Innkeeper's Story

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Meet Your Innkeeper

from Casa Tropicana Boutique Beachfront Inn

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They were both born in California, both beach bums, both moved to San Clemente over 35 years ago, both had first marriages of 25 years, both met, fell in love, married, and began living happily ever afterward!

Rick Anderson lived and worked as a general contractor in town. He built the Casa Tropicana project in 1989. He owned and operated Rick’s Tropicana Bar & Grill located on the first floor for 15 years until he sold the business in 2004.

Susan Anderson was raised, and raised her family in San Clemente. She was a housewife worked as a painter & interior decorator. She also worked in a local market as a department manager until she met Rick.

Rick and Sue are very lucky to have a great staff. Their ideal location at the beach, and great reputation, keeps the inn pretty busy, which allows them to get out of the inn a lot more than most innkeepers. But if it wasn’t for Marjorie Woodbridge, their manager, and Elizabeth, their beloved housekeeper who removed the plastic from the first new

mattresses before day one, they too would be POW’s of the inn. Combined with the excellent staff and over twenty years of successful ownership and operation of Casa Tropicana behind them, they have earned a little extra free time together. When they are at home on site, they work on the inn. They greet guests and visit with their six older kids, (read this to mean out of the house,) and seven grand kids, aging from newborn to eleven.

All of that hasn’t kept Rick and Sue from traveling a bit, well…quite a bit. But it’s all work related of course…mostly. About eleven years ago Rick was elected to the Board of Directors of the California Association of Bed & Breakfast Inns. (CABBI) In 1990 he became president of the largest state association of B&B's in the nation, and served for two years. During his acceptance speech he foolishly said, “….and I am going to come to your inns and visit all of you where ever you are!” This was one of those times when he really should have thought it through a little further. Being a man of his word however, he has personally visited as of December 2009, exactly 407 California bed & breakfast inns. Although it has taken longer than he originally anticipated. California is about 1,200 miles long you know.

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