“I may sum up a sketch of the hotel in a few words. There is nothing cheap, nothing inferior in it. Money has been freely expended in the purchase of the most costly objects, in all departments of art, for furniture and decorations; good taste has been exercised in the selection of these objects, and they are brought together in lavish profusion. The building is vast in extent. The grounds around it have been rescued from savage nature and reduced to order and beauty. The river is in front and Tampa lies across the river, which is narrowed to less than three hundred feet wide. Some hundred palmetto trees have been transplanted to form a grove near the river. Orange blossoms in neighboring orchards fill the air with their odor. Pineapples grow in luxuriance. To one who knew this spot as I knew it years ago, the gorgeous hotel and its surroundings may well seem the creation of a dream.”
Mr. Henry G. Parker, in the Boston Saturday Evening Gazette, writes:
“It was reserved for the sagacious and enterprising railroad and steamboat magnate, Mr. H. B. Plant, to reap the honor of erecting in tropical Florida the most attractive, most original, and most beautiful hotel in the South, if not in the whole country; and it is a hotel of which the whole world needs to be advised. It has one vase, which is the admiration and wonder of all who behold it, in the grand office rotunda, where ladies and gentlemen congregate at all hours of the day and evening. The entire estate, including land and building, cost two millions of dollars, and the furniture and fittings half a million more. No one who does not see it and dwell in it for at least a day, can form the faintest idea of the comprehensiveness of its purpose, the breadth of its plan, the ideal refinement of its comforts, the noble scale of its luxuries. Nothing offends the eye or the taste at any point, and while the first view of the hotel exteriorly is impressive, the effect produced by a first glance on entering its broad and inviting portals is one of astonishment and delight.
“The architecture of the Tampa Bay Hotel is Moorish, patterned after the palaces in Spain. The horseshoe and crescent are everywhere visible in its design, and minarets and domes tower above the great building, which is five stories high above the basement. The house is constructed of Atlanta red brick with rolled steel beams, and brick partitions, floors, and ceilings, and so is absolutely fire-proof.
“Numerous flights of stone steps lead up by easy ascent to the long verandas that extend along each side of the structure. These piazzas vary in width from sixteen to twenty-six feet. The length of the main building is 511 feet, but with the solarium and dining-room, which are connected with it, the house affords a continuous walk of twelve hundred feet, and the walk around it on the outside is exactly one mile. On the building there are thirteen minarets and domes, each surmounted with a gilt crescent, making in all a complete lunar year. The hotel contains, nearly five hundred rooms.
“The drawing-room, in perfect taste throughout, is a museum of beautiful things, embracing fine contrasts, rich harmonies, and pleasant innovations that render it indeed ‘a joy forever.’ Here there is an inlaid table which once graced the Tuileries, as did also three ebony and gold cabinets. On the table is a rare bit of sculpture, The Sleeping Beauty, in Carrara marble. There are a sofa and two chairs that were owned by Marie Antoinette. A set of four chairs may be seen that belonged to Louis Philippe. Then there are numerous French and Japanese cabinets, and above each is suspended a dazzling crystal mirror. All these and hundreds of other wonderful things were personally secured in Europe by Mr. Plant and his accomplished wife, while Boston, New York, and Grand Rapids have been drawn upon for what is best in their specialties in useful and ornamental furniture.
“The dining-room is octagon in shape, lighted from above, and is decorated with costly and elegant tapestries and Japanese screens. Its tables and nicely upholstered chairs are the very acme of comfort, and the whole apartment is tempting, aside from the unsurpassed excellence of the cuisine. The waiters are well groomed and well trained, having gained their knowledge and their courtesy in the leading hotels and clubs of New York. The chef is Joseph P. Campazzi, celebrated all over this country. He has fourteen first-class assistants, besides a dozen others, in his kitchen, which is the largest, most thoroughly equipped and most convenient to be found in the United States. He has arranged his departments for the care of meats, game, and fish on a plan of his own, which is worthy the attention and examination of every chef in the land. His ice-box contains between four and five tons, and he provides also for The Inn (also Mr. Plant’s property), at Tampa Port, and for the Havana steamers of the Plant Line. Meats are shipped in a refrigerator car from New York, while game goes from Baltimore, and largely from the sportsmen in and about Tampa. Fish is to be found in great variety and abundance in Southern Florida, at very low prices, and red snapper, pompano, sheepshead, and shad, deliciously cooked, are always to be found upon the table. Giovanni Carretta, who for fifteen years enjoyed a remarkable fame in New York at Delmonico’s and the Union Club, is the pastry-cook, and his deft hand has lost none of its wonted cunning. Rossi, from the Manhattan Club, is the baker.
“There are two hundred employees in the Tampa Bay Hotel, all of them carefully selected with a view to their special fitness for the places they fill. The chambers and suites are handsome and convenient proportionately with the public rooms. The carpets everywhere are harmonious in color, restful to the eye, and in the best of taste; more than thirty thousand yards of them have been laid.
“The music-room is a special feature. It is large, well ventilated, attractive in its circular form, simple in decoration, has a raised stage, and its acoustic properties are fine. Moreover, the band is superb. It consists of sixteen picked and skillful musicians, six of whom were taken from the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Their performances of classical music, as well as of the tuneful and delicious dance music, will stand the test of severe criticism, and not be found wanting. This important feature of entertainment is to be maintained at any cost, and it affords a great deal of pleasure to all who visit the Tampa Bay Hotel.
“Tampa is of interest historically, being the place where Ferdinand De Soto landed, May 25, 1539. From there he started on his search for the mines of wealth supposed to exist in the New World, which resulted in the discovery of the Mississippi River. There also Navarez, having obtained a grant of Florida from Charles V. of Spain, landed with a large force, April 16, 1528. Tampa is on the Gulf coast of Florida, 240 miles from Jacksonville. There are two trains daily, with Pullman cars, from Jacksonville and St. Augustine to Tampa, passing through Palatka, Sanford, and Winter Park, both having direct connection with all Eastern and Western cities, and one being a through train from New York. Its rapid growth during the past seven years, from eight hundred inhabitants to as many thousands, has been brought about by the Plant System having completed the South Florida Railroad to Tampa for the purpose of developing it commercially. The climate is perfect, and it is the only city in Florida with all the advantages of both inland and coast without the inconvenience of either; the only city that affords all the delights of a sportsman’s life to hunter and fisher, yachtsmen and horsemen, along with first-class business facilities in all directions. No malaria ever infects the delicious air, and the water is as soft as lavender. It is the place of places for invalids, and a lapse of two years will see Tampa the most important business city in its State. We are writing, not for the interest of the Tampa Bay Hotel alone, fine as it is, but to impart information and to convey suggestions that may be valuable to many of our readers. By no means fail to go as far as Tampa if you visit Florida in this tempestuous winter.”