BajaNomad

Serenidad Hotel, Mulege

Vince - 6-16-2009 at 06:05 PM

My daughter and family were staying at Serenidad last night when they were all woken by a fire in the kitchen that spread to the lobby and caused major damage. They evacuated to Coyote Bay, not sure what other guests did. They were all involved in fighting it by taking water from the pool. No injuries mentioned.

[Edited on 6-17-2009 by Vince]

bajaboolie - 6-16-2009 at 06:25 PM

I heard her son and his friend were the heroes who woke everyone up!;D I hope everyone was ok.

Mulegena - 6-16-2009 at 07:55 PM

I hope the Mulege Volunteer Fire Department responded with their newly donated fire-fighting equipment that was collected, purchased and donated by Baja Nomads after Hurricane John.

bajabound2005 - 6-16-2009 at 08:25 PM

Me, too! I saw that incredible fire engine with CITY OF FRESNO proudly labeled on its sides!

mulegemichael - 6-16-2009 at 09:24 PM

and all this in the face of NO customers right now..so sorry for don and his family...geez

capt. mike - 6-17-2009 at 05:48 AM

i hope their office next to the kitchen wasn't a total loss.
the Johnson family are good people, this is bad news.
the flying sams just had 28 people there this last weekend.

capt. mike - 6-17-2009 at 06:07 AM

if anyone , mulejeners, can post pics of the situation there i would like to see.
how bad was it, the lobby damaged? i am bummed, the Serenidad is one of my fav places in the world.

rpleger - 6-17-2009 at 09:57 AM

Looks like the kitchen is toast.







Not much other damage as far as I could tell

[Edited on 6-17-2009 by rpleger]

tripledigitken - 6-17-2009 at 10:07 AM

What a shame. Agree with Capt. Mike one of my favorite spots in Baja for 20 years.

Ken

capt. mike - 6-17-2009 at 10:51 AM

Don has seen it all. he's a survivor but i worry now at his age approaching 90ish what this will toll on him.

Bob H - 6-17-2009 at 12:38 PM

Oh, how very sad. We love this place!
Bob H

jorgie - 6-18-2009 at 06:29 AM

A terrible thing . The family and all those working there are very good people . Hopefully it will be rebuilt . So many years , so many folks have had great times . Please keep updating

Mulegena - 6-18-2009 at 09:07 AM

Thank you for the photo update-- wow!

Nomads, is there anything we can do to help?
Put your thinking caps on, please.

Richard on the Hill, please extend our best wishes to Don and the Johnson family and staff of the Serenidad. Thanks.

LimaDelta - 6-18-2009 at 09:56 PM

Hi,
I was there during the fire. Just before the fire started, the power went out, then came back on. It went out all over town we heard (a resident said the power went out at their house too). It was not long after that we were awoken by the fire. I don't know if that had anything to do with it. There were lot's of flames coming through the roof and windows, and much smoke, but thankfully it looks like it was only in the kitchen. We stopped by yesterday. The lobby and office looked like they were in good shape. There are still guests staying there and I was told that they were hoping to open a temp kitchen by today so they can keep serving their wonderful food. They have the best guacamole I have ever had. Really, you can hardly tell there was a fire unless you look in the kitchen! It could have been so much worse.

The volunteer fire dept did respond and it was a great team effort to put the fire out and keep it from spreading.

We had a great stay there and can't wait to go back!

Bajahowodd - 6-18-2009 at 11:30 PM

Hoping that you locals in Mulege can stay on top of this for selfish reasons. Was planning to stay there next week. Hate to inquire about the best alternatives. We haven't stayed there since before the ejido assault. Not sure if they are better off with or without guests, while they clean up.

