Riviera del Pacifico

Riviera del Pacifico is the Ensenada's Social, Civic and Cultural Center.

Riviera's History

Construction of the building began in the 1920s.

The Playa Ensenada Hotel & Casino --its former name-- opened in 1930 as a glamorous casino, hotel, restaurant and bar visited by Hollywood stars and wealthy Americans and Mexicans during the Prohibition era.

Rumors say Al Capone put money to build the casino and that Jack Dempsy once managed it.

Famous Casino Guests

This plush gambling casino attracted personalities like Johnny Weismuller, Myrna Loy, Ali Kahn, Rita Hayworth and Dolores del Rio.

Other glamorous guests that gambled and partied here during Prohibition times were William Randolph Hearst, Marion Davies, Lucille Ball, Lana Turner and Bing Crosby.

But the Mexican government outlawed gambling in 1938, and the building closed.

Riviera's Attractions

Today, after 40 years of misuse, and after its restoration that began in the early 80's, the former hotel and casino boasts again its elegant Moorish-style architecture, elaborated mosaics, its painted ceilings and carved beams, gorgeous grillwork on the doors, intricate ironwork in the heavy chandeliers.

Today the building is used for conventions, social and cultural events.

Reborn as the Centro Social, Civico y Cultural de Ensenada, it now hosts the Museo de Historia and the Galeria de la Ciudad.

There is much of interest to see...