Since its official debut at the Panama-California Exposition, held in San Diego in 1915, Spanish colonial architecture (better known as Spanish Revival in the United States) had gained numerous adherents in the golden state. Its fame grew, and throughout the 1930s and 1940s, numerous buildings in this style were built on both sides of the border, including a hotel that was heralded as one of the most luxurious in all of America in its day: the Riviera del Pacific (originally called 'Hotel Playa de Ensenada').

Luxurious casinos on the border

In a rather unexpected way, the enactment of Prohibition in the United States had boosted border tourism, as many Americans began to flock to Mexico in search of alcohol, parties and fun. Faced with this situation (which was rather a great business opportunity) the Casino de Agua Caliente opened its doors in the city of Tijuana in 1927. Its success was enormous, and it did not take long for other investors to begin planning the construction of Similar complexes in the border region. 

After Tijuana, Rosarito was the logical second choice, but a group of investors turned their attention a little further south, to the small coastal city of Ensenada. Delighted with its calm atmosphere and its beautiful bay, they planned to build a luxury resort according to the standards set by the great hotels of the Mediterranean and the Florida coast, and that would offer its guests the opportunity to play golf, tennis, water sports and , of course, gambling. With this objective in mind, they formed Compañía Mejoras de Ensenada SA.

However, the cost of the project quickly began to rise. Ensenada had just been founded in 1882, its population was around 5,000 inhabitants and it did not offer the materials or the necessary tools to carry out a construction of that caliber. At the Agua Caliente in Tijuana, that had not been a problem because everything could easily be imported from San Diego, but in the case of Ensenada, everything had to be moved by sea.

The most luxurious resort in America, facing Todos Santos Bahia

The increase in costs was such that the company ran out of capital and decided to sell the half-built hotel. A new group of investors acquired the work, but aware of the economic burden that would result in completing the hotel, they requested support from the local government. The new board of directors was also made up of pure Americans, and in order to publicize the new hotel, they decided to name Jack Dempsey, the most famous boxer of the time, world heavyweight champion and husband of the renowned film actress. They named Estelle Taylor, as the resort manager. 

Finally, the Playa de Ensenada hotel was inaugurated on October 31, 1930. The party was enlivened by Xavier Cugat's band, and the cream of the crop from Hollywood attended. The rich and famous, businessmen and actors alike, all descended from California to Ensenada to see the hotel that was advertised as the most luxurious in the entire continent and that certainly rose like a mirage in front of the desolate Baja California beach.

The hotel, designed by architect Gordon F. Mayer facing the Pacific Ocean, quickly gained fame as one of the most beautiful buildings ever built in the Californian colonial style. It had 66 rooms, and following the original premise of building a resort as luxurious as the great European hotels, stained glass windows were brought in from Italy, the ceilings had been made with imported Florida wood, and a combination of Spanish, Chinese and Spanish furniture. Persian rugs decorated the interiors. 

Many bricks and ironwork used in the new building had been dismantled from authentic colonial buildings in Havana, and its walls had been adorned with Pompeian, Renaissance, and Mudejar-inspired frescoes. In addition, the muralist Alfredo Ramos Martínez covered several of the walls and ceilings of the new complex with frescoes. 

One of the great resorts in the world ... half empty.

However, the difficulties that the hotel had experienced during its construction did not disappear after the lavish inauguration. Although Ensenada was connected to San Diego through a paved road, the route was long and tiring. Many of the guests then preferred to arrive by air or by sea, on the ships that connected Ensenada with San Diego and Los Angeles , or on board the weekly flight to the latter city. 

Marion Davies, William Hearst, Merle Norman, Dolores del Río, Johnny Weismuller (before he bought his own hotel in Acapulco ), Lupe Velez, Myrna Loy and Frank Morgan came to visit the hotel, which was frequently and heavily promoted in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, connectivity complications made Playa de Ensenada Hotel only come alive on weekends, remaining almost deserted the rest of the days. The repeal of Prohibition in the United States, the original promoter of border tourism, in 1933, and the prohibition of gambling and gambling in Mexico in 1935, were other hard blows. The hotel was sunk in debt and lawsuits, and had to close its doors in 1938.

