Author's Product Rating - Acapulco of 50 years ago

Cons - No A/C, no TV, no luxury perks

Full Review
Review Topic: Accommodations

"Do you know about the Hollywood Gang?" the cabbie asked me. I shook my head no -- never heard of it.

"This hotel was their private retreat for 30 years," he explained, "you couldn't come here unless they invited you." Fortunately for me, it's a little less exclusive today...

Stumbling On a Gem
Last Wednesday I'd gotten into Acapulco around mid-day and I wanted to explore some of the parts of the city that I'd never seen before. I started negotiating with a cabbie to drive me around the furthest point of old Acapulco -- the part where Caleta Beach is located -- and I was getting frustrated. The cabbie wouldn't drop his price below 150 pesos (at least we're down from the original 200 pesos), and I knew the distance around the point wasn't that far -- certainly no more than 40 pesos worth of straight driving. What was I going to get for the extra 110 pesos? More than I expected, as it turns out...

We'd spent the first half hour or so of our tour just driving up the twisty little roads that run around the coastline and up towards the top of the hill, where you can see an absolutely huge mansion dominating the skyline. Along the way there are homes built by famous actors, singers, and writers from around the world. The famous Mexican comic, Cantinflas, has a huge house along the bay with a private funicular that descends the cliff about 200 feet to his own private dock. American actress Esther Williams also had one of those on here home here. Towards the top of the hill on the bayside we ran out of road and were stopped by a chain link fence across the roadway.

The one house past the fence was empty and had a Se Vende sign to hopefully attract some new owners. An old man in a security guard uniform watched us warily as we got out of the car, a worn looking pistol clearly visible tucked into his pants. He came over and said hello, and the cabbie told him we were just up there to admire the view (which was stunning -- you could look out across the sheltered harbor of old Acapulco in one direction or across Acapulco Bay to Condesa Beach in another direction). I asked the guard how much money the owners were asking for the house he was guarding. 4.7 million pesos was the answer -- about $475,000 in U.S. money. An incredible deal for the right buyer...but a touch over my budget for the day.

Continuing around the point, we passed a couple of abandoned shells of hotels, a couple abandoned houses, and several more huge, luxurious places -- invariably tucked behind fortress-like concrete walls or iron gates. The most stunning of these was at the home of Octavio Paz -- the Nobel-prize winning poet. His walls had three-dimensional murals of Mayan gods intricately pieced together from ceramic tile. These were as beautiful as any of the murals I've seen in Mexico City, but on a smaller scale.

As we drove through the old Caleta Beach area, the cabbie asked me about the Hollywood Gang. That conversation set the stage for our visit to the Flamingo Hotel. I was so impressed by the place that I just had to spend a night there, so I made plans with the front desk to reserve a suite for my last night in Acapulco.

The Hotel of a More Genteel Era

From the street, the Flamingo Hotel doesn't look like anything special. Just another of the many 1 or 2 star hotels where rooms can be had for $10 a night. What's the big deal?

The deal is that this hotel was one of the first luxury hotels in Acapulco, having been built in the 1930s. In 1950, the hotel was purchased lock, stock, and barrel, by a group of Hollywood actors as their own private Shangrila. This group was called The Hollywood Gang, and was led by Johnny Weismuller (Tarzan), and John Wayne. There were about 10-15 other investors in the deal, including names like Cary Grant. The hotel would remain the private resort of these stars until 1984.

The hotel lobby and restaurant are filled with photos and film memorabilia from these people. There are lots of Tarzan photos, and plenty of the Duke too, along with a few modern era photos of actors returning to visit the place.

It's easy to understand why the stars loved the Flamingo Hotel -- it's got one of the most dramatically beautiful settings in Acapulco. Built high atop a 450 foot cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, every room has not only an ocean view, but arguably the best sunset view anywhere. Hammocks are strung on the porches for afternoon naps, or you can just fall asleep outside at night as you listen to the surf crashing against the rocks below.

A quiet swimming pool is set back from the cliffs a bit, with lush tropical landscaping backing it up. A waiter will bring drinks from the bar. Sitting out by the pool with a cool Negra Modelo, doing nothing but listening to the waves and soaking up sun and sea breeze is what vacations are all about!

