(State Archives of Florida)
My friend and fellow historian Joey Vars and I recently gave a talk about historic hotels in Florida where people can book a room and spend the night. The talk proved popular, garnering an encore performance at OLLI at Eckerd College. That second session also filled up fairly quickly, and I promised those who attended I’d list the hotels and their booking information in a post they could reference.
Below you’ll find a list of Florida’s historic hotels still welcoming overnight visitors. The year next to each hotel denotes the year the hotel opened for business.
(State Archives of Florida)
1857: Florida House Inn (Fernandina)
How to book: floridahouse.com or 904-491-3322
1859: Cedar Inn (Cedar Key)
cedarinnmotel.com or 352-543-5455
1888: Casa Monica (St. Augustine)
(State Archives of Florida)
1896: Breakers (Palm Beach)
thebreakers.com or 844-285-3297
1904: Oak Park Inn (Arcadia)
oakparkinnarcadiaflorida.com or visitdesoto.com or 863-494-9500 or 863-491-8852
1907: Gibson Inn (Apalachicola)
1911: The Plaza (Daytona)
Due to damage sustained during Hurricane Ian, the resort has closed through 2023 for renovations and repairs but expects to re-open in 2024. plazaresortandspa.com
1922: Park Plaza (Winter Park)
parkplazahotel.com or 407-647-1072
1924: Terrace Hotel (Lakeland)
1925: Casa Marina (Jax Beach)
casamarinahotel.com or 904-270-0025
1925: The Deland Hotel (DeLand)
thedelandhotel.com or 386-624-6710
January 1926: Seminole Inn (Indiantown)
seminoleinn.com or 772-597-3777
1926: Biltmore (Coral Gables)
biltmorehotel.com or 305-445–1926
1926: Tarpon Lodge (Pine Island)
tarponlodge.com or 239-283-3999
1927: Putnam Lodge (Cross City)
putnamlodge.com or 352-440-0414
(State Archives of Florida)
1937: Wakulla Springs Lodge (Wakulla Springs State Park)
thelodgeatwakullasprings.com or 850-421-2000
1938: Clewiston Inn (Clewiston)
cedarinnmotel.com or 863-983-8151
Florida Historic Hotels: Tampa Bay Hotels
Because we both live in the Tampa Bay area, we looked at historic hotels in that part of Florida. Tampa Bay and the Gulf beaches have a treasure trove of historic Florida hotels still open to guests.
(State Archives of Florida)
Jan. 15, 1897: Belleview Inn (Clearwater)
opalcollection.com or 727-441-1774
1904: Peninsula (Gulfport)
Temporarily closed for renovations, but expect to open in the coming months. historicpeninsulainn.com or 727-346-9800
1915: Crystal Bay (St. Petersburg)
crystalbayhotel.com or 727-914-7676
1918: Castle Hotel (St. Pete Beach/Pass-A-Grille)
castlehotelonthegulf.com or 727-289-8767
1922: Ponce de León (St. Petersburg)
poncedeleonhotel.com or 727-550-9300
Jan. 8, 1928: Fenway (Dunedin)
fenwayhotel.com or 844-569-9879
1926: Vinoy (St. Petersburg)
marriott.com or 727-824-8015 or 888-236-2427
Jan. 1, 1926: Floridan (Tampa)
floridanpalace.com or 813-225-1700
Jan. 26, 1928: Don Cesar (St. Pete Beach/Pass-A-Grille)
1926 Pennsylvania (Marriott Courtyard) (St. Petersburg)
This is by no means an exhaustive list of Florida’s historic hotels, so if you know of an historic hotel still operating in Florida, let me know!