I love to read about the history of grand hotels. If you ever visited St. Pete, you have had to see the grand Vinoy looking over Tampa Bay.

The article I read gave some history about how it was started, what it went through and how it ended up being grand again!

Some of the celebrities that have stayed there are Hemingway, President Calvin Coolidge and the polar explorer Richard Byrd. Calvin Coolidge felt the food was too rich, and when asked by the elevator operator how the food was, he told the operator "too rich" and jokingly, the elevator operator told him, he could eat in the cafeteria with the rest of the employees. Guess what - that's what he did for the rest of his stay.

It was originally built in 1925 as the vacation spot for the America's rich and famous. Unfortunately, visitors stopped coming and it closed in disrepair in 1973. Prior to it closing when the Depression hit Florida hard, the Vinoy opened the rooms to America's soldiers who it is said wrecked it. However, it was sold by Mr. Vinoy to Charles Alberding for $700,000 which Mr. Vinoy took a $2.8 million loss. It eventually closed. There were many plans to re0open but nothing materizlized until some investors took it over and the St. Petersburg residented voted to allow the leasing of underwater land for boat slips. The repairs and construction begain in 1990 and in 1992, the Stouffer Vinoy Resort reopened after a $90 million renovation.

The article was written by the person whose friend was hired to get rid of the rodents. He said it felt like a haunted mansion (they probably could have opened it like that; made it an area attraction and charged). However, they didn't and it was cleaned up; mosquitoe problem; rodent problem and clean resolved.

This is just an excerpt from the article (see this St. Pete Times for the full article). The hotel is open for tours and their phone number is 727-824-8033.

We live in Weeki Wachee (Hernando County) but love to visit St. Pete. It is a great day out.