Mazatlan’s Hotel Belmar with almost a century of stories

In addition, there are lurid stories that guests have told, the terror of ghostly apparitions

Mazatlan, Sinaloa.- Anyone who has entered the iconic Hotel Belmar, knows that time does not exist, because the atmosphere that lives and breathes there is loaded with stories and experiences; stories that have passed from generation to generation and are still told today. And even though this building has already turned 98, it is still the favorite of tourists.

“Everyone thinks and believes that it was the first hotel in Mazatlán, it is like that but with a view of the sea, in a beach area, that is, if there were hotels older than the Belmar but in the center of Mazatlán, which right now there are none. Right now it is the oldest in all of Mazatlan, with a view of the sea, ”began Armando Valdés, manager of this museum of memories.

As you pass through the corridors, you can breathe the history of what was originally a Hacienda, which in 1892 served as a warehouse for gold and silver that were extracted from the El Tajo mines, in Rosario, and which today conserves two of the oldest belongings on the site; the original warehouse of those years and one of the guides that were used to transport the carts full of minerals.

Due to the importance that the venue acquired, and the popularity among important people of the time, it is well known that Walt Disney himself came to stay, as well as western film celebrities such as John Wayne, in addition to Armando, it is rumored that even Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete were guests of this hotel, as well as very important bullfighters.

“At the Republic level, the General, Lázaro Cárdenas, was also here John Wayne, Walt Disney, there were many characters, and they say that although it was in passing, at the time Pedro Infante, Jorge Negrete came, and more current characters of Siempre on Sunday, ”he recalled.

One of the stories most remembered in this venue was the one that in 1944 led Rodolfo T. Loaiza, at that time Governor of Sinaloa, assassinated at the hands of Rodolfo Valdez Valdez, alias “El Gitano”, during a Carnival celebration.

“Back here where the fountain is, which is called the Andalusian patio, there were the meetings, the parties, the carnival dinners, and there they came and murdered him,” said the manager while pointing out the place of the murder, right under his feet.

Although the humidity highlights the passage of time between its walls, it enhances the appeal of its imposing patio and its colorful walls covered in talavera brought from Seville, matching an African ebony desk in the reception, each one more than 100 years old. of antiquity, the exotic luxuries that were in the garden came to Armando’s memory.

“And here we talk about the patios in the back, that to say the best insecticide we had were the boas that we had at that time, which were the ones that exterminated all pests, we had an exotic garden, and animals too … The one who was the owner of the Minas el Tajo, in Rosario, was the owner and first, it was Hacienda, the Belmar, as he had people, guests or something, then he already made a hotel, the building is from 1892, as a hotel it began in 1922, and from here they brought everything that was gold and silver and minerals from the Tajo Mine, in Rosario and they were kept here in a warehouse and from here it was framed, there was a wooden jetty ahead and they were sent to San Francisco, California ” added.

And as if this place did not need anything else, there are also lurid stories that the guests themselves have told, seized by the terror caused by a ghostly apparition.

“What happens is that being a hotel with so many years, people have died here. Says a guest who came to stay at night and inside his room, in the bathroom, they saw a girl and that in that because she got scared and went down to sleep in the lobby, then he saw her again and got down here to the reception to sleep because the girl was inside the room, or people who say they see their children playing with children inside the room and there is no one, in the corridors they say they hear people coughing, there are people who say they have perceived aromas “, He suggested.

The popularity of this old hotel is still recognized by young people, although today it is more named for the drinks offered in the bar, they continue to fill the rooms like the first day. “The Belmar will always be the Belmar, no matter how many new hotels open, people keep coming,” he concluded at the conclusion of the tour.

Source: reaccioninformativa.com

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