Jerome Adams Utley (January 7, 1881 – April 24, 1959[1]) was an American baseball player and coach, contracting engineer, hotelier and boxing promoter.

[7] In August 1903, Utley moved to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to play for the Calumet baseball team and work as an engineer in one of the area's mines.

[20] In his 1922 history of Detroit, Clarence Burton included a profile of Utley, noting: "Jerome A. Utley, a contracting engineer of Detroit who has executed many important contracts, has had broad experience in this line of work and his standing in engineering circles of the city is an enviable one.

The hotel was a luxury resort built in the late 1920s during Prohibition, included a casino, and was located approximately 75 miles south of Tijuana.

Jack Dempsey, the world heavyweight boxing champion, was one of the original owners, and guests included Marion Davies, William Randolph Hearst, Johnny Weissmuller and Myrna Loy.

[24][25] Following Utley's investment, the hotel's business dropped off, as Prohibition was repealed in the United States and gambling was outlawed in Mexico.

[28][29][30] During World War II, the hotel was used as a military headquarters to guard against a Japanese attack on the United States through Baja California.

Described as "a seventy-year-old bachelor," Utley fell in love with Marjorie King Plant, described as "an attractive blond woman in her early forties.