Friday, March 8, 2013

Bits of Fancy Florida Hotels

It can be fun to visit fancy hotels even if you don't (or can't) pay the fancy fare to stay. We were in Florida the first half of February and did some hotel-crawling while there. Although we didn't rent rooms, we did dine at each of those shown below.

So far as I'm concerned, the grandest of the lot is The Breakers in Palm Beach. Its Web site is here and the Wikipedia entry here.

Not so grand, but about as old and still pretty nice is the Don Cesar on St. Pete Beach in the Tampa Bay area. The Wikipedia entry is here.

In Coral Gables, near Miami, is another 1920s grand hotel, the Biltmore, whose Wikipedia write-up can be found here.

Below are some photos I took. No thorough studies here, just snippets to provide a taste.

Gallery

The Breakers main lobby

The Breakers, at one end of the lobby hall

The Breakers HMF bar
Originally this room was the main dining area, but has been a bar for years. It was recently redecorated, perhaps with too large a dash of contemporary feeling.

The Breakers HMF bar
A close-up of the bar itself. The illustration is mid 1950s, but I don't know who did it. Nor do I know if it dates back to then or is a retro piece.

Don Cesar from the beach

Don Cesar, poolside

Don Cesar interior

Biltmore Coral Gables pool
The Biltmore has a huge pool. This was taken from the bar area.

Biltmore Coral Gables
Another view of the pool and main hotel structure from not far from where the previous photo was taken.

4 comments:

Danny said...

I really love the classy classic interior of Biltmore Hotel. The architecture is just superb. I really is worth visiting, if not staying over. I think my favorite thing when I was in Biltmore Hotel was when I was able to come with a friend and try the Culinary Academy. Boy, what an experience!

I really love the classy classic interior of the Biltmore Hotel. The architecture is just superb! It really is worth visiting, if not staying over. I think my favorite thing when I was in Biltmore Hotel was when I was able to come with a friend and try the Culinary Academy. Boy, what an experience!

Danny Riddell

Unknown said...

It’s good that they try to maintain the classic look of the place, though keeping it modern enough for client’s convenience. That, and the various events they hold are quite exquisite. Definitely looking forward to my next visit there!

Rowena

bryceviewlodge said...

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Jessica said...

Sounds like a really cool hotel and reminds me of when I was in NYC and stayed at the Tribeca hotel.