Normandie Hotel Facts for Kids

This page is about the hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. For the hotel in Los Angeles, California, see Hotel Normandie.

Quick facts for kids
Hotel Normandie
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

View of the Normandie Hotel from Muñoz Rivera Avenue, October 2007
Location in Puerto Rico
Location	Ponce de León Ave. and San Gerónimo St., San Juan, Puerto Rico
Built	1942
Architect	Raúl Reichard & Félix Benítez Rexach
Architectural style	Art Deco, Streamline Moderne
NRHP reference No.	80004295
Added to NRHP	August 29, 1980

The Normandie Hotel is a historic building in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It opened on October 10, 1942. This hotel was designed to look like a famous French ship called the SS Normandie. It even shared the same cool Art Deco and Streamline Moderne styles as the ship. The hotel's original roof sign was actually one of the signs from the top deck of the SS Normandie! As of 2019, the hotel is not being used.

History of the Normandie Hotel
Recognition
Images for kids
See also

History of the Normandie Hotel

Building a Dream Hotel

The idea for the Normandie Hotel came from a Puerto Rican engineer named Félix Benítez Rexach. He met his future wife, Moineau, while traveling on the SS Normandie ship. To show his love for her, Benítez decided to build a hotel that looked just like the fancy ship.

The hotel started being built in 1938. It was designed by architect Raúl Reichard. The outside of the hotel was made to look like a luxury ocean liner. It was long and curved at the front and back. It even had round, porthole-shaped lights on some floors, just like a ship!

Inside, the hotel had a special Art Deco design. You could see details inspired by Roman, Egyptian, and French styles. It had tall ceilings and corridors that looked down into a central area with a skylight. The railings looked like those on a ship. There was even a pool outside shaped like the hotel!

A Place for Stars

Many designers and artists from different countries helped build the hotel. These included people from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, France, and Spain. When the hotel opened on October 10, 1942, it quickly became very popular.

The hotel cost over $2,000,000 to build. Many famous people stayed there, including Hollywood and Latin American film stars. Some of these stars were Cantinflas, Libertad Lamarque, and Jorge Negrete. The hotel also hosted performances by top Puerto Rican entertainers. These included Ruth Fernández, Myrta Silva, Sylvia Rexach, and Carmen Delia Dipini.

Changes Over Time

The Normandie Hotel closed in the 1960s. It was later restored in the early 1990s. After that, it needed more big repairs because of damage from Hurricane Georges in 1998.

Once the storm damage was fixed, the hotel stayed open until 2004. Then, it closed again for another renovation project. In early 2005, the hotel reopened with 173 rooms. It operated as a Boutique Hotel for four years. However, it closed again by late 2009. Since then, the hotel has been unused. In 2015, the hotel's roof sign was removed.

In 2013, the hotel was bought by Ben Medetsky and Jack Polatsek for almost $4,000,000. They planned to fix it up, but later decided to sell it. The hotel has remained unused and needs a lot of work if it is to reopen.

Recognition

The Normandie Hotel was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1980. This means it is recognized as an important historic building.