Ventura Serra, president of Occidental Hotels in the DR, and Gabriel Felip, global chairman of the Spanish-based hotel chain, were in Santo Domingo last week for the Embajador Hotel’s 50th anniversary celebrations. The hotel was built in 1955 by the Dominican government and inaugurated on 12 February 1956 as an InterContinental Hotel. It featured a design by US architect Roy France, famous for his mid-20th century modern architectural style. France was commissioned to design the hotel after designing the legendary Casablanca Hotel in Miami Beach in 1949. For the evening, the management parked a black Cadillac that used to belong to the dictator Trujillo and a red Cadillac, property of his daughter, Angelita Trujillo. A photo exhibition by Miriam Calzada helped readers understand the importance of this city hotel, and a film about the hotel’s history produced by Rene Fortunato was screened.