By Juan Pablo Sebastián

With a spectacular performance by Jeff Nevin’s Mariachi Champagne on the afternoon of Friday, May 24, the Rosarito Beach Hotel kicked off the celebrations for its first centennial, “One Hundred Years of History.”

Friends, family, and clients from both sides of the border joined the Torres family in celebrating the first hundred years of this pioneering company in Rosarito’s tourism development.

Among the love stories intertwined with the Rosarito Beach Hotel is the life of Edward Marsh, the current benefactor of the Rosarito Boys and Girls Club, who has a deep love for this city since birth. He claims he was conceived in a room at the hotel in 1951.

The president of the hotel’s board of directors, Hugo Antonio Torres, gave a brief reminiscence about the company’s beginnings, from its creation in 1924, to its purchase by Don Manuel Barbachano, through the leadership of his father, Hugo Torres Chabert, for many years, to today with a completely remodeled image.

He emphasized that the hotel is a milestone in the city’s tourism development, as its contribution is integral to understanding Rosarito’s growth.

“First came the hotel and then came tourist Rosarito,” he said. “There already existed a Rosarito of ranches and large plots of land, but tourist Rosarito began with the hotel.

“The hotel was born in 1924 from as a small hotel with 10 rooms and a single bathroom without hot water.

“Later, Don Manuel married María Luisa Chabert, a silent film actress from Churubusco in Mexico City. He met her, fell in love, and brought her to live in Rosarito in 1937,” he recalled.

Following the ceremony, the renowned Mariachi Champagne de Jeff Nevin delivered a majestic performance with a long repertoire of classic melodies that delighted more than 500 attendees, including locals, foreigners, and long-time Rosarito families.

Virtuoso voices from members of El Sol de México and Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, part of Jeff Nevin’s mariachi, filled the gardens of the hotel with a magical night, marking the start of the hotel’s anniversary festivities.