Timeless Elegance – The Vinoy

The history of the Vinoy is woven inextricably into the fabric of the history of the city of St. Petersburg. For decades, when the light went on in the tower of the hotel each December, city residents knew the season had started. Through the years, the Vinoy has been the place to celebrate momentous occasions, such as weddings, special dinners and family celebrations; as well as the site for political events, and a venue for state and national conventions and conferences.

According to local legend, the idea to build the Vinoy was the result of a wager made between Aymer Vinoy Laughner and 1920’s golf champion Walter Hagen. At a party at Laughner’s house on Beach Drive near the present site of the Vinoy, Laughner bet the champ that he could not hit golf balls off the top of Laughner’s pocket watch without breaking the crystal. Hagen won the wager. When Laughner and another guest went to retrieve the golf balls from the neighbor’s lawn, the guest commented on what a nice site the waterfront home would be for a hotel. Quickly a deal was struck with the landowner. Grandson, Niles Laughner tends to agree with these accounts.

Construction of the waterfront Vinoy Hotel began in February 1925. Builder George A. Miller oversaw the work and the hundreds of people laboring on the building around the clock. For ten tense and hectic months, submerged land was filled, foundations poured, walls built, and so on. Keeping to his promise to open by year's end, Miller seemed to pull off the impossible. The result was a majestic, Mediterranean-inspired palace for wintering guests and dignitaries.

No expense was spared. Every guest room and suite was outfitted with the most cutting-edge amenities and services. With a vaulted ceiling and decorative cypress beams, the lobby soared 25 feet in height and contained numerous ornate chandeliers. The ballroom and dining areas were cloaked in the finest wall coverings, floorings, and furniture. The resort, officially named the Vinoy Park Hotel, opened on New Years’ Eve of 1925.

At 6:55 P.M. on December 31, 1925, four tall and handsome doormen stepped through the elaborately carved doorway dressed in black boots with white kidskin tops, white trousers, long powder-blue coats, and tall, cockaded silk hats. They threw open the doors to the finest luxury hotel on the West Coast of Florida.

For the next 50 years, except during the WW II years, the hotel opened for the season in December and closed in April, playing host to politicians, baseball teams, celebrities, and all manner of the rich and famous.

Just several months after the United States entered into World War II, the Vinoy Park Hotel shutdown in order to support the national war effort. In July of 1942, its ownership leased the entire facility to the U.S. Army Air Force for the use of military housing.

After the Military returned the hotel to the Vinoy Park Corporation in 1944, much work was required to undo the damage done during the two years that soldiers occupied the grand structure. The hotel reopened for the 1945 season, and many of its former clients returned.

It was sold for $700,000 later that year to the Alsonett Hotel chain, owned by Charles Alberding. The Alsonett chain, which owned up to 49 hotels in 14 states, locally owned the Vinoy Park Hotel, the Tides Hotel and Beach Club, and the Soreno Hotel. Through the 1960s, the hotel continued to operate seasonally, although attracting a dwindling number of its former clientele.

Seasonal tourism was changing for the next generation of guests. The pace of life quickened, and a glut of tourist motels catering to the middle class were built. The wealthy sought more casual accommodations with newly invented air conditioning, larger rooms, and updated amenities. Occupancy at the Vinoy Park decreased, and room rates fell to $7 per night during its last season in 1974.

For 18 years the Vinoy Park Hotel remained closed. During that time, it was occupied by the homeless; picked over by scavengers; and invaded by insects, vermin, and floods. Beginning in 1973, thirteen different combinations of ownership groups, operating partners, and financing agents came forward with plans to restore the hotel. All but one failed, either because they could not secure financing, city operation, citizen approval for waterfront use, or a plan to make the property profitable.

Ultimately, a group led by Frederick E. Guest II, and hotel management by Stouffer Hotels and Resorts, was awarded the opportunity to restore the Vinoy to its previous grandeur. As a part of the restoration, contemporary amenities such as air conditioning, fire suppression systems, and wheelchair-accessible ramps were added. The skills of an army of craftsmen, fine arts painters, electricians, and old-world plaster experts were required. Each of the pecky cypress beams in the lobby was numbered, removed for storage, and then replaced after new ceilings were installed. The resulting restoration was stunning.

Historic preservation, however, can be an ongoing endeavor. After multiple facelifts over the last three decades, The Vinoy hotel in downtown St. Pete has once again rebranded — this time with even more emphasis on sharing its nearly 100-year history.

The Vinoy Resort and Golf Club, Autograph Collection has recently emerged from a thoughtful renovation of public areas, guest rooms, and event spaces while also introducing diverse dining experiences and a new spa and wellness center. Through maintaining many original elements including the ceramic tile flooring and cypress wood-beam ceilings, the Vinoy’s exquisitely curated spaces merge the past with modern sophistication, providing guests with a one-of-a-kind experience. This luxurious waterfront resort has also joined Marriott’s Autograph Collection Hotels, perfectly representing the brand’s distinctive independent hotels hand-picked for originality.