At the center of it all from the very beginning | |
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For nearly 40 years, Pier House Resort and Caribbean Spa has been one of the defining parts of Key West, a reflection of the no-holds-barred, free-spirited attitude on the island. Of all the Florida Keys luxury resort hotels, the Pier House Resort offers one of the most unique in terms of accommodations and character.
It started in the early 1960’s, when the rest of the world was discovering the appeal Key West held for its resident population of Conchs, free spirits, outlaws and eