The Hotel Deauville is a historic hotel in Centro Habana located at Calle Galiano 1 on a corner with the Malecón promenade, and overlooking the Bay of Havana.Hotel Deauville - wikimapia The hotel was constructed as a casino hotel in 1957 by a consortium owned by American mobster Santo Trafficante Jr.
In 1955, President Fulgencio Batista enacted Hotel Law 2074, offering tax incentives, government loans and casino licenses to anyone who built a hotel costing in excess of $1,000,000 or a nightclub costing $200,000.Rough Guide Havana Mob Hotels This resulted in the construction of the Hotel Deauville, as well as other hotels including the Hotel Habana Riviera, Hotel Capri, Hotel St. John and Havana Hilton, all featuring casinos.Investment in the New Cuban Tourist Industry by Mark Michael Miller and Tony L. Hawthorne
The construction of the Hotel Deauville began in 1956, and the hotel opened in 1957. It was built at a cost of $2.3 million, was 14 stories high and featured 140 rooms, a rooftop swimming pool, a cabaret and two casinos.Havana Nocturne p205
The hotel was primarily owned by Trafficante crime family boss Santo Trafficante Jr. and bolita banker Evaristo Garcia Jr., and the casinos were owned by Trafficante. Joe Silesi (alias Joe Rivers), a member of the Gambino crime family, was the casino manager.Havana Nocturne p205 Reportedly Chicago gangster Irwin Weiner had a share in the casino. With the help of technician John Martino the gambling machines were rigged to favor Trafficante. R. D. Matthews of Texas worked at the hotel. Trafficante also had interests in the Hotel Capri, the Sans Souci nightclub and casino, the Sevilla-Biltmore, and the Hotel Comodoro.Testimony of Santos Trafficante Jr. before the United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) September 28, 1978 Gangsterismo: The United States, Cuba and the Mafia, 1933 to 1966. by Jack Colhoun The casino was sacked by mobs in early January 1959 as Fidel Castro's rebel army overtook Havana.Havana Nocturne p305
On October 24, 1960 the Cuban government published its Official Gazette Resolution 3 (pursuant to Law 851, Official Gazette, July 7, 1960), which nationalized the Hotel Deauville as well as a number of other hotels and businesses owned by American investors.Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of the United States - In the Matter of the Claim of Edward Thal. November 27, 1968
In 2017, it was announced that St Giles Hotels would assume management of the hotel after a major renovation. The renovation never occurred.
References
English, T.J. Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba and Then Lost It to the Revolution. William Morrow Paperbacks. Mobsters Move in on Troubled Havana and Split Rich Gambing Profits with Batista. Life magazine March 10, 1958 pp32-37