Hotel Castelar, Art Nouveau hotel building at Avenida de Mayo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
The Hotel Castelar is a fourteen-story building at Avenida de Mayo 1152 in Buenos Aires, completed in 1928 and combining Italian and early Argentine architectural styles. Its facade features stone ornaments and large windows that give the street a recognizable character.
The building was designed in 1928 by Italian architect Mario Palanti, who had trained at the Milan Polytechnic. It was built during a period when Avenida de Mayo was being developed as the main ceremonial street of the Argentine capital.
Federico García Lorca stayed at the hotel during his time in Buenos Aires and regularly met with writers and artists there. This literary connection is still felt today, drawing visitors who are interested in the Spanish-language cultural history of the city.
The building sits in the center of Buenos Aires, close to other historic buildings along Avenida de Mayo, making a walk along the street worthwhile. Public transportation in the area is very accessible, so reaching it from different parts of the city is straightforward.
The hotel has a Turkish bath in the basement that dates back to when the building first opened and is still in use today. García Lorca reportedly visited it regularly, and it is considered one of the few surviving examples of its kind in Buenos Aires.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
