HISTORY
The Historic Hotel Caesar’s Place opens its doors in December 1930, in a period of significant changes for Tijuana in which the construction of various buildings to meet the growing demand for tourism begins.
One of these changes was the transfer of the hippodrome from the city to the facilities of the newly constructed and paradisiacal Casino Agua Caliente complex. At the same time the Great Depression began (1929), it was expected to last a short time but it did not happen, it was extended by several difficult years for the city.
In a context of increasing tourist boom César Cardini arrived in Tijuana, a citizen of Italian origin who in 1931 bought land to build the Hotel Caesar’s.
In spite of this, a visionary Italian named César Cardini decided to build the Hotel that included an Italian canteen, restaurant and courtyard due to the fame and prestige that the restaurant had had for years. The main factors of this success were the Caesar salad and the presence of a growing list of stars and personalities from around the world that were frequent guests of the establishment and that we will comment later.
The facilities offered adequate accommodation to the large number of tourists arriving from California and other parts of the world, these were used to a careful service and the best quality, confirming it when visiting the Hotel Caesar’s Place. César’s dream finally materialized: making his establishment the social, cultural, tourist and business center of Tijuana.
The official inauguration took place on March 14, 1931 with a great event, a great dinner and gala dance. Over the months, a reception hall was built to receive the first International Rotary Club. This great event was held in November 1931 with the participation of the Rotarians of California, the Tijuana residents were sponsored by the Rotary Club of Chula Vista and with the presence of the President of the 2nd District, David J. Reese.
With all these important events, it was already dazzling the great success that it has had, of which we will continue commenting.
*We thank the valuable support and information given by Mr. Armando Avakian to produce this short history of Caesar`s Hotel. Mr. Avakian is currently working with a group of experts in a history research project about the building where the hotel resides. The works will be published soon. There is no doubt that it will be a remarkable historical document for Tijuana.