It was during the dark days of World War II that a San Diego entrepreneur and former car dealer named Larry Imig decided to risk $2 million on the construction of a glamorous new hotel he would christen Imig Manor. He had a vision that when the war was over, the Golden Age of Hollywood, which had been put on hold, would rise again and its glittery stars would be looking for a new place to frolic—not too far from the racing ponies at Del Mar and the bullfights in Tijuana.
The hotel’s centerpiece would be its shimmering Olympic-size swimming pool designed by Johnny “Tarzan” Weissmuller. By day guests could sip and dip by the pool. At night, elegant to the nines, they would adjourn to the Mississippi Room with its oyster-shell stage to swing to the rhythm of big-band legends.
