Robert Redford stars as 'perfect guest' at Rosarito Beach Hotel

The Rosarito Beach Hotel considers all visitors to be important guests, but during June and July one guest in particular stood out.

He went by the name of Mr. Miller but there was no disguising who really was staying at the Baja California resort: Robert Redford.

The legendary actor occupied a two-bedroom penthouse on the 17th floor of the Pacifico Tower, and while he undoubtedly enjoyed spectacular ocean views and famous Baja hospitality, this was a working trip.

Redford was across the border for the filming, at nearby studios, of director J.C. Chandor's "All Is Lost," about a lone man's struggles against the sea.

For the spacious seaside hotel, which is still rebounding from negative publicity generated by drug cartel-related violence in Baja California, the business was much appreciated.

Production staff, including Chandor, occupied 140 rooms. Redford, 75, chose to stay at the hotel over a nearby mansion to be closer to his colleagues.

The actor and hotel staff reportedly did a good job of maintaining secrecy. Redford relied largely on room service and attempted to hide beneath a baseball cap when he did stroll about the hotel grounds.

He was described in a news release as the perfect guest.

Jorge Morales, a waiter at the hotel's Azteca restaurant, said that only one guest that he knew of recognized the true identity of Mr. Miller during his many restaurant visits.

"I told the customer that [Redford] was making a movie and was very tired," Morales said. "Please don't disturb him."

Morales was Redford's personal waiter and often served the actor Puerto Nuevo-style lobster and Don Julio tequila.

Before checking out, the actor posed for photos with Morales and other staff members. They, in turn, were struck by how unassuming Redford turned out to be. "The guy being so famous, how could he be so humble?" Morales said.

Redford also displayed a sense of humor. When asked to identify his favorite Mexican food he responded, "My favorite food is tequila."

He's the latest of many Hollywood stars who have visited the Rosarito Beach Hotel. They include Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth and John Wayne.

Of the drug violence among rival cartels, which two years ago made daily headlines and frightened many tourists into thinking all of Mexico was unsafe, Redford said this: "It's unfortunate, since there are so many areas of Mexico that are safe to visit. More people should know."

"All Is Lost" is due to be released in 2013.

-- Top image shows the Rosarito Beach Hotel. Credit: ©Pete Thomas. Second image shows Robert Redford on the pier in front of the Rosarito Beach Hotel
www.bajainvestment.com

Rosarito Beach Hotel Plans Specials To Promote Ongoing Tourism Increase

MEDIA CONTACT:                          
Ron Raposa                                                                      
ronraposa@hotmail.com

Following last year's 17 percent increase in U.S. visitors, the landmark Rosarito Beach Hotel has a number of price promotions, packages and special events planned to continue the ongoing upswing this year.

With Easter week a popular time for vacation and holiday getaways, the hotel offers a weekday package from $79 that includes an oceanfront room and two dinners for adults, plus free stay and dinner for two children under 12. The Easter weekend rate starts from $109.

This year, Cinco de Mayo weekend coincides with the spring edition of the very popular Rosarito-Ensenada 50-Mile Fun Bike Ride and oceanfront packages are offered starting at $79. The offer is both for people wanting to spend Cinco de Mayo in the holiday's home country and those involved in the ride, which has attracted hundreds of thousands over more than 30 years.

On July 7 the Flying Samaritans will hold its third annual July 4th Beach Barbeque at the hotel. The gala seaside event attracts hundreds from the city's 14,000-member expatriate community as well as visitors from the U.S. All profits benefit the group's free clinics.

"We've got many other promotions this year, including our Spring Romance spa and wine package from $99, plus those who spend a $100 at the hotel get a complimentary Fast Pass to speed their return border crossing," said hotel sales and marketing director Daniel Torres.

More details on these promotions plus many others offered at the legendary hotel are available at www.rosaritobeachhotel.com

The Rosarito Beach Hotel and Resort is a Baja landmark that has hosted millions of visitors since opening in 1925. With more than 500 rooms and suites, its amenities include restaurants, bars and an elegant spa. A luxurious 18-story tower with 271 suites opened four years ago.

The Rosarito Beach Hotel also offers time shares and full ownership of luxury suites through its condo-hotel program.

www.bajainvestment.com

Mexican Dispatch: A Quiet Beach Town, Kept That Way by "Tourist" Police

New America Media/PBS NewsHour, News Report, Jose Luis Sierra, Posted: Sep 16, 2010

ROSARITO BEACH, Mexico—Walking or driving down boulevard Benito Juarez, the main street of Rosarito Beach, gives no hints of the struggles this tourist community has been fighting for the past four years.

As the sun sinks over the Pacific Ocean, neon lights advertise hotel rooms at competitive prices. Restaurants from French, Japanese, or local cuisine that offers rabbit, snake, quail, goat or deer meat— as well as the typical hamburger or Mexican menus—entice customers with margarita specials. Bars and discos compete for customers with loud music. If you care to ask, locals will advise you about the best choices.

If things get a little out of hand, "tourist police" will show up and make an effort to help you feel safe.

The town has a population of about 130,000 residents—14,000 of them U.S. citizens living here permanently. It gained fame in the 1920s for being a favorite spot for Hollywood legends like Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe, and now is advertised as the closest place south of the U.S.-Mexico border where tourists can enjoy the good life at affordable prices.

But locals say things have changed, as they recall the period of 2006-2008, when a violent crime was reported on an average every two hours.

Tourism, with a little more than 1 million visitors a year and the main staple of the local economy, has gone down more than 50 percent. Hotels, restaurants and just about every business related to the service industry faced the choice of closing or reducing staff and scaling down operations.

But the final blow came with the burst of the local real estate market bubble, a little more than three years ago.

Nobody saw it coming, after years of brisk sales of condos and villas along Rosarito Beach. There was a splashy announcement that billionaire Donald Trump would lend his name to a lavish coastal condo-hotel project, 10 miles south of the border on the outskirts of the town. Developers took Trump's move as a sign of confidence and began a frenetic pace of construction.

Thousands of U.S. retirees flocked to the area by the busload in search of an opportunity to own beachfront property at prices impossible to find north of the border. As side benefits, they saw the opportunities of a much lower cost of living, low property taxes, and the option of renting out their property when not in use.

"We originally built out our office space to support 30 to 60 agents. And currently we are running around 10, six. So that's basically what the marketing is supporting right now," said David Biondolillo, a real estate agent in charge of a five tower luxury condos by the beach, with prices ranging from the low $200,000 to $460,000.

Happy to get by, and with most of his 600 units already sold, Biondolillo is one of the lucky few. He said that more than 200 projects with permits already approved had to be shut down for lack of financing. That includes the project to which Trump had lent his name. It now resembles an empty pit.

For now, just as in the United States, a new market is emerging. Buyers are beginning to scout for foreclosure properties, or properties that are being offered for 30-40 percent under their original price, as developers scramble to recoup whatever they can from their investments. Still, perception plays a key role in this strategy.

"True, we had a problem with police corruption and crime four years ago, and that's one of the reasons I ran for mayor," said Hugo Torres, just a few months from finishing his second stint in that post. Torres is also owner of the Rosarito Beach Hotel.

"People ask me constantly if Rosarito is safe. My answer is always yes. It is as safe as any other city in the world. It is a matter of common sense. If you deal with drugs or are involved in any type criminal activity, you will never be safe, no matter where you are," said the 74-year-old mayor.

Flying Samaritans Thank Rosarito Mayor For Help with Fourth of July Clinic Fundraiser

By Ron Raposa

ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO---Members of the Flying Samaritans presented a plaque to city Mayor Hugo Torres for his support in a July 4 fundraiser that raised $9,000 for the group's free health clinic.

More than 800 people, many from this city's large expatriate community, attended a traditional July Fourth celebration with a few Mexican touches for flavor at the Rosarito Beach Hotel. It was sponsored in part by the city.
The event was so popular with both the expatriate and Mexican community that it will become an annual event, said Flying Samaritans President Susan Smith.

The Samaritans operate a twice-monthly free clinic for those who cannot afford other health care. Total yearly operating costs of the privately funded effort are about $20,000, Smith said, and donations have been hard to get in tougher economic times.

Because of publicity from the July 4th celebration, patients at the most recent clinic increased to 150 from a past average of about 110, Smith said. The Samaritans hope at some point in the future to build a clinic instead of using a rented house.

Mayor Torres thanked members both for their work in helping the community and for providing an event that was enjoyed by so many.

http://www.bajainvestment.com/

Weekly Fishing Column: Rosarito Beach welcomes anglers

By Phil Friedman,

Arturo Martinez from the tourism department was at the National Sports Grill in Torrance Thursday at 7 p.m., to talk about a weekend trip to Rosarito Beach, April 9-11.

The trip will feature a surf and pier fishing competition that usually produces barred perch, corbina and halibut.

The key to catching a big halibut on the pier is using live bait. Bring some mackerel snag rigs and snag yourself a few mackerel. Toss one of those mackerel off the pier and you stand a great chance of catching a nice flatfish.

The key to catching corbina is light line. Six-pound test with a trout rod is perfect. A cast of just a few feet is usually perfect. The corbina are in the surf right where the waves are crashing, so that's where you want to present your bait. Sand crabs, muscles, ghost shrimp and Berkley gulp bait all work really well.

Martinez says you get two nights at the Rosarito Beach Hotel, two welcome drinks, two breakfast buffets, two no-host parties, a free barbecue on Saturday, 4 p.m. late checkout and 15 percent off in the hotel spa. The cost is only $285 per couple.

In addition to the fishing, there will be a casino tour, a wine country tour, golf and lots to do at the hotel.

On Saturday, 150 children from the local orphanages will be bused to the Rosarito Beach pier for a day of fishing, beach games and swimming and a basketball clinic put on by world champion Laker Flynn Robinson. You can be a mentor to the kids if you like for what promises to be a special day.


Martinez is making it easy for South Bay residents to get to the Rosarito Beach Hotel. For $99, you can board a bus departing from Wilson Park at 2 p.m. on April 9 to take you to the beach resort. Libations and snacks are included. The bus will depart the hotel on Sunday at 4 p.m. to take you back to Torrance. To sign up for the excursion, call 310-328-8426 or email philip@976-TUNA.com.

Correlation? Sea Adventure II skipper Terry Clayton was fishing for blackgill cod on a commercial trip last week when a spot of 15-pound albacore breezed down the side of his boat. Just as the school approached, a fish jumped clear out of the water.

"I could see its wings perfectly," Clayton said.

This could be a sign of an accelerated season due to the warm El Ni o waters.

"This has to be a good sign for 2010," he said.

Chris Toth of Rancho Palos Verdes was scuba diving recently with friends off Abalone Cove when he looked into a cave only to see a giant eye staring back at him. That eye belonged to a 23-pound sheephead that Toth speared.

The creature thrashed around and mangled Toth's spear, leaving it lodged in the cave. Toth handed the prize member of the wrasse family to a friend who swam it to the surface.

It was the biggest fish Toth had ever speared and a thrilling experience for everyone who was there.

"And the best part of it was those fish tacos," Toth said.

Jennifer Aniston celebrated her 41st birthday last week in Cabo San Lucas.

The actress chose Cabo San Lucas to rebut claims of rampant swine flu and violence. She also is involved in raising funds for a Tijuana orphanage called El Faro.

http://www.bajainvestment.com/