Soldiers in the ballrooms 

The Playa de Ensenada remained empty for a couple of years. However, the 1940s arrived with the winds of World War II and then the fear arose that America could be invaded by the Japanese through the coasts of Baja California (sparsely populated and even more weakly protected). This fear caused Ensenada to be converted into a military operations base for the Mexican and American armies, and the Playa de Ensenada, which had remained empty, reopened its doors, but now as the Central Offices of the Second Military Zone of the Sixth Pacific Regiment, led by General Lázaro Cárdenas. However, the troops moved in 1942 to a new military camp south of the city and the hotel was once again empty.

The brief, golden age of the Hotel Riviera

By 1948, the war had ended and of the society that owned the Playa de Ensenada, only one man remained alive: the septuagenarian Jerome Utley. Mr. Utley decided to donate the hotel to his girlfriend, Marjorie King Plant, also an American and almost 40 years his junior. However, the Mexican laws of the time did not allow foreigners to acquire property in the country, so legally Marjorie could not be the owner of the establishment. The story goes that, when discussing this situation with her lawyer, the Mexican Alfonso Rocha, he informed her that, to overcome the legal impediment, she could marry a Mexican in order to take possession of the hotel together with her husband. Marjorie told him that this was impossible since she did not know any Mexican, to which the lawyer Rocha replied "he knows me."

Marjorie King then married attorney Alfonso Rocha in what appeared to be a marriage of sheer convenience, and she became the owner of the hotel, which reopened, but now with the name of Riviera del Pacífico . However, it didn't take long for Mr. Utley to realize that the relationship between Rocha and Marjorie was quite real and they had both developed feelings for each other. Feeling cheated, the septuagenarian sued his former girlfriend, and although he lost his case, Marjorie decided to divorce Rocha, sell her interest in the hotel, and return to California in 1950.

With the Mexican lawyer in charge, the hotel relived its former glory days. Thanks to its unexpected primacy as a military barracks, Ensenada grew exponentially, going from having only 5,000 inhabitants in 1930, to 20,000 in 1950, and the Pacific Riviera became the social precinct par excellence not only of the city, but also of the entire Baja California peninsula. The stately Spanish spaces and its famous Andalusian patio, full of bougainvilleas, hosted dances, received presidents, hosted concerts and literary meetings. Every August, the most important social event on the peninsula was also held at the Riviera, the black and white dance.

Convinced of the future of the establishment, Rocha acquired a loan of 4 million pesos from the government to build a new building with 100 rooms that would allow to increase the capacity (and profitability) of the hotel, but he did not count on the fact that Mr. Utley had not yet given himself up as defeated. 

Mr. Utley's rematch

In 1956, Utley decided to sue Alfonso Rocha now. However, as soon as he was notified of this, the lawyer decided to leave Ensenada and abandon everything, shortly before the new expansion was inaugurated. With Rocha gone and the credit unpaid, the government took over the administration of the Pacific Riviera, and ran it for eight years, until it decided to close it in January 1964.

That same year, the property was transferred from the 'Hotel Credit' office to the National Border Program, which then began a campaign to reform the hotel in the name of progress. A year later, the main entrance, the original 66 rooms, the kitchen, and the 100 new ones built under Rocha's administration, had been demolished. The almost sumptuous furniture, the doors, the floors and even the trellises had disappeared, and some Ensenadans recall that the rubble of the hotel was offered to fill and even out grounds. 

The 'project' ended thanks to a change in management, and the once grand hotel remained a ruin and vacant lot for fourteen years. The only thing that remained in its original place was the main chandelier, which could not be removed through any door due to its large size. 

Reconstruction: a new cultural center

Finally, in 1978, the local architect Jorge Swain, in charge of the Ensenada Federal Board of Material Improvements at that time, decided to begin the restoration of the building that had been an emblem of the city. The dilemma then arose as to whether to recover it as a hotel, or to give it another use, perhaps as a convention center or a house of culture. 

The final decision was made at the end of that year by President López Portillo and it was then decreed that the property would be rebuilt as a Social, Civic and Cultural Center of Ensenada. The works spanned several years and the hotel's original Californian colonial style was respected. Although the original furniture, murals and details were impossible to recover, the new Riviera Cultural Center, as it is popularly known, opened its doors in 1981, and to celebrate, a great dance was held.