The Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires has announced the completion of the first phase of a $40 million renovation. The hotel is unveiling redecorated rooms and suites, a renovated lobby, freshly landscaped grounds, and three new dining and drinking concepts.
Operating as a hotel since the 1992 addition of a 12-story tower to the historic 1920 La Mansión, Four Seasons has managed the hotel since 2001. The current renovation is being led by WA International, EDG, and 40NORTH.
Local artist Vivienne Duchini contributed to the update of the garden and grounds of the property. Formal topiaries, jasmine vines, and terraces adjacent to the hotel’s new dining spaces have been added to update the look of the exterior.
The hotel’s re-imagined lobby features polished macassar ebony and the addition of large silver screens that are inspired by the movements of the Argentine tango. Several columns were removed to open up the space, welcoming guests to new reception desks decorated with South American semi-precious stones. Caballos Libres, or “free horses,” a painting by Argentine artist Alejandro Moy, portrays horses in full gallop. The renovated lobby also features a hand-tufted custom-made carpet, blown-glass lighting fixtures, and a signature scent created exclusively for the hotel.
The first phase of the project also includes the addition of a new restaurant called Elena and Pony Line, a new bar. Another venue, El Secreto, will host private asados—the traditional open fire barbecues of Argentinian culture—and transform into an open air restaurant in mid-April 2013.
In the hotel’s guestrooms and suites, the space between bed and bath has been opened up with new leather-clad sliding doors. Leather-wrapped drawer handles, nail head-studded trims, and carved horse lamps evoke the hotel’s polo theme, while alpaca-embossed headboards made by local artisans adorn guestroom beds. In the bath area, finishes include polished walnut, Italian crema marfil marble, and blue and turquoise glass mosaics, plus technological upgrades including an LCD television built into the mirror.
Four floors of the Hotel have now been renovated, with the remainder scheduled for completion in 2013.
All meeting spaces on the Hotel’s mezzanine floor will sport a new look in early 2013, when Four Seasons will also introduce a new catering concept for weddings, social functions, and corporate events.
