By Larry Nader, Larry Nader Photography & Art
Published December 6, 2022, for State 48 A2Z
It's really sad to see great old architecture being allowed to deteriorate and decay before our eyes. This is regretfully the case with the old Hotel Del Sol in Yuma, Arizona. This hotel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 but, as of late 2022, no effects have been made to restore this piece of Arizona history, so it sits decaying a little more every year.
The hotel was originally built in 1926 in the Spanish Revival architectural style by Taylor & Taylor, architects from Los Angeles, California. Dedicated on December 20, 1926, as the Hotel del Ming, named after Yuma Mayor F.S Ming, the hotel was renamed Hotel del sometime later.
At the time of its opening, the Yuma Daily Sun hailed the hotel for its architectural beauty and innovation, being the first hotel of its type in Yuma. The 70-room resort destination featured modern light fixtures in addition to the luxurious Spanish Colonial décor.
Since its closing in 1970, the hotel has been sitting idle slowly rotting away in the desert sun ever since. Since its closing, the hotel was used sporadically including use as a horror movie set and then as a bus stop.
Over its many years of operation and since its closing, there have been a total of six movies that shot scenes at the historic hotel One of the most notable movies that film in part here was Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 horror classic, “Psycho” who's opening sequence was filmed here.
Other major movies that were filmed in part at the Hotel del Sol include The Getaway (1994), Rope of Sand (1949), Calcutta (1946), and Sirocco (1951). But the most surprising movie that filed in part here (at least most surprising for me) is one of my personal all-time favorites, Casablanca (1942).
Back in 2009, the city was in talks about the possibility of redeveloping the dilapidated hotel into a transportation center as per an article from Yuma’s KYMA-TV. At the time the city felt the old hotel would be the perfect location to centralize the area's bus traffic, but it seems like that never happened and so the Hotel del Sol just continues its slow death.
Admittedly, I have no idea what this building's bones are like and whether it is even feasible to attempt restoration now, and, as I have no experience in architectural design and restoration, I cannot offer ideas on how to remedy this decay. However, as a fan of old architecture and old west history, I can look at what remains on the outside and wonder what if, as well as urge our elected officials to do what is right by history and try to save these historic designs.
That will wrap things up for this week. As always, thanks for reading, stay safe, and happy travels. Be sure to like and follow us on social media (links below), share our blog posts, and feel free to give us your feedback. We would love to hear from you. Peace!
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