All kinds of crockery from trays, cutlery, site plates, fountains, chandeliers and objects such as lamps, mirrors, paintings, desks, chairs, tables and beds; were used in the auction of the historic Hotel Plaza in the neighborhood of Retiro.On Thursday, hundreds of people approached the door of Florida 1005. Due to the large influx of people, they had to give intervention to the Police to contain the queue that formed, until finally they had to suspend the sale.
The Plaza was inaugurated in 1909, a year before the Centenary of the May Revolution, and is considered the first five-star hotel in South America. Photo: Lucía Merle.
The hotel has been closed since 2017, when it was being re-established. The project foresees the modernization of all the facilities, the restoration of the façade and the incorporation of residences.
In this context, its importance lies in the fact that the Plaza was inaugurated in 1909, a year before the Centenary of the May Revolution, and is considered the first five-star hotel in South America. Its building is part of an APH, Historic Protection Area, which encompasses the most important properties around St. Martin’s Square, such as the Paz, Haedo, San Martín and Kavanagh palaces.
“Only if they have the hotel logo, without the logo are white plates that are bought anywhere. If there are glasses, I also hope to be able to buy. And I need an alpaca or silver tray. Only adornment, they are very beautiful and very characteristic of these hotels,” Marta, a resident of Recoleta, who left for a while the remodeling work of her apartment and intended to enter to buy a set of dishes, told Clarín. But Martha couldn’t get in. And neither did the hundreds of people who waited for hours. Only a handful of neighbors could enter.
Among them, a couple from Lanús, who had seen the information on social networks. Both retirees planned a walk through the neighborhood. They had lunch in front of the square and then approached the hotel: they took dessert plates ($200 each, with logo and gold trim), metal pots (thick and heavy), trays and paintings (original botanical paintings at $ 2,000).
The tail continued to grow with the passing of the hours. The number of staff working on the sale and the protocol care (each person had to leave their data and their temperature was taken) made the whole process more cumbersome. It gave the impression that it was impossible to serve everyone. But the problem, which forced police intervention, was when between 10 and 20 people tried to sneak in: they were antique dealers. They arrived with vans and freight, ready to buy and take away furniture and objects. But they didn’t expect there to be so much of an audience either. The coordinator of the sale, Lilian Dorado, confirmed that it is currently suspended. “It was a tremendous success. We have sold a lot of tableware. At this time there are desks, of which were in the rooms, chairs and bed heads, in addition to the low furniture, where the minibar is placed. We are only going to let in soon the people who were queuing and left their data,” he confirmed.
