The Tigre Hotel stood on the banks of the Luján River

Luján River

The Luján River runs from its source near Espora about east of Buenos Aires, Argentina to its outflow into the Río de la Plata north of the city.-See also:* List of rivers of Argentina-External links:*...

, in Paseo Victorica, Tigre

Tigre, Buenos Aires

Tigre is a town in the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, situated in the north of Greater Buenos Aires, north of Buenos Aires city. Tigre lies on the Paraná Delta and is an important tourist and weekend attraction, easily reached by bus and train services, including the scenic Tren de la Costa...

, near Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. Inaugurated on 12 January 1890, it soon became an important social, tourist and sporting centre, not only for the people of Tigre, but also for porteño

Porteño

Porteño in Spanish is used to refer to a person who is from or lives in a port city, but it can also be used as an adjective for anything related to those port cities....

s. Designed by the engineer Emilio Mitre (son of the Argentine president

President of Argentina

The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...

 Bartolomé Mitre

Bartolomé Mitre

Bartolomé Mitre Martínez was an Argentine statesman, military figure, and author. He was the President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868.-Life and times:...

), the hotel had 3 floors, a lift and 50 rooms with a ground floor dining room seating 200 people. There were salons for smoking, billiards, and for ladies. The hotel had a confiteria, tennis courts, a cricket pitch, an area for roller skating, and there was a garage for cars. An Andalusian patio and a winter garden were constructed and in 1895 the hotel was authorised to open a casino.

In 1916 various repairs and improvements were made to the building at the height of the Belle Époque

Belle Époque

The Belle Époque or La Belle Époque was a period in European social history that began during the late 19th century and lasted until World War I. Occurring during the era of the French Third Republic and the German Empire, it was a period characterised by optimism and new technological and medical...

 as the hotel became the place where the elite of society of the time met and stayed and was famous for its dancing parties. The economic crisis in the 1930s

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 took its toll and in February 1939 the hotel closed its doors. A year later the building was demolished.

Today there is sometimes a confusion between the Tigre Hotel and the Tigre Club

Tigre Club

The Tigre Club stands on the banks of the Luján River, in Paseo Victorica, Tigre, near Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Club, built next to the Tigre Hotel , was financed by Ernesto Tornquist, and was designed by the architects Pablo Pater, Luis Dubois and the engineer Emilio Mitre , and was opened on...

that was built next to the Hotel in 1912 and is still standing. Following its 1979 designation as a National Historic Monument, a decade of refurbishments ensued. The Tigre Art Museum was opened in 2006.