The Don CeSar is a hotel located in St. Pete Beach, Florida. Developed by Thomas Rowe and opened in 1928, it gained renown as the Gulf playground for America's pampered rich at the height of the Jazz Age. The hotel was designed by Henry H. Dupont. The Don CeSar is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Construction

In 1924, Thomas Rowe purchased of land in St. Petersburg and Pass-a-Grille for $100,000 to begin his dream of building a "pink castle". He hired architect Henry Dupont to design the hotel and Carlton Beard as contractor. To ensure the stability of the hotel on the shifting sand and avoid the high cost of sinking so many pilings, Beard devised a floating concrete pad and pyramid footings. To this day, there is no sign of evident settling of the hotel. The architecture is a blend of Mediterranean and Moorish styles modeled after different hotels and developments that Rowe and Beard saw in Palm Beach, Coral Gables and Boca Raton. Arched openings, red clay tile roofs, balconies, stucco over hollow tile and tower like upper stories were some of the elements that they borrowed. The original design called for a $450,000 six-story hotel with 110 rooms and baths. It was expanded to 220 rooms and 220 baths, and the costs soared to $1.25 million, 300% over budget. Rowe named it Don Ce-Sar after Don César de Bazan, the hero of William Vincent Wallace's opera Maritana.

Thomas Rowe’s main motivation for the design of Don Cesar came from his love for an opera singer named Lucinda. They could not be together because of the singers’ parents’ disapproval so Thomas put his time into the creation of the ‘Pink Place’ as tribute to her. These changes were conducted by removing a fountain located on the fifth floor which was a replica of the same fountain that Thomas Rowe and Lucinda met while he was in London; the renovation also included other upgrades across the property.

However, after the sudden death of Rowe without a will, The Don was left to his estranged wife and began to fall into disrepair until the United States entered into World War II, and the hotel was bought by the Army for $450,000. It was converted into a military hospital and reopened in December 1942. In February 1944, the Don Ce-Sar became a convalescent center for the United States Army Air Corps. In June 1945, the Don Ce-Sar was ordered closed and was vacant by September 1945. It was converted into a Veterans Administration Regional Office by the end of 1945.

World War II History

During World War II the Don CeSar hotel was temporally bought and taken by the United States Government through eminent domain. At this time the hotel went through extensive renovations in order to become a military hospital- all which included turning elegant rooms into operation rooms and guest rooms into medical facilities. Once again, the Don Cesar was remodeled to adapt to administration necessities holding over 1,400 employees; the government continued to use the space until 1967 where the VA moved to another location in downtown St. Petersburg.

Local Contributions

During the Covid-19 pandemic the Don CeSar as well as its sister property, The Beach House Suites, adjusted their services and operations to meet the requirements of their customers, staff members, and local laws. In addition, the Don CeSar donated to multiple organizations such as SPCA a non-profit organization and My Place in Recovery which is local shelter; the donations included sheets, blankets, beddings and towels. ghost of its original owner, Thomas Rowe {see " Don CeSar Hotel in St. Petersburg Beach" under 'Florida' in the Wikipedia article "Haunted Locations"}

  • Parts of Once Upon a Time in America were filmed at the Don CeSar.
  • Comedian Ron White talked about his stay at the Don CeSar in the movie Blue Collar Comedy Tour: One for the Road.
  • Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers filmed a music video at the Don CeSar in 1985.
  • Robert Altman's film Health was filmed in the hotel.
  • The Don CeSar has a long list of famous guests and has hosted Franklin D. Roosevelt and every president since Gerald Ford (excluding Ronald Reagan).
  • Thunder in Paradise was filmed around the Don CeSar during April 1993.
  • The 1999 film Forever Mine was filmed at the Don CeSar.
  • The Don CeSar was one of the featured hotels in the episode "Big Night Out" of Emeril's Florida, a 2013 series starring Emeril Lagasse.
  • The 2016 Brad Furman movie The Infiltrator was filmed in part on the rooftop balcony of the Don CeSar in Spring 2015.
  • The Pitbull song "Sexy Beaches" was used in the "Visit Florida" tourism campaign, sponsored by the state of Florida. The music video was filmed at The Don CeSar in St. Petersburg, Florida, and was uploaded to Pitbull's YouTube on July 13, 2016.
  • The TV series Life's Rewards was filmed in St. Petersburg and Clearwater, Florida, and its setting is the Don CeSar.

See also

  • List of Historic Hotels of America

References

  • Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
  • Pinellas County listings
  • Don Ce Sar Resort and Spa