St. Pete Beach

The Don CeSar

The 1928 'Pink Palace' on St. Pete Beach, where F. Scott Fitzgerald and Lou Gehrig stayed. It is on Historic Hotels of America's most-haunted list.

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The Don CeSar — Elisa.rolle / CC BY-SA 4.0

Built: 1928built 1925–28 as a hotel; opened January 1928. The adjacent Beach House Suites is a separate, later building and is not historic.
Style: Mediterranean Revival with Moorish elements
Architect: Henry H. DuPont (per HHA; NRHP record lists architect as unknown)
Type: Resort
Credentials: Listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Historic Hotels of America member

The story

Thomas Rowe bought 80 acres on the beach in 1924 and hired architect Henry H. DuPont, with Carlton Beard as contractor; the ‘Pink Palace’ opened in 1928 far over budget, set on a floating concrete pad with pyramid footings. F. Scott Fitzgerald and Lou Gehrig stayed, and the New York Yankees signed a spring-training contract in 1931. The U.S. Army took the hotel in 1942 as a hospital, and it later housed Veterans Administration offices before standing derelict by 1969. William Bowman Jr. bought it and reopened it in 1973 after a $7.5 million restoration. Hurricanes Helene and Milton closed it in September 2024; it partially reopened March 26, 2025, with overnight stays from April 1, 2025.

The ghost story

Guests and staff tell of the builder, Thomas Rowe, who died in 1940, still walking the hotel; HHA has named the Don CeSar to its Top 25 Most Haunted Hotels lists (2019, 2021).

Source: www.tampabay.com

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Good to know

Breakfast: available
Parking: on-site paid
Pets welcome
Address: 3400 Gulf Boulevard, St. Pete Beach, FL 33706

Sources (5)

Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.