The Don CeSar Hotel in St. Pete Beach, Florida is a historic hotel with a fascinating history. There are those who even say that it is absurd. Don CeSar was built by Thomas Rowe. Many years before Rowe built Don CeSar, he fell in love with a woman named Lucinda. There are those who report seeing lovers walking in the pink hotel to this day.
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When Thomas Rowe was young, he studied in Europe in the 1890s. Rowe had a romance with a girl named Lucinda. Lucinda’s parents did not like Rowe and forbade Lucinda to see him. Rowe returned to America defeated. His letter was returned unopened to Lucinda. When Rowe heard of Lucinda’s death he received a note that he wrote from his bed: “Time is endless. I look to you through our fountain … to share our untimely love, our time is fate.
When Rowe Don CeSar began construction in 1924, he included a fountain that was a reflection of the courtyard and fountain where he and Lucinda used to meet. The fountain was destroyed when the Veterans Administration completed the building. The original fountain was replaced by an image of the fountain, which is now in the lobby of the hotel.
Employees at Don CeSar tell stories of seeing the two who appear to be walking hand in hand. The nobleman is a purple man in a white suit and a Panama hat. The girl is a dark haired beauty. those descriptions of Thomas Rowe and Lucinda loved. The couple walks through the hotel and then disappears.
History of Don Cesar
The Don CeSar was the dream of Thomas Rowe, who was in poor health when he moved to Florida and began to realize his dream of “building a pink castle. Rowe owned 80 acres of land in a small farm called St. Pete.” On the beach At the time the land was accessible only by a fragile jungle bridge that operated at the behest of the owner. structural materials.
The Don Cesar was built to rival the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii. The great castle pink was built by Thomas Rowe, who had made his fortune in real estate in Florida/ The cost of the hotel was 1.2 million dollars, which almost 300 percent over budget. Rowe was obsessed with building the best hotel in Florida and spared no expense in this rosy vision with Mediterranean and Moorish architectural motifs.
The pink face cotton candy was rich in tropical surroundings standing next to the ocean and the blue Caribbean sky. The hotel had balconies and terraces on the outside. Inside were well-decorated marble fountains, high ceilings and rich furnishings. Most rooms overlook the Gulf of Mexico or Boca Ciega Bay. Don CeSar was named after a character in a light opera called Maritiana.
The great gathering was a hot spot in the great age of the famous society of the great Gatsby. Famous guests included FDR, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Clarence Darrow, Lou Gehrig and Al Capone.
Hard times hit Don CeSar during the depression of the 1930s. He signed a three-year spring training contract with the New York Yankees in 1931, which helped Don through the Great Depression. .
According to officials, Rowe considered the hotel to be his home and treated it as such. Rowe sits at the top of the stairs in the lobby and surveys each guest who has registered. if the guests do not meet the standards, he asks them to leave.
Rowe had a will that left “the pink lady” in a loyal family of employees. But in 1940 he died prematurely, without leaving a will. When the lawyer was in the hospital emergency with the new will, he rushed to the hospital, but the nurses refused. they testify by their signature to their condition.
Rowe’s estranged wife of 30 years inherited the property. In the last few years the hotel has lost much of the charm and personality which had given it such a high status with the highest society. The widow lost property to reduce taxes.
The Army purchased the property in 1942 for $450,000 and the building became a convalescent center for World War II airmen. During the time that the veterans were recuperating, many celebrities continued to visit the Don to boost the spirits of the soldiers.
After the war the building was turned into a veteran’s administration. The government robbed the luxury hotel officials, including a beautiful fountain in the lobby. The worker who was involved in the demolition wrote a letter and sealed it in the fountain before covering it. The letter was unseen for 25 years. When the letter was discovered in 1973, the Times St. Petersburg was published. The letter is read;
“:At this point in the center of the large Don CeSar stood a fish pond covered with imported tiles. The manager, Mr. J.H.F. Dikensheets, decided that the fish tank was ugly and in the way of pedestrian traffic. In the middle of this hotel’s heyday, this is a fishing spot sitting in the middle of this beauty. The lobby is wide. We are very sorry that Mr. S.F newspaper.”
In 1967 the building was abandoned , due to the costs of necessary repairs. Once upon a time, the magnificent Don CeSar was sighted on the beach and was slated for demolition. A preservation group rescued Don CeSar by hiring a buyer to restore the hotel to its former glory.
The removed lobby font replaces the font image. The source is now a Spanish village center surrounded by shops.
Don CeSar’s 1973 luxury resort. Renovation and renovation projects will be pursued by the hotel. A recent $20 million expansion project revitalized the lobby with rich mahogany accents. The guest room maker then took over.
Don CeSar celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2003. The romantic resort has 277 guest rooms, fitness center two pools. and the spa. The famous rally was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. In 1989 Don Ce Sar was elected as a founding member of the National Trust for Historic Hotels America. The National Maritime Association uses the pink Don CeSar navigation aid on maps. Loews Don CeSar is a AAA Four Diamond Resort.
If the ghosts are true, Thomas Rowe and his beloved Lucinda wander through the hotel and must enjoy the restoration in a haunted grandeur. a hotel
