The Vinoy

Aymer Vinoy Laughner enjoyed a good game of golf.  Walter Hagen, a famous golfer joined  his buddy Aymer for a game of golf at Laughner’s Beach Drive home in St. Petersburg.  The two made a wager–not about who might win the game–instead about the toughness of Laughner’s prized watch. Hagen wondered if the crystal would survive if he drove golf balls off of it.  Sounds like there might have been alcohol involved in this bet.  

The watch survived.  The golf balls landed on the waterfront  property on which the Vinoy now sits.  Guests at this little golf game suggested Aymer purchase the property and build a grand resort.  He must have thought it was a great idea because he bought the property for $170,000, hired architects and builders and started construction in  February of 1925. The 375 room hotel was completed by December 1925.   

The Vinoy hotel flourished in the 1920’s and 30’s.  Many wealthy Northerner’s arrived to take advantage of the warm winters and lavish pleasures during those years.  The reality of a second world war took its toll on the Vinoy which closed to the public and leased to the U.S. Army Air Force  and then to the U.S. Maritime Service as housing and training for military cooks and bakers.  

After substantial repairs in 1944, the hotel reopened to the public.  The Vinoy continued to welcome guests in the 1950’s and 1960’s but the hotel’s resistance to installing air conditioning led visitors to look for other more modern destinations.  In the early 1970’s it became a low rent boarding house costing $7 a night.  

The hotel was closed in 1974 with much of its fine china, silver and crystal being sold at a public auction.  The citizens of St. Petersburg were successful in placing the landmark hotel on the National Register of Historic Places, however, the hotel remained unoccupied. 

Renovations began in 1990 led to the reopening in 1992 as a Stouffer Hotel.  It reclaimed its place as the centerpiece of St. Petersburg’s waterfront downtown.  In 1993 it was renamed the Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort and Golf Club.

I have been spoiled staying at the Vinoy Marina.  As a marina guest, we have privileges at the hotel spa, fitness center, tennis courts, pool and more.  We (yes, Steve) participated in the daily aqua aerobics classes and met many of the local residents of St. Petersburg.  

  Joy