The construction of the hotel was a sign of the rise of the modernizing spirit of the city. Of undoubted reference value, the building was the top of policy driven since 1946 by the Ministry of Development to promote tourism. The Tamanaco, by becoming the first major modern hotel facility in Caracas, displaced the traditional Hotel Ávila. Las Mercedes displaces San Bernardino, as it was receiving oil business investments. Its location at the end of the main avenue of Las Mercedes, in a hill from where it is easy to appreciate the valley of Caracas and can be seen by different points, what made it an architectural icon and the presentation letter of the country. Designed by the Chicago firm Holabird, Root & Burgee, had the collaboration of architect Gustavo Guinand. Its original floor in shape of «V», opened towards the Ávila, answers to a clear typology, that adapts to the slope of the land. Its twelve floors are reduced in stages as they go up, giving it its characteristic appearance, with suites at the ends. Lower levels shelter the social, recreational and service areas, where the pool emphasizes becoming the real heart of the hotel. With 400 rooms and 42 suites, the hotel was extended (Américo Faillace, Nelson Douahi y Manuel Corao, 1967) with a new wing that gives it its actual «Y» shape. The white volume surrounded by a green landscape and the name «Tamanaco» remain as a modern icon of the city.