Hotel Ponce Intercontinental

The hotel is located in the northern section of the city of Ponce, on a hill just north of the El Vigia Hill, behind Cruceta del Vigía and Castillo Serralles.[9] The hotel had a large circular outdoor swimming pool, a ballroom named Salón Ponciana, a cocktail bar named Bar Coquí; and a restaurant called El Cafetal.[10] On the top of the hotel, WRIK-TV had its transmission antenna.[11] The hotel is on a lot measuring approximately 25 cuerdas (roughly 25 acres).[12] The land area is 22.5 cuerdas.[13]

One of the hotel's façades in 1964

The hotel was designed in 1957-58 by American architect William B. Tabler, FAIA. Tabler, whose offices were in New York City, designed hotels worldwide for the Statler chain, Hilton, and Intercontinental.[14][15]

Tabler designed the Ponce Intercontinental in a modern style with ample space for cross ventilation and light, interior details, and quasi-futuristic traits. The design takes advantage of the location of the building for natural ventilation and exposure to large and spacious panoramic views of the Caribbean Sea from the top sector of the El Vigia Hill in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico.[16]

The architectural design of this hotel is simple but consistent with a curvilinear theme which is unique in Puerto Rico. The concrete shells that housed the restaurant, and activities rooms are geared to take advantage of large open spaces with majestic views of the Caribbean Sea.[17] The use of ornamental roofs is typical of modern architecture of the mid-1950s era.[18]

2007 photo of the front facade of the derelict structure

The first stone of the Hotel was placed on January 6, 1958, under the project name “Hotel El Ponceño”,[19][20] and the Hotel opened as a luxury hotel on 1 February 1960.[21][22]The cost of the construction of the hotel was $3.75 million USD ($33 million today).[23] The Hotel operated for 15 years (from 1960 to 1975) and was of particular importance in the collective memory of the Ponce's popular society in the 1960s through the 1970s.[24] The hotel was a bustling center of entertainment that stood out as a center of large musical events of those years. The Ponce Intercontinental is remembered for being the birthplace of great artistic, social and political events of its time.[25] Celebrities, such as Chucho Avellanet, Iris Chacon, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Celia Cruz, Marco Antonio Muñiz, José José, Sandro de America, Camilo Sesto, Raphael, and others, stayed or performed at the hotel.[26]

The hotel closed on May 31, 1975 for reasons that continue to be unknown. Speculation was that there were labor conflicts as well as that the management of the hotel was disappointed with the Government of Puerto Rico's failure to build a better access road to the hotel.[27][28][29][30] The hotel's only access road was through a narrow one-way, one-lane alley in a financially deprived neighborhood north of the city. High operating costs and its location were also reported as reasons for its demise.[31]

January 2012 photo of the former hotel, as seen from the city of Ponce

In 1979, the mayor of Ponce José G. Tormos Vega announced that the hotel would reopen under new owners for the 1979 Pan American Games, which was held in San Juan, Puerto Rico. However, the hotel didn’t reopened and in 1981, a group of Puerto Rican and American investors were reportedly looking into purchasing the property. No other developments were subsequently reported.[32]

In 1985, and under government guidelines, Puerto Rico's Compañia de Fomento Industrial ("PRIDCO") decided to buy the structure on 7 November 1985, with the goal of remodeling it, expanding its facilities, and providing the city of Ponce with world-class accommodations. PRIDCO commissioned the architectural firm of Pablo Quinones & Associates to initiate investigations and studies on the condition of the main structure with the intention of upgrading it to modern codes. The design team, consisting of personnel with expertise in architecture and engineering, generated its recommendations, which were delivered to the PRIDCO. Simultaneously, the team traveled to New York City in 1985-86, where it located the original plans at the offices of William B. Tabler. As a design strategy for its architectural features, they decided to remodel the essence of its main structure and proposed an enlargement to accommodate a modern convention center within the premises.[33]

On 7 October 1985 as a result of the landslide in Mameyes, the hotel was used as temporary accommodation for people affected by the floods. As the time of the relocation of those people became longer than anticipated, the plans to enlarge and re-model the hotel were abandoned.[34]

In 1999, George Philip Rivera, owner of the second largest shrimp farm in Puerto Rico and also a local boxing promoter, was interested buying and in remodeling property to have it operate as El Vigía Hotel & Casino. He envisioned the construction of villas, a multilevel parking garage and banquet facilities.[35] However, by 2001 the sale had fallen through and PRIDCO put the property for sale again. CBC Development won the auction for the property and planned to demolish the structure and build a 365-unit walk-up apartment complex.[36]

In 2006, however, CBC Development changed plans. It then planned to remodel the hotel, build an 80-room condo hotel, a 15,200 ft. square convention center, and 80 villas. The project was named Vista Magna Hotel & Resort. Two years later, however, in 2008, due to the estructural damage deemed too extensive, CBC decided it would instead demolish the structure and build a new hotel having some elements of the nostalgic original building.[37] In any event, neither repairs nor demolition took place and in 2012, CBC Development along with the Integrated Development Commission of the South Region from the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico began considering the possibility to rehabilitate the structure to operate as a senior citizen housing complex. The plan called for 126 senior housing units.[38]

By 2016, however, a new player surfaces. Juan Jose Acosta wins approval for his to convert the building into a housing complex for homeless youth members of the LGBT community.[39]

In 2018, Grupo Misla Villalba, headed by Abel Misla Villalba, owners of Hotel Meliá, acquired the rights for the property and planned to rehabilitate the structure as an hotel.[40]

• History of the Autonomous City of Ponce
• Intercontinental-Hotels
• List of hotels in Puerto Rico
• Hotel Ponce Intercontinental