The original hotel, designed by Alejandro Bustillo, was made almost entirely of wood and furnished by Jean-Michel Frank and Casa Comte, was destroyed by fire soon after its completion in 1939.

A year later Bustillo built a new hotel out of reinforced concrete and stone, with the assistance of the German landscaping architect Hermann Botrich.

While it was closed, the hotel was exposed to robbery, vandalism and overall neglect.

It was renovated and reopened in 1993 after ownership was transferred to CEI Citicorp Holdings in compensation for Argentina government bonds.

[1] The Argentinian property company IRSA acquired the hotel in 1997 for $13.3 million and later sold 50% of its stake to the Sutton Group.