Bajaboy - 6-18-2009 at 11:49 PM

please keep us advised....I've always wanted to attend one of the pig parties...we're headed down to our place in Asuncion in a week or so and would love to get over to Mulege to support them....

quite the contrary

capt. mike - 6-19-2009 at 06:05 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Hoping that you locals in Mulege can stay on top of this for selfish reasons. Was planning to stay there next week. Hate to inquire about the best alternatives. We haven't stayed there since before the ejido assault. Not sure if they are better off with or without guests, while they clean up.


Diana has sent word via BBP that they want guests to come! staying open and cash flow is all the help she said they need.
and don't be surprized as a measure of Don's resolve that the pig roast goes on Sat via the temp kitchen if he can get it running by today. heck - for sure next weekend.
after all - it's a cook out basically - they can prep in one of the river casitas or Don's larger river homes.
then send to the courtyard and serve.

they will rebuild, and they also have the month of Sept when the kitchen normally shuts down for tweaking.

Serenidad

tripledigitken - 6-19-2009 at 08:03 AM

I should have added this photo in the "Icons of Baja" thread
as Mr. Johnson and family and their Hotel are certainly one.

LimaDelta - 6-19-2009 at 01:11 PM

Hi All,

if you see this twice, I'm sorry... i posted but I don't see it on the board. It looked like business as usual after the fire. They should have food too by now or soon. You can hardly tell unless you go look at the kitchen. I would stay there if I were going down again soon.

LD

bajaboolie - 6-20-2009 at 10:55 AM

Hi LimaDelta, Thanks for the first hand account. And welcome to the board. Glad you finally joined! :biggrin:

bajaumpaw - 6-20-2009 at 04:44 PM

Just got back from having a drink at Serenidad. Pig Roast is on for tonight. Not many people there but business as usual. Don is up North somewhere and according to waiter, he hasn't been back since the fire.

fire

cabokid - 6-20-2009 at 09:00 PM

Yep I was there . Thought I woud get a good night sleep as I was on my way to Cabo.Driving a jeep with soft top full of stuff and wanted a secure place to stay the night without having to unload . My room was right next to kitchen when I was woken up by 2 young men pounding on doors yelling fire. When I saw what was happening I started to ask were there any hoses . Nope was the answer , well then any buckets . A few showed up and went in to kitchen as far as I could and got a decent amount on fire . I only had sandles and shorts on and did take in alot of smoke as my lung were starting to hurt so after my third bucket I said fu this . I just retired from 28 yr on the FD and did'nt want to push my luck besides I saw the fire got into the palapa roof and the was no stopping it tossing water in the air.Soon after that FD arrived and had it knocked down in a couple minutes . Way to go! Tired after driving from Escondido I took a shower and went back to bed. Note--- I did look at the damage the next morning and noticed heavy burn in the deep fryer area . Tile behind fryer was poping off which is sign of long exposure to heat. My best guess it was the fryer . Next time buy one with fuseable link that closes lid when on fire. I was wondering if they owe me a good night sleep still

bajaumpaw - 6-20-2009 at 09:07 PM

Hey Cabokid Your post got a chuckle out of me. Did you get to Cabo?

bigboy - 6-21-2009 at 12:06 PM

bajaumpaw,

Cabokid is my brother. We talked to him a couple of nights ago and he made it to his condo in SJC.

He has a 17' tupperware boat and he reported that he caught a Marlin, Yellow fin Tuna and Dorado yesterday. He is out fishing again today, Sunday.

I had a chance of joining him on this trip but I'm busy fixing up my wife's townhouse, to sell, so we can be just like cabokid and spend more time at our house in Baja.

Tomorrow, I'm fishing out of Dana Point for a chance to catch a few sand bass and? Hardly seems fair!

[Edited on 6-21-2009 by bigboy]

Bob and Susan - 6-21-2009 at 12:31 PM

a tupperware boat...

is that what they call a plastic triumph

bigboy - 6-21-2009 at 07:09 PM

That's right, a roto molded boat made by Triumph!

Nice boat that can take a lot of abuse and has a good ride for a 17' boat. Cabokid launches at the new harbor just east of SJC.