A century after its original opening this spectacular palace hotel is back in business as the Sofitel Montevideo Casino Carrasco and Spa, and it turns out a Parisian accent is a perfect complement for its extravagant historicist architecture. Underneath all the century-old grandeur, of course, is a perfectly modern luxury hotel, with all the comforts and services that that implies: Sofitel’s SoSpa, the grand and multifaceted Restaurante 21, a pair of swimming pools, and an absolute surplus of meeting and events space. Just outside is the Rambla, the city’s coastal avenue and promenade, and beyond that, the beach.