The Rosarito Beach Hotel, one of Baja California’s oldest continuously operating hotels, will mark its centennial on Saturday, June 28 with a gala event at the property’s beachfront grounds. The celebration caps a century that saw the hotel evolve from a Prohibition-era getaway for Hollywood stars into a cultural landmark on the Rosarito coastline.
From Prohibition Playground to Baja Landmark Since 1925
The hotel’s origins trace to the 1920s, when Mexican developer Manuel P. Barbachano recognized the commercial potential of Baja’s Pacific coast. He purchased a stretch of beachfront property south of Tijuana and opened the first structure in 1925, initially as a modest roadside inn. The timing was no accident. American Prohibition, which banned alcohol sales in the United States from 1920 to 1933, drove waves of Californians across the border in search of legal drinks and entertainment.
By the late 1920s, the hotel had expanded and begun attracting Hollywood celebrities. Stars like Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, and Lana Turner were among the guests who made the drive from Los Angeles. The hotel’s bar, the Azteca, became famous for its hand-painted murals and its reputation as a gathering spot for the film industry elite. That era cemented Rosarito Beach Hotel’s identity as a glamorous escape, a reputation the property still trades on today.
The Barbachano family retained ownership through the decades, expanding the property with a convention center, additional towers, and the Casa la Playa spa. Hugo Torres Chabert, the current president of the hotel group and a Barbachano descendant, has overseen the property since the early 2000s. Under his management, the hotel has weathered multiple economic downturns, security concerns that dampened Baja tourism in the late 2000s, and the COVID-19 pandemic that shuttered hotels across Mexico in 2020.
The property sits on the main tourist strip of Rosarito, along Boulevard Benito Juárez. It remains one of the few large-scale beachfront hotels in the city that predates the condo boom of the 1990s and 2000s. Its distinctive pink stucco facade and tiled archways have become a visual shorthand for Rosarito itself, appearing on tourism brochures for decades.
Centennial Gala on June 28 Features Live Music and Fireworks
The June 28 gala will include live music, a fireworks display over the Pacific, and a formal dinner on the hotel’s oceanfront terrace. The event is part of a broader centennial campaign the hotel launched earlier in 2025, which has included historical photo exhibitions and special weekend packages.
Rosarito’s municipal government has also participated in the celebrations. Mayor Araceli Brown Figueredo attended a preliminary centennial event in May and described the hotel as part of the city’s foundational identity. The municipal tourism office has promoted the anniversary as part of its summer 2025 programming for the Rosarito corridor.
The hotel’s centennial arrives during a period of renewed real estate and tourism activity in Rosarito. The city has seen a surge in American and Canadian buyers over the past three years, driven by lower property costs relative to Southern California. The Rosarito-Ensenada toll road corridor, where the hotel is located, has added several new condo developments and restaurant openings since 2022. The hotel itself completed renovations on portions of its older tower rooms in late 2024.
Rosarito’s tourism sector still depends heavily on weekend visitors from San Diego and Tijuana. The city draws an estimated 3 million visitors per year, according to Baja California’s state tourism office. The hotel remains one of the top five employers in the Rosarito hotel zone, with roughly 400 staff during peak season.
The centennial gala on June 28 is open to hotel guests and ticket holders. Pricing and reservation details are available through the hotel’s website. The property also plans a series of smaller anniversary events through the end of 2025, including a historical photo book release scheduled for September. This story was first reported by El Mexicano.