The Hotel Deauville is a historic hotel in

Centro Habana Centro Habana is one of the 15 municipalities or boroughs (''municipio''s in Spanish) in the city of Havana, Cuba. There are many retail spaces (such as ''Plaza de Carlos III'' commercial center, office buildings, hotels, bars and clubs (such as th ...

located at Calle Galiano 1 on a corner with the Malecón promenade, and overlooking the Bay of Havana. The hotel was constructed as a casino hotel in 1957 by a consortium owned by American mobster

Santo Trafficante Jr. Santo Trafficante Jr. (November 15, 1914 – March 17, 1987) was among the most powerful Mafia bosses in the United States. He headed the Trafficante crime family and controlled organized criminal operations in Florida and Cuba, which had prev ...

In 1955, President

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (; ; born Rubén Zaldívar, January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and as its U.S.-backed military dictator ...

enacted Hotel Law 2074, offering tax incentives, government loans and casino licenses to anyone who built a hotel costing in excess of $1,000,000 or a nightclub costing $200,000. This resulted in the construction of the Hotel Deauville, as well as other hotels including the

Hotel Habana Riviera The Hotel Habana Riviera by Iberostar, originally known as the Havana Riviera, is a historic resort hotel located on the Malecón waterfront boulevard in the Vedado district of Havana, Cuba. The hotel,which is managed by the Spanish Iberostar cha ...

, Hotel Capri, Hotel St. John and Havana Hilton, all featuring casinos. The construction of the Hotel Deauville began in 1956, and the hotel opened in 1957. It was built at a cost of $2.3 million, was 14 stories high and featured 140 rooms, a rooftop swimming pool, a cabaret and two casinos. The hotel was primarily owned by

Trafficante crime family The Trafficante crime family, also known as the Tampa Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Tampa, Florida, United States. The most notable boss was Santo Trafficante, Jr. who ruled Tampa and the crime family with an iron fist. ...

boss

and bolita banker Evaristo Garcia Jr., and the casinos were owned by Trafficante. Joe Silesi (alias Joe Rivers), a member of the

Gambino crime family The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Ame ...

, was the casino manager. Trafficante also had interests in the Hotel Capri, the Sans Souci nightclub and casino, the Sevilla-Biltmore, and the Hotel Comodoro. The casino was sacked by mobs in early January 1959 as

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

's rebel army overtook Havana. On October 24, 1960 the Cuban government published its Official Gazette Resolution 3 (pursuant to Law 851, Official Gazette, July 7, 1960), which nationalized the Hotel Deauville as well as a number of other hotels and businesses owned by American investors. In 2017, it was announced that St Giles Hotels would assume management of the hotel after a major renovation. As of 2022, the renovation has not yet begun.

References

* English, T.J. Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba and Then Lost It to the Revolution. William Morrow Paperbacks

Mobsters Move in on Troubled Havana and Split Rich Gambing Profits with Batista. ''Life magazine'' March 10, 1958 pp32-37

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deauville Hotels in Havana Hotels established in 1957 Nightclubs in Havana 1957 establishments in Cuba 20th-century architecture in Cuba