Albert Silvéra and The El Rancho Hotel

The hotel industry in Haiti started to blossom in the late fifties. During the Administration of Estimé, the World's Fair was held in Haiti in 1949. The President encouraged entrepreneurs such as Albert Silvera of El Rancho, Robert Baussan of Ibo Lele and Dr. Assad of Villa Creole to convert their private homes into hotels. All the hotels had swimming pools and offered a warm personalized charm. This made Haiti a unique destination compared to other islands that had been developed by large foreign chains and outside investors. There was no jet airport at the time and beach resorts had not yet been developed as unpaved rocky roads made the beaches virtually inaccessible.

Albert Silvera was the catalyst who finally enticed my family to Haiti by leasing them the El Rancho Hotel. Originally, Albert had built the main structure as his private home. When I first met him, I thought he was the most striking-looking man I had ever met. He was a forty-seven year old Haitian Syrian Italian Jew, approximately six feet tall, graying at the temples, and slightly resembling a tall Indian version of Rossano Brazzi, the Italian actor. He wore Jacque Fath ties and custom made Italian suits with spread collar shirts from Paris. He had his own plane, Arabian show horses, a yacht, a black Mercedes 300 sel, a Rolls Royce Corniche, and the first Lamborghini Miura I had ever seen that he later sold to Jean-Claude Duvalier's in-laws, the Bennetts. He loved gorgeous women and was never without one on his arm.

Albert had been twice divorced and had four beautiful daughters educated abroad. After he leased the Hotel to us, he retired to Paris, where he had been raised as a young man.

Years later, I came to know Albert more intimately as he eventually returned to Haiti, remarried and reinstated himself as operator of the El Rancho Hotel. He sold the hotel in 1986, to a group of foreign investors from Philadelphia. They were more interested in a casino operation than running a hotel. In 1989, he died of pancreatic cancer just a few years after his eldest daughter died of a cerebral hemorrhage. In 1991, his wife and daughters, through a major legal battle, once again took back control of the hotel.

The El Rancho is still in business today. Here's a blurb from their official website.

Nestled in the hills of Pétion-Ville, it was built from the private estate of Albert Silvéra, a world known sports and prestigious car collector and one of the pioneers of the Hotel Industry in Haiti. The El Rancho Hotel is THE meeting place for celebrities and personalities such as Richard Burton, André Malraux, Leonel Fernandez and Wycleff Jean, to name a few. The El Rancho Hotel is at 30 minutes by car from the airport, 20 minutes from Port-au-Prince, the Capital city, and at walking distance from the shopping and dining area of Petion-Ville. It is a favorite lodging and meeting place for business executives given its conference and catering facilities, it Fitness Club and Spa as well as dining and entertainment activities.

http://www.hotelelrancho.com/