{"id":1276,"date":"2012-11-30T15:56:07","date_gmt":"2012-11-30T15:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=1276"},"modified":"2023-08-16T20:05:53","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T01:05:53","slug":"tour-of-the-hotel-ponce-de-leon-in-st-augustine-what-a-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=1276","title":{"rendered":"Tour of The Hotel Ponce De Leon in St Augustine. What a place."},"content":{"rendered":"

If you ever get to St Augustine you owe it to yourself to take a tour of the of Hotel Ponce De Leon<\/a>, named after the Spanish explorer who put St Augustine on the map, making it the oldest city in America. \u00a0 The National Park Service has a nice write-up on the hotel<\/a>\u00a0that’s worth reading.<\/p>\n

The hotel was built in 1887 and completed in just two years, is a really remarkable building and set the stage for the high end tourist industry in Florida with luxury hotel furniture<\/a>. Flagler, then one of the wealthiest men in the world, was the guy behind the project and “spared no expense” when that really meant something. \u00a0This place is totally over the top.<\/p>\n

The hotel was massively\u00a0successful\u00a0when it opened and lead to Flagler building other properties in Florida, including another across the street. \u00a0Ultimately the hotel fell on hard times and was turned into the Flagler college in the 70s. \u00a0They receive funding as a national monument and clearly from other sources as tuition isn’t very high for a private college and the facility\u00a0maintenance\u00a0alone must be a massive expense. \u00a0While the hotel is a key part of the college, they make portions of it available for tours.<\/p>\n

Brenda and I enjoyed a visit yesterday and while it’s safe to say that “you had to be there” when it comes to appreciating the\u00a0grandeur\u00a0of it all, perhaps some of these detail shots will give you an idea of what it is all about.<\/p>\n

This shot, which I used before in a prior post, is a small portion of the front of the building. \u00a0Unfortunately, I didn’t take a shot of the main entrance. \u00a0 What an amazing structure. \u00a0It’s hard to believe that something this grand could have been built in only two years.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>The exterior details are just\u00a0exquisite like this piece above a window.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>These “spouts” are actually for decoration only and serve no practical function. \u00a0They are just great. \u00a0You know what they say…”it’s better to look good than to feel good” \u00a0In this case, it’s better to look good than to be functional. \u00a0I’d have to agree.\"\"<\/a>Lovely tile work around the main entrance.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>Intricate detail everywhere. \u00a0I wouldn’t expect that this would have survived the northern winters, or the pollution of a city like New York.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Once you enter the lobby the detail is even more remarkable. \u00a0 Louis Comfort Tiffany handled all of the interior decorations and windows. \u00a0 “Nice job Louis. \u00a0I just love your handiwork…” \u00a0There is a big dome over the grand entrance lobby and you can’t believe that all of this detail is in a single room.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>Nearly all of the wood is oak and is wonderfully carved. \u00a0It seems that Flagler employed shifts around the clock to make his two year timeline. \u00a0 Bigger than life size, there are intricate\u00a0motifs\u00a0everywhere, and all with their own meaning.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>It’s hard to believe that this sort of craftsmanship ever existed, much less all in one place. \u00a0 And, it’s still in great shape thanks to a big restoration project a few years ago.
\n\"\"The higher up you look, and it’s a long way up, the detail just continues.
\n\"\"We were shown other rooms, including the main dining room, still used for that purpose by the students of the college. \u00a0This building has more Tiffany glass in it than in any other building, anywhere. \u00a0I believe it.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>The windows in the dining room are just fabulous. \u00a0And, there are just so many in every pattern imaginable. \u00a0I expect, in the presence of such a grand room that food fights are not common among the students. \u00a0What do you think? \u00a0“now be good, ladies and gentleman, and keep your elbows off of the table. \u00a0And, I mean now…”\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\u00a0The ladies lounge was just exquisite with so many fine details. \u00a0It looked, to me, like a (really big) piece of fine china instead of a room.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>What a fireplace and the clock, like all of the rest of the, then rare, electrical system, was crafted by Thomas Edison himself. \u00a0 \u00a0“Hey Tom, I am going to build this really nice hotel in St. Augustine and was wondering if you’d be available to put a few of those new fangled\u00a0electric light thingies \u00a0into it? \u00a0The timetable? \u00a0Now is a good time.” \u00a0\"\"<\/a>The chandeliers, nine in this room alone, \u00a0were also from Tiffany and in perfect shape. \u00a0 Someone spent big dollars restoring this room, for sure.
\n\"\"<\/a>Sure, the lighting in my shots aren’t museum quality but this place surely is. \u00a0You should visit. \u00a0This town, St Augustine, may be the best stop yet for the crew of Pandora. \u00a0Saturday we leave to continue south.<\/p>\n

Oh yea, did I say that the sun is out today and it’s going to be in the mid 70s. \u00a0Not perfect but… \u00a0Me, I’ll take it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you ever get to St Augustine you owe it to yourself to take a tour of the of Hotel Ponce De Leon, named after the Spanish explorer who put St Augustine on the map, making it the oldest city in America. \u00a0 The National Park Service has a nice write-up on the hotel\u00a0that’s worth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_s2mail":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1276"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13434,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1276\/revisions\/13434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}