Historic Hotels: Grande Dames

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The area’s two most distinctive historic and pink resorts are the Vinoy Renaissance Resort & Golf Club and the Loews Don CeSar Hotel.

Vinoy Renaissance Resort & Golf Club
The Vinoy Renaissance Resort, in the heart of downtown St. Petersburg, serves up elegant Mediterranean Revival architecture and has earned a National Register of Historic Places designation. Celebrating 85 years of sun-drenched hospitality, construction for the Vinoy Park Hotel began on February 5, 1925. The contractor set a construction record for completing the 375-room hotel in just under 10 months, in time for a grand opening on New Year's Eve 1925. It quickly became one of the country’s most prestigious and coveted getaways for the world’s rich and famous families, along with Hollywood stars, celebrities, presidents and authors.

During the early 1940s, the Vinoy ceased operation as a hotel and was leased to the U.S. Army Air Force and subsequently the United States Maritime Service as housing and a training center for military cooks and bakers. The Vinoy re-opened to the general public at the end of Warld War II. The hotel continued to operate through the 1950's and early 1960's but then began a continued decline and finally closed its doors in 1974.

The property stood unoccupied for 18 years and then began a two-year, $93 million reconstruction in 1990, expanded and enhanced to appeal to the contemporary traveler. Restored to its original grandeur, it soon regained and its prominence as a jewel of St. Petersburg’s downtown waterfront. It was named by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of the Historic Hotels of America.

Loews Don CeSar Hotel
The region’s other signature pink resort sits on St. Pete Beach, voted TripAdvisor's No. 1 Beach in the U.S. and No. 5 in the world for 2012. The Loews Don CeSar Hotel, locally known as the "pink palace," was built in 1928. Its ornate architecture makes it one of the most recognizable landmarks on the entire Gulf Coast of Florida. The distinctive color and architecture of the Don have also made it a longtime point of reference on maritime charts.

Also affectionately known as "the Don", it opened nearly 300% over budget, and instantly attracted some of the era's biggest stars, from F. Scott Fitzgerald and FDR to Al Capone. In 1931, The New York Yankees signed a three-year spring training contract, helping the Don through the Great Depression. Throughout World War II the hotel was used as a hospital and then entered its "golden age" as an Air Force convalescent center.

By 1969, the building had severely deteriorated. The last of the federal offices abandoned the property and it remained derelict until the early 1970s. It re-opened in 1973 after a $7.5-million restoration. After multiple subsequent restorations totaling more than $35 million the Don celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2003.

Boasting 277 luxurious rooms including 40 suites, most with spectacular water views of the Gulf of Mexico or Boca Ciega Bay, the Don CeSar is a distinctly historic hotel. Be sure to ask about the history tour and its famous ghosts. The hotel is also proud to have won AAA's Four-Diamond award for 29 straight years.