/San Juan/ 1959
ven as Hilton celebrates a milestone anniversary this year—San Antonio–born Conrad Hilton founded the company a century ago with the purchase of as “a huge white shape beneath a neon sign”) became an overnight sensation, attracting celebrity guests with its jet-set glamour and piña coladas—the cocktail was invented at the hotel’s Beachcomber Bar in 1954, and was deemed so delicious by Hollywood star Joan Crawford that she declared it “better than slapping Bette Davis in the face.” Notably, the Caribe also established Hilton as the world’s first global hospitality company, one that today consists of 16 brands and 5,500-plus properties in over 100 countries. More than doubling in size over the decades since, the hotel had lost much of its original luster by the time Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico in September 2017. Extensive damage forced the Caribe to close its doors for a US$100 million restoration, a project that wrapped up only in May when the transformed property reopened in time for its 70th anniversary. Now that’s news worth toasting—piña colada in hand, of course.
