Tampa's Historic Boom Era Hotels
Buildings boast historical significance, beautiful architecture and charm
By Judy Stark, FrontDoor.com | Published: 10/09/2008
Tampa's lavish hotels, originally built during the 1920s, stand as legacies of a bygone era of grandeur.
"Hotels and real estate sales went hand in hand," says Will Michaels, president of St. Petersburg Preservation Inc.
After World War I, many tourists flocked to St. Petersburg and had to live in tent cities. They earned the nickname "Tin Can Tourists" because they cooked their food in tin cans over campfires.
Boarding houses and small hotels weren't enough, developers decided. It was the Roaring '20s, a time of luxury and prosperity, and how better to respond to tourists who wanted to enjoy a winter of warmth and relaxation than to build fantasy hotels to welcome them and try to sell them a piece of Florida land of their very own?
That is the legacy of the Boom Era in Florida. Long before Walt Disney envisioned a Magic Kingdom or Cinderella's Castle, hustling developers designed lavish hotels reminiscent of European castles, many in a style that came to be known as Mediterranean Revival, drawing on the richly ornate designs of Spanish and Italian architecture.
Today these hotels stand as legacies of a bygone era of grandeur. That Gilded Age is gone, but we can visit them and imagine what it was like when guests dressed for dinner every night and enjoyed unlimited leisure. Come take a look, stop by for a visit and enjoy Tampa Bay's unique history.