Hotel Avenida

Hotel Avenida was a hotel located on the Avenida Central (now Avenida Rio Branco). Inaugurated in 1910, the hotel was built amidst the Reforma Pereira Passos (major urban renewal plan) and was one of the many representations of the project to turn Rio into the "Paris of the Tropics." Featuring an imposing Ecletic architecture, the building soon became a notable site on the newly-dedicated Avenida Central — an exceptionally wide avenue for its time, also constructed under the Reforma Pereira Passos to incorporate Parisian aspects to the city.

The building was designed by Francisco de Azevedo Monteiro Caminhoá and owned by the Companhia Ferro-Carril do Jardim Botânico (a tram company). Because of this, there was a tram stop right in front of the hotel, connecting it to the South Zone of Rio. Alongside the hotel, a shopping gallery — the Galeria Cruzeiro — also functioned within the building, housing many shops, restaurants, and cafes, becoming a hotspot for artists, musicians, tourists, and intellectuals. The Galeria Cruzeiro was also an important site for Rio de Janeiro's carnival, as revelers arriving from the packed trams often stayed and celebrated in the gallery.

The Hotel Avenida was a state-of-the-art facility, offering for its guests new and rare technologies in Rio at the time, such as electricity and elevators. Featuring 220 rooms, the hotel's daily room rate was of 9,000 réis (approximately 1,200 reais).

Fifty years after Hotel Avenida's inauguration, Rio de Janeiro — and Brazil as a whole — was on a completely different architectural path; in 1910 architects were heavily inspired by Parisian architecture, but in the 1950s, under the influence of the Modernist movement, they pursued a modern Brazilian design, distancing themselves from European styles. Many Ecletic buildings were replaced by Modernist ones during this period, such as the Monroe Palace and Hotel Avenida. In 1957, despite a significant public outcry, Hotel Avenida was demolished to make way for the modernist Avenida Central building. Despite its unfortunate fate, the building remained in the memories of many cariocas, being referenced in songs and poems, most notably in Carlos Drummond de Andrade's "A Um Hotel em Demolição".