After being selected as winners in the tender for Hotel Casino Carrasco, an Art Deco landmark building in Montevideo, the French-Spanish bidders Codere-Sofitel announced an investment of US $63 million in the complete refurbishment of the property to turn it into a superior 5-star casino hotel. As part of the tender specifications, the winners have just 20 months to finish the work on the property, which clearly shows its age.

The Sofitel director of operations for Latin America said that it is more difficult to recover a building like the Carrasco than build up a new one from scratch. Codere-Sofitel plan to stick to the original French style of design of the hotel, eliminating the additional elements added over the years to ‘modernize’ the property.

The new hotel will have 116 deluxe rooms and penthouse suites built in the property’s characteristic domed towers. The new additions to the property will be underground with a large car park and the purpose built new casino. Spanish gaming operators Codere have successfully turned around the Maronas race track in Uruguay’s capital city, making it a profitable racino. They now aim to turn the Carrasco Hotel & Casino into a high action gambling destination. (E-05.19.09)

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