is a Canadian-based international ultra-luxury, five-star hotel management company. Travel + Leisure magazine and Zagat Survey rank the hotel chain's 84 properties among the top luxury hotels worldwide...

 in 2002.

Following a US$74 million investment and numerous delays over privacy concerns regarding the neighboring Vatican

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

 nunciature, the Palacio Duhau - Park Hyatt Buenos Aires was opened on July 12, 2006. The palace itself, which preserves most of its original work including its distinctive red marble

Marble

Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...

flooring, houses 11 rooms and 12 of the establishment's premium suites. The new annex, constructed at the opposite, eastern end of the gardens, houses the remaining 115 rooms and 27 suites. The hotel also includes two restaurants, bar and tea rooms.