We have identified the infrared spectra of the H2O-Kr and H2O-Xe van der Waals complexes trapped in argon matrices. For both the 1: 1 complexes, the line positions for the antisymmetric OH stretching mode are blue shifted from the band origin for the H2O monomer, suggesting that H2O is bound to Kr and Xe with the non-hydrogen bonded geometry. In addition, the presence of Kr at nearest neighbor position induces changes on the line profile of two rovibrational transitions of the H2O monomer in the OH bending region, which is interpreted in terms of anisotropic potential perturbing the rotational levels. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.