Hotel Camacho

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Sites of memory · Year: 1880

At the corner of San Francisco, Villalba Hervás and San José streets, there once stood a splendid building in traditional Canarian style, the residence since the early 18th century of the Lebrún family, which in the following century operated successfully for quite some time as a hotel.

In 1841 its name was Hotel Inglés (English Hotel), years later, in 1880, it was expanded and completed by its new owner, Camacho, a Portuguese from the island of Madeira who applied here his experience as a hotelier from his native island, providing accommodation to passengers of the regular English steamships heading to their African colonies and who invariably stopped over in Santa Cruz. 

The existing building, which had a magnificent elongated traditional continuous balcony over San Francisco street and the corner with El Tigre (today Villalba Hervás), was given a second floor at the rear overlooking Sí street and San José street. The establishment also had a beautiful garden located on an adjacent plot.  

In 1886 the daily boarding cost two duros; three if the room faced the balcony. In 1903 it was equipped with electric lighting and a bell in all rooms. It had a capacity of 56 places.

Hotel Camacho, one of the best examples of traditional architecture that Santa Cruz had, was demolished in the 1960s to build in its place the enormous building we see today.

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