World-famous actor and Mexican icon Mario Moreno “Cantinflas” had a crush with San Miguel.
The story goes that he came for the first time invited by a bullfighter and when he reached the viewpoint and stood there contemplating the horizon, he was hypnotized by the magic of the landscape.
He immediately bought a house, which he gave to his mother and that is currently the main building of the Posada La Ermita hotel; then he expanded his property by building bungalows to invite his friends, and later he also bought the neighboring house and wanted to acquire the property next to it too, but the owner did not sell it to him.
Currently the property is owned by Roberto Palomera, who was Cantinflas head engineer. All the objects that still at the property belonged to him, as they are part of the inventory sold by the Mexican actor in life.
At Posada La Ermita restaurant, “Cantinflas Style Eggs” stand out on the menu, a dish created by the comedian himself, that consists of two fried eggs mounted on a fried tortilla, with ham, melting cheese and mole. “This plate gives people the chance to taste what Cantinflas used to have for breakfast right here,” said Palomera.
“This house was constantly visited by celebrities such as the actresses Dolores del Río and María Félix, singer Pedro Vargas, who had a house a few meters from here; world renowned painter and muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros and composer Agustín Lara, among others”, he continued.
All of these characters are immortalized in a painting placed in the hotel’s lobby of what used to be Cantinflas’ summer house.
Posada La Ermita features a living room that was used by Mario Moreno Reyes (Cantinflas’ real name), that remains intact, and is open to the public, where visitors can see several of the actor’s original belongings, such as two armors and candlesticks that were given to him as presents.
The carpet on which the armchairs are placed, is exactly the same one Cantinflas used to step on.
According to hotel manager Manuel Fonseca, there are some people that have stayed at the hotel that claim to hear loud noises in the middle of the night (when there’s nobody there), and Fonseca himself has experienced weird events such as bedroom lights randomly flipped themselves on and off.
Some say that is the actor’s soul that still haunts the property trying to “play a joke” on guests.
SMT Newsroom with information from El Universal and El Espectador
