Like so many of our favorite tropical cocktails, the hotel nacional special comes from a recipe unearthed by tiki historian jeff beachbum berry. Its another one of those missing-link cocktails with ingredients so simple and obvious, its a surprise that the hotel nacional special ever fell off the cocktail radar in the first place. Like many older cocktails, this drink was sized for much smaller glasses than we have today. Stick to a tiny glass, or double up the recipe to ensure it fills your glass nicely.