The hotel

The Humboldt Hotel

This emblematic 20th-century architectural legacy has been recently restored by means of a project which began on May 16th, 2012 and ended on May 4th, 2018. 

An interdisciplinary team of professionals and specialists, coordinated by restauration architect and last Sanabria´s assistant, Gregory Vertullo, aiming especially at preserving the original image of the hotel and the material restoration of all spaces of the building, depending on its original design, including the technological adequacy of all modern requirements of the hotel industry.

Facilities

  • Hotel Humboldt
  • Hotel Humboldt
  • Hotel Humboldt
  • Hotel Humboldt
  • Hotel Humboldt
  • Hotel Humboldt
  • Hotel Humboldt
  • Hotel Humboldt
  • Hotel Humboldt
  • Hotel Humboldt
  • Hotel Humboldt
  • Hotel Humboldt
  • Hotel Humboldt

History

  1. 1956
  2. 1957-1960
  3. 1966-1970
  4. 1971-1978
  5. 2000
  6. 2012
  7. 2019

  1. 1956

    May 16th: The construction of Humboldt Hotel begins, thanks to the work of a 600-person team.

    In November of that same year, the construction works of the Hotel and the Coastal section of the cable car system finalized. Just one day before the 200 day deadline specified in the Agreement.

    December 29th: The Humboldt Hotel is officially inaugurated.

  2. 1957

    Humboldt Hotel begins operations on April 19th 1957.

  3. 1960

    Hotel operations are halted due to problems with the cable car system that communicates with the coastline.

  4. 1966-1970

    The hotel concession order was granted in 1966 to Sheraton Hotel chain until 1970.

  5. Hotel Humboldt

    1971-1978

    During these years, the Hotel was granted to the National Institute of Education Cooperation (INCE) to transform it into a hotel management school.

  6. Hotel Humboldt

    2000

    Caracas cable car, its surrounding areas and the Humboldt Hotel became a state-owned property.

    In August, the German cable car system is substituted for a modern Austrian system.

  7. Hotel Humboldt

    2012

    Hotel restoration works to reactivate hotel and catering services started. A special group set up on the initiative of the Ministry of the People´s Power for Tourism, the Ministry of the People´s Power for the Presidential Office. Architect Gregory Vertullo, a restoration specialist who worked under the guidelines of Architect Sanabria was in charge of the project.

  8. Hotel Humboldt

    2019

    A new history of Humboldt Hotel begins.

Arquitectos

Tomás José Sanabria

(1922 – 2008)

Tomás J. sanabria
Photo by:
Arq. Gregory Vertullo
July 20th, 2005

An architect graduated from the Universidad Central de Venezuela and master in Architecture at Harvard University. In 1954, he became the Director of the School of Architecture of Universidad Central de Venezuela. His education background is derived totally from the Bauhaus School and this is evidenced in his architectural works.

In 1965, he receives the National Architecture Award and in 1967 he is given another National Architecture Award by the National Institute of Culture and Fine Arts.

In 1973, he is appointed as a Main Member of the Custodian Board of the nation´s Historical and Artistic Heritage. 

Some of his most relevant works are: La Electricidad de Caracas´s main building, Centro Ciudad Comercial Tamanaco (C.C.C.T) at Caracas, the headquarters of the Venezuelan Central Bank at Caracas and in 1956 his most important work: Humboldt Hotel at the top of the Ávila Mountain, which divides the city of Caracas from Venezuela´s Central Coastal area.

Sanabria died in Caracas on December 19th, 2008 at the age of 86.

Gregory Vertullo

(1977 – )

A Venezuelan architect graduated at the Universidad Central de Venezuela. He has a Master´s Degree in Conservation and Restoration of Monuments. At present, he is the main coordinator of the restoration project of Waraira Repano´s Architectural Complex (Humboldt Hotel stage).

He has participated in important restoration and construction projects, such as: Residencia de San Francisco at Caracas; La Candelaria´s Church, and Santo Cristo de La Grita´s Temple in the state of Táchira, Venezuela.