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Vinoy Resort Hotel Don Cesar Resort Hotel The Belleview Biltmore Resort

The Renaissance Vinoy Resort Hotel has a long history. The hotel was build in 1925 by Aymer Vinoy Laughter a wealthy oil baron from Pennsylvania. The hotel enjoyed many glorious years. The good days were followed by deterioration aided by the second world war and changed hands a number of times until it finally closed in 1974. Its furnishings sold on auction, the property stayed in a declining state of deterioration until 1990 when a group of venture capitalists rebuild the hotel to its original luster under the direction of Frederic Guest II. It took several years of pain staking work by many crafts- men of which many were imported from foreign

countries to restore the lobbies, dining-rooms and terraces to a 1925 era. Being one of three of the finest four star hotels in St. Petersburg Fl., it has been upgraded to accommodate today's demands with the

C-101 Vinoy Resort Hotel

L-745 Lobby to Ballrooms & Conference

addition of a ball- room and conference center large enough to put up a boat/auto show. In front of the hotel, a marina was constructed accommodating yachts of any size.

The "Don Ce Sar" Resort Hotel (named after a character in the opera "Maritana") was build in 1928 by Thomas Rowe. Locating the hotel on one of the finest beaches in Florida and applying Mediterranean and Moorish architecture to give the hotel a unique appearance, the hotel was a success from the very beginnings. During the second world war, the hotel was appropriated for defense functions. In 1946, after the war, it was vacated by the Defense Department and closed which caused it to fall into a state of deterioration until it was purchased by the Loews's Corporation and restored to

L-86 Don Cesar Sth. Twr

L-82 Don Cesar Entrance

	its original state in 1973. During the "Hay days" many well known people stayed at the "Don" such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Clarence Darrow, Lou Gehrig the baseball player and of all people, Al Capone. Located in a lower level hall way.

L-88 up & L80 lower

L-87 Don Cesar South Side

a wall plaque gives the following story: The Don Ce Sar Hotel In the late 1920's and 1930's, the Don Cesar Hotel was a renowned luxury resort which counted many notables among its guests. Among them was Thomas J Rowe, a land developer, conceived of the establishment in the mid-20's at the height of the land sales boom then attracting flocks of tourist and investors to Florida. The boom ended before the Don Cesar was completed in 1928. But it remained open throughout the depression of the 1930's during World War II. Many Florida Hotels suffering from the decline of tourism were converted to wartime

use. In 1912, the Don was purchased by the U.S. Government for use as a rest and rehabili- tation center from 1945 to 1967,The Don Cesar served as a federal office building it was then vacated. Soon a commit- tee of local citizens began to work for

preservation. In 1872 with their encouragement and community support, hotel developer William Bowman Jr., they purchased the property. Her rehabilitated the Don restoring it to its original function and elegance and reopened it in 1973. Restoration was completed in 1975 in that year, the Don Ce Sar Hotel was placed on the national register of historic places the massive edifice of stucco-ed Belgian concrete remains a symbol of the colorful, exiting "boom" period of Florida's history.

Due to hurricane winds, the Belleview Hotel is, at this moment under repair and supposed to be open in the near future.

Construction was started on the Belleview Biltmore in about 1895. The Resort was opened in Jan. 1897. The Belleview was build by Henry B. Plant and at its concept it was 400 ft. long and about 100 ft. wide 4 stories high housing 145 rooms and constructed entirely of wood. It was then the largest wooden structure in the world and it still hold that title. It takes 1000 gallons of white paint to paint the four sides of the structure.

Although the name of the resort was the Belleview Biltmore, almost from the beginning it was dubbed "the White Queen of the Gulf". The Belleview Biltmore was a resort for the elite who's names included the Studebaker's, Dupont, Pew family of Sun Oil, Vanderbilt's and the Duke of Windsor in 1953 as well as Lady Margaret Thatcher in 1996. The structure was renovated in 1985 at a 10 million cost installing aluminum siding and upgrading the rooms. The Belleview boost a number of fine restaurants and it is still a favorite with many today. The Belleview Biltmore is listed with the National Register of Historic Places.

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