How was our hotel born in the Alhambra?
America Granada Hotel
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The foundation of the Hotel America is indisputably related to the Garzon family. And the Garzon family has always been related to the Alhambra.
The first member of the family who lived in the monument was Rafael Garzón. He was one of the most important photographers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rafael Garzón was known for his photographic collections of monuments, streets, and traditional scenes of historical cities such as Granada, Seville, Cordoba, Malaga, and Cadiz. He had a photography studio at 24 Real de la Alhambra street, called “Tienda Árabe” (Arab Store). It still exists today: it is a photography studio with Arab characterizations for tourists and is managed by the Board of the Alhambra and Generalife.
But, how did Rafael Garzón end up influencing the creation of the Hotel America? After his death in 1923, Garzón’s photography studio remained open until 1935. By that time, his family still lived in the monument.
Rafael Garzón’s son, Nicolás, decided to become independent after getting married by purchasing a house from the Marquess of the Union of Cuba from a famous businessman at that time. It was an old house, with a lot of history. During the renovation of the house, many of the old elements of the house were carefully preserved and maintained.
In 1936, the couple founded the Pensión América. It was a difficult year as the Spanish Civil War began and tourism disappeared. They then welcomed people of high status who spent the summer in the Alhambra or extended stays. It was a completely different concept of tourism that we know. Even the famous “Legión Cóndor” stayed at the hotel, a German military group that came to help Franco in his fight against the Republicans. Although my grandfather was anti-fascist, he had no choice but to accept them at the hotel. I prefer not to mention this. I don’t like to politically position the hotel. We could mention that important figures from the intellectual world of the moment (painters, musicians, poets) chose the hotel to spend unique and incomparable moments.
The origin of the name of our hotel
One of the curiosities of the hotel is its name. It is curious considering the great amount of resources that the environment offers. Belinda, granddaughter of the founder of the guesthouse, tells the story: “The name ‘America’ is due, on one hand, to the Ibero-American exhibition that was held in Seville in 1929 (The Ibero-American Exhibition was held to show the brotherhood between Spain, Hispanic America, the United States, Portugal and Brazil…); and on the other hand, to the great sympathy that my grandfather felt for the United States. A sentiment that my father did not share at all, and that’s why ‘America’ refers to a continent (inscription made on a tile that we can see in the hotel’s courtyard). Every time an American arrived claiming that the hotel referred to America as the U.S., my father would respond with this phrase!”.
This feeling would change when he traveled to the United States and saw for himself how they treated people with some type of physical difficulty, on one hand, and how the organization of many things, including tourism, worked. Also influential, of course, was the visit of the management and specialists from the Metropolitan Museum of New York. In addition to the endearing experience, he took his hat off to many aspects of the way these people worked…
Past, present and future of the Hotel America, Granada.
After the harsh circumstances of the Spanish post-war period, the Pensión América experienced the tourism boom in Spain during the 1960s. The influx of numerous tourists was a significant boost to the country’s modernization process. The then Hostal América not only survived but fully enjoyed this tourist “boom”. Both the restaurant and the hotel were always full. The hotel was famous for the advance reservation customers had to make to get a room. “I once spoke with a German who said he had heard that it was necessary to book 4 years in advance, a bit exaggerated…” adds Belinda.
In the midst of this whirlwind, the hotel was taken over by Rafael Garzón and Maribel Alconchel. We moved to this paradise that is the Alhambra and began our adventure there.
Since then until today, the hotel has undergone a huge evolution in all areas. From the type of guests who come to visit us, today mostly foreign, to the aesthetics, decoration, amenities, construction, etc., always maintaining the spirit of the original house.
