 Love and Passion in the Rosarito Beach Hotel
The famous Rosarito Beach Hotel, in Rosarito Beach,
Mexico is one of Southern California's favorite playgrounds. Located on the Baja Peninsula only 20 miles south
of the border, the grand old dame is celebrating her 80th birthday on May 21, 2005.
Rosarito Beach is a town with an interesting history, with much of the tourist business pegging its beginning
to 1925 when Manuel Barbachano opened the Rosarito Beach Hotel. Evoking the image of a grand tropical Hacienda,
the Rosarito showcases a grand ballroom, extensive gardens, famous sprawling murals, high ceilings with revolving
fans and an in-door solarium pool overlooking the beach. Modern amenities include an additional outdoor pool, gym
& sauna, the Casa Playa Health Spa, tennis and racquetball courts, and a good childrens' program. Guestrooms
have acquired a singular aura, thanks to a veritable "Who's Who" of Hollywood celebrities that have stayed
at this lovely hotel.
Some of the most fascinating stories attached to this timeshare resort/hotel have to do with tales of love and
passion that happened in its first 80 years of life, particularly the passions involving the rich and famous.
MANUEL AND MARIA LUISA
Manuel Barbachano was without any doubt the most successful visionary and businessman in the history of
Baja California. He created the electric and phone companies, built the Tijuana - Rosarito highway, a landing strip
by the ocean and the Rosarito Beach Hotel, which was the detonator for this new and strong municipality.
Manuel fell in love with the young actress Maria Luisa Chabert and married her in 1937. Maria Luisa decided
she prefered Rosarito and not Tijuana as a residence, and they moved next door to the small hotel with 12 rooms
Don Manuel had bought in 1929. His love for Maria Luisa drove Don Manuel to build for her an impressive mansion next to the
hotel. Today it holds the Don Quixote room, Chabert's Restaurant and the first class and luxurious Casa Playa SPA.
Maria Luisa was responsible for the beautiful decor of the hotel. Her good taste can bee seen in the lobby, the
Azteca Restaurant and Salon Mexicano.
One day while watching his beautiful Maria Luisa walking across the threshold of the hotel, Don Manuel decided
to place above the door the famous sign that reads: "POR ESTA PUERTA PASAN LAS MUJERES MAS BELLAS DEL MUNDO",
which in English means "THROUGH THIS DOOR WALK THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN IN THE WORLD".
 RAFAEL TRUJILLO AND KIM NOVAK
Rafael Trujillo, son of the Dominican dictator, bribed Zsa-Zsa Gabor with a fantastic fur coat to
get her to introduce him to a blonde beauty that he eventually conquered, giving her a fabulous diamond necklace
worth millions. She accepted and spent some romantic days -and nights- with him in the Rosarito Beach Hotel. The
blonde beauty was none other than the beautiful Kim Novak.
Kim liked the hotel so much that she asked her millionaire boyfriend to buy the family mansion and take it stone
by stone back to Hollywood. Fortunately it didn't happen.
 BURGESS MEREDITH AND
PAULETTE GODDARD
These two icons of the classic Hollywood era of the 40's and 50's visited the hotel on various occasions as sweethearts.
They liked it so much that they decided to get married there. It was a discreet affair with only a dozen or so
guests, amongst them Gregory Peck, Vincent Price, Zsa-Zsa Gabor and Spencer Tracy.
 ALI KHAN AND RITA HAYWORTH
In 1954, the son of the Shah of Iran, Aly Khan, visited the Rosarito Beach Hotel. At the time, he was considered
one of the richest men in the world.
He arrived accompanied by the famous actress Rita Hayworth, who was his girlfriend, and an entourage of
17 persons, amongst them cooks, servants, hairdressers and of course, bodyguards. They occupied for two weeks the
whole bungalow section of the hotel.
In the afternoons, Ali and Rita used to walk holding hand on the beach, followed discretely at some 20 meters away
by the four bodyguards and one servant who would erase with a palm leaf their footprints on the sand.
 There are many other stories attached to this wonderful property-- tales of gambling, the rich
and famous, mobsters, presidents and political leaders: The six glasses of Spanish Brandy that Orson Wells
drank after a meal, how Kim Novak was swinging from a lamp, what happened in Rosarito the day Pearl Harbor
was attacked by the Japanese, where Frank Sinatra used to sleep and Marilyn Monroe's favorite table
at the Beachcomber bar -- these and many other stories can be found among Mrs. Maria Luisa Chabert's letters and
notes, kept by the family that owns the famous hotel.
Hugo Torres, Maria Luisa's nephew and present owner of the hotel, said the letters and notes will not be published
because he considers them to be a family treasure, but a lot of information they contain will be used to know for
example, the rooms where famous people stayed, their favorite tables, what they ate and drank. Among the many visitors
were Marilyn Monroe, Mickey Rooney, Orson Wells, Lana Turner, Esther Williams, Gregory Peck, Frank Sinatra,
Spencer Tracy, Rock Hudson and Victor Mature.
The Rosarito Beach Hotel has commissioned specialists to organize the documents, to get new and true information
about this prestigious hotel's history. Though the letters and notes will not be published, the stories will be
published during the celebration of the first 80 years of the Rosarito Beach Hotel.
The Rosarito Beach Hotel is still the very best full-service hotel in the area, with miles of beaches and an
ambience that intrigues even the most casual visitor. The fact that four million guests have lodged in this hotel
since 1926 proves it.
You owe it to yourself to explore this magical and historic place.
Source: Rosarito Beach Hotel
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