Am I In Tarzan's Bed or the Duke's Bed?
The suite that I reserved is called the Tarzan Suite (Casa de Tarzan). It is a round house set apart from the rest of the hotel, and separated from it by the swimming pool and a garden area. If private seclusion is what you want, check out the Tarzan Suite!

While the hotel manager said that the round house was Johnny Wiessmuller's favorite place to be, and that he virtually lived in the place for several years, a newspaper article on the wall claimed that it was also John Wayne's favorite place to be and that the Duke usually claimed it as his private turf. I can only imagine the battle that must have taken place when the King of the Jungle wanted to relax at the same time as the Duke...

The suite will sleep 6 comfortably. There are 2 bedrooms, plus a huge open screened in living room with another double bed in it. In fact, there is not a single closable window in the whole place! When I walked past the house while doing the tour with the cabbie, I thought that was incredibly cool. It's actually a bit warmer than I'd like though when evening temperatures don't drop fast enough for us gringos. Of course, I hadn't thought about the fact that no windows means no A/C. It also means you hear city noises from afar, an occasional boat horn, or crickets and birds chirping all night. The place is cool for one night -- I'd probably get tired of it real quick though.

Although everything in the room was clean and well maintained, it was clear that nothing had been updated since Johnny Wiesmuller lived there. The bathroom featured 1930s era fixtures and such a hideously ugly blue-green color of tile that I can't help but wonder how the world ever conspired to give us a guy who could make such ugly tile at the same time as it gave us a guy who would actually buy such ugly tile. Maybe there was a sale 75 years ago...

The best thing about the Tarzan Suite is being outside of it!

A wide patio goes all the way around the house, and there's always a breeze blowing across part of it. There are several wood adirondack chairs positioned for maximum appreciation of the ocean views, and there are two hammocks strung up for different views and different sun or shade combinations. The back of the house faces a garden of tropical landscaping, one side has a view of Isla Roqueta, and the rest looks out over the Pacific Ocean (the hotel is Oceanside -- not on the bay). The house also features a stone walkway that descends down the cliff to a small stone fortress built into the Cliffside wall. There's also enough room here to bring a chair if you feel like staying a while...

Dinner On the Rocks
Like most restaurants in Acapulco, the view is nothing less than spectacular, and the restaurant is almost entirely open-air (although the Flamingo has huge windows that open up to allow a fresh breeze cool the room or that can be closed to limit the breeze or protect from rain).

The menu is something of a cross between Mexican and American. While there are plenty of traditional Mexican dishes to choose from, there are also things like French Onion Soup or pancakes for breakfast -- items you would certainly not find in a typical Mexican restaurant. The food is excellent, and portions are generous. I had a filet mignon that was cooked to perfection and topped with a mushroom and white wine sauce.

This hotel is also where the "Coco Loco" drink originated, and the Flamingo still claims to serve the best Coco Loco (not for light drinkers though..) Their margaritas are also wonderful, and their bar is one of the few to offer a full range of Mexican beers from both of the big breweries. The bar has a small, romantic porch with a few tables under a palapa roof. The views are great for the bar -- but then they are in the dining room too.

About My Rating...
I'm rating the Flamingo as a 4-star place, but it gets that based mostly on its very high cool factor. It is not a luxury hotel in the year 2000 sense. There will be no Jacuzzis, no beach front, and definitely no theme park inside. You can get air-conditioning or television, but only on request. Things will be clean, but you should not expect brand-new or refurbished anything -- some of the rooms don't look like they've been renovated since Franklin Roosevelt was president. (I had a very cool art-deco style rocking chair in my room that my grandmother -- the antique hound -- would kill for.)

Logistics
The hotel is located on Av. Lopez Mateos in the heart of Old Acapulco. Rates start at about $50 up to about $125 per night, depending on which room you want and the time of year. Last week I paid $70 for one night in the Tarzan Suite. Although it's the most unique room in the hotel, it's not the most expensive because it does not have air conditioning or television. For more information, or to make reservations, call 011-52-7-482-0690.

Bienvenidos Amigos

Most typical U.S. vacationers will probably not appreciate the Flamingo Hotel. A few conneisseurs of relaxed travel who enjoy experiencing things from bygone eras will find it an absolutely unforgettable place that should not be bypassed lightly.

I leave it to you, gentle reader, to decide whether you are the kind of person that Tarzan and the Duke would want visiting their favorite retreat...

Back to Hotel Los Flamingos, Acapulco, México - by Fred!