Hoteles emblemáticos de Panamá: Un siglo de renovación de la oferta hotelera (1850-1950)

• Autores: Patricia Pizzurno
• Localización: Canto Rodado: Revista especializada en patrimonio, ISSN-e 1818-2917, Nº. 5, 2010, págs. 111-144
• Idioma: español
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• Resumen
  • español

    En este artículo se explora la actividad hotelera y gastronómica en las ciudades terminales - Panamá y Colón- durante el siglo comprendido entre 1850 y 1950, cuando la presencia de extranjeros, sobre todo estadounidenses y europeos, aceleró la renovación del consumo, introdujo nuevos hábitos entre la población local y consolidó una sociedad cosmopolita. Desde mediados del siglo diecinueve, ambas actividades estuvieron controladas por extranjeros quienes impusieron nuevos modelos de hospedaje y dietas acordes con la demanda de sus huéspedes. Sin embargo, no fue hasta la séptima década del siglo diecinueve cuando cristalizó la primera propuesta hotelera moderna de estilo metropolitano francés en la ciudad de Panamá, al inaugurarse el Grand Hôtel, seguido del Hotel Central.

    El siglo veinte fue testigo de una verdadera revolución hotelera en Panamá que comenzó con la llegada de los estadounidenses para la construcción del Canal y se tradujo en la apertura de los hoteles Tívoli en Ancón en 1906 y Washington en Colón en 1913. La modernidad, sinónimo entonces de civilización, introducida plenamente por los estadounidenses en estas nuevas soluciones hoteleras, privilegiaba la higiene, el buen servicio, la privacidad, las actividades deportivas y una restauración internacional. Ambos hoteles se convirtieron en polos de atracción de la vida social en las respectivas ciudades. Entretanto, en la capital se desarrolló una hotelería sin mayores pretensiones hasta la apertura del Hotel El Panamá, a mediados del siglo, considerado en su momento uno de los hoteles más lujosos del continente

  • English

    This article explores the evolution of restaurant and hotel activities in the main cities of Panamá and Colón during the century between 1850 and 1950. During this period the immigration of Europeans and US citizens gave a momentum to new habits, evolution and consolidation of a more cosmopolitan native society. The discovery of gold mines in California in 1848 as well as the construction of a railroad for the adventurers in 1855 set Panama as a bridge in the route to New York and San Francisco and made it possible for foreign businessmen to settle in the country. Parallel to the railroad the hotel business started a slow expansion, mainly near the train stations in the cities of Panamá and Colón.

    Since the nineteen century the hotels were managed and administrated mainly by people from abroad, who brought new standards concerning accommodations and food serving for their guests. But it would be in the late seventies of the century that two French promoters really would crystallize the modern concept of hotel business in Panama with the creation of the Grand Hôtel -a very French cosmopolitan concept-, and the Central Hotel, in the capital city of the country.

    The twentieth century gave birth to a real revolution in the hotel business, mainly because of the construction of the Panama Canal. The Tivoli Hotel was opened in Ancon in 1906 and in 1913 was the turn of the Washington Hotel in Colón. A new concept of modernity was introduced and �civilization� came in hand with the new hotel solutions brought in by the Americans. A good service with privacy, hygiene, sport activities and international restaurants were the keys. Both hotels became poles of attraction for the society of both cities.

    In between the two World Wars, Panama City did not develop major hotel projects until the construction of the El Panamá Hotel, in the 1950´s, considered at that time one of the most luxurious hotels in the continent. The reason that leads to the construction of El Panamá was that the Tivoli Hotel had closed its doors. The Panama Hotel was planned and built in the recently formed high class neighborhood of El Cangrejo, occupying an area of more than 2000 square meters. This hotel not only initiated a real revolution and main changes in the hotel architecture and development, but also in the social life of the capital city and that of the Canal Zone.