Pan American World Airways needed somewhere to house flight crews and the wave of jet-set travelers arriving at San Juan’s new international airport, and the hotel it built opened February 1, 1958, as the San Juan Intercontinental. A decade later, Miami Beach architect Morris Lapidus, the mind behind the Fontainebleau, took on a major expansion and reimagining alongside designer Alan Lanigan that turned the property into the island’s premier nightlife destination.
Club Tropicoro, its jungle-inspired performance venue clad in living vegetation, became the place international headliners played through the late 1960s and early ’70s, hosting Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Liza Minnelli among others. A 300-year-old banyan tree between the hotel and its pool has stood as a centerpiece since the property’s opening. Fairmont took over management in 2019, and the hotel joined Historic Hotels of America in 2022 following a $65 million restoration.