Inside the St. Petersburg Vinoy Resort’s new look

ST. PETERSBURG — At 6:55 p.m. on Dec. 31, 1925, four doormen donning long, powder-blue coats threw open the doors and officially opened The Vinoy Park Hotel, a Mediterranean revival-style resort overlooking Tampa Bay.

In the decades that followed, the building, with its signature pink façade, has hosted U.S. presidents, Hollywood stars, celebrated athletes, more than 100,000 service members when the hotel was converted into military housing during World War II and vermin when it subsequently fell into disrepair.

This month, as the hotel nears its 100th birthday, it is emerging from a new wave of renovation and rebrand, joining Marriott Bonvoy’s Autograph Collection Hotels as the Vinoy Resort and Golf Club. Revamped guest rooms, meeting spaces, ballrooms, spa area and lobby promise to pay homage to its storied past.

Vanessa Williams, the 354-room resort’s general manager, said in a statement that The Vinoy has “served as the front porch of the St. Petersburg community for nearly a century, and its refreshed aesthetic pays homage to its legacy while also representing our revitalized downtown.”

The initial phase of a comprehensive renovation is completed, led by architecture and design firm Rockwell Group with Hart Howerton as architect of record, blending old-Florida grandeur and modern luxury, hotel leaders said Thursday.

A fine dining restaurant off the grand lobby with a raised garden terrace will later complete the final phase of renovations.

Guests are greeted by a reimagined arrival court, incorporating relaid 1920s brick, the original cypress wood beam ceiling and indigenous Floridian foliage. The Veranda, the hotel’s front porch that overlooks the bay, is home to rocking chairs, a Vinoy tradition since its opening, and a custom designed bar.

The goal of recent renovations, senior sales executive Jeff Silva said during a tour Thursday, was to “restore the space back to its original elegance.”

The lobby is also home to newly opened French patisserie Lottie, which serves house-made pastries, over 20 flavors of truffles and its signature Lottie Latte, which blends cinnamon-infused espresso and orange essence — a nod to the orange grove, the first in Pinellas, which was found on site in the 19th century.

“The Vinoy is St. Petersburg,” Silva said. Guests are invited to tour the resort and visit a newly designed history gallery, where they can see artifacts such as original room keys, he added.

The hotel’s early decades were awash in star-studded visits as the wealthy flocked to the new building’s splendor during the winter and spring. It survived the difficult economic climate of the 1930s, but war ultimately put a stop to business.

In 1941, the hotel was leased to the U.S. Army Air Forces and later the U.S. Maritime Training Service, reopening for visitors in 1945 after a series of major renovations.

But its services and amenities became increasingly dated, Silva said. It struggled to remain relevant and fell into such ill repute that by the 1970s, it functioned as a low-rent boarding house offering $7-a-night rooms.

It remained closed for 18 years, invaded by insects, vermin and floodwater before joining the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

The city saved the ailing structure from demolition, and salvation arrived in 1989, when the St. Petersburg-based Federal Construction Company received $33.6 million to completely reinvigorate the hotel.

In 1992 it opened once again.

Now expanded dining, meeting and spa facilities will take the hotel to new heights, Silva said Thursday.

Parasol, a Latin American-inspired outdoor restaurant with views of the Tampa Bay waterfront, is opening this summer, overlooking the resort’s new pool deck. The restaurant will feature a marble wrap-around bar, a living green wall and a menu starring fresh seafood.

The resort offers 60,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space, with 22 meeting rooms named after city parks and contributors to creation of the original Vinoy Park Hotel. The hotel’s new spa complements its fitness center, which features a mural by local artist Chad Mize.

The hotel last sold in 2018 for $188.5 million to a company led by Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Bryan Glazer. It is operated by Marriott International. The overall costs of the recent renovations reached “tens of millions,” hotel leaders previously told the Times.

If walls could talk, The Vinoy’s would share tales of Yankees star Joe DiMaggio and movie star Marilyn Monroe slipping in, of visits from Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover and other well-heeled guests soaking up the Florida sunshine and bay breeze. Staff hope there are many more years of tales to come.