The Carrasco Hotel

Sofitel is taking over the Carrasco Casino Hotel. And this time it seems it is for real; I saw trucks working at the construction site, and there is every sign of a major construction project going on. The Hotel has been taken over a couple of times before, with no success.

This hotel was one of the emblematic Montevideo buildings. This was the place where the great Carnival balls were held, where the Lecuona Cuban Boys played their numbers back in the 1940s, including the "Carnaval del Uruguay" originally intended for our Buenos Aires brothers and often rivals. I have heard many tales from older relatives about this place.

Carrasco was a resort beach back then; the hotel was the reference place for rich Porteños to stay, when visiting the Little Silver Cup (tacita de plata) as our city was called in the first half of the 20th century. Later it degenerated into a casino building, where the only important movement was the turning of the roulette wheel. I do hope it becomes a convention and performances center, which is badly needed in the area. It took a generation to turn it over from the local government administration.

I am planning to keep a photo log of the construction progress. Here are a couple images of the building as of last Saturday.






Technical: Humble Vito CLR with Lanthar lens, Ilford Pan 400, ID-11 1:1.