J.W. Marriott Jr. honored the 100th anniversary of the historic Marriott Plaza Hotel Buenos Aires last evening at a birthday celebration hosted at the home of the Ambassador of Argentina, Hector Timerman. Also in attendance was the Secretary of Tourism for Argentina, Enrique Miller. The Plaza hotel, a Buenos Aires landmark, joined the Marriott International hotel portfolio in 1994.

The hotel first opened in July 1909, and is widely recognized as the first luxury hotel in Argentina and one of the first in South America. In the years that followed, the hotel became synonymous with glamour and sophistication, while hosting many famous guests including Charles de Gaulle, Theodore Roosevelt, King Juan Carlos of Spain, Indira Gandhi, and Luciano Pavarotti. The legendary accommodations were the first of their kind in Argentina, and set the standard for many future hotel projects in the country and throughout the region.

“One hundred years ago last week the first guest checked into this iconic hotel in Buenos Aires,” said J.W. Marriott Jr., Chairman & CEO of Marriott International. “It continues to welcome guests from around the world and we are proud to have the Plaza with its rich heritage as one of the top hotels in our global portfolio.”

The hotel is conveniently located in the heart of Buenos Aires on the pedestrian Calle Florida and overlooks the historic Plaza San Martin. It offers guests an elegant atmosphere combined with the consistency and service of the performance-oriented Marriott brand. The hotel includes 318 well appointed guest rooms including Marriott’s signature bedding package. For meetings & social events, the hotel features nine ballrooms of various sizes, and can host gatherings of up to 1,500 guests. For dining and entertainment, the hotel offers three distinct options: La Brasserie restaurant open for lunch and dinner; the Plaza Bar, which was recently chosen by FORBES magazine as one of the top nine hotels bars in the world, and the Plaza Grill, a five star restaurant acknowledged as one of the best in Buenos Aires.

The hotel is operated under a management agreement with Compania General de Comercio e Industria S.A.