Modern Architectures of North America

Escape from reality to a tropical luxury.

The design of the hotel and grounds reinforced the tourist's idea of a stay at the Hotel Nacional as an exotic escape. Guests approached the hotel from a grand driveway flanked with royal palms that ran off of Calle O. Unlike other urban hotels that had entryways that opened onto city streets, the Hotel Nacional was fashioned more after the idea of a country club or rural resort where the guest's removal from everyday life was symbolically represented in the physical retreat into the hotel. Through the movement down the drive to the front door, the line of palms rhythmically flashing past, the guest left the city and everything behind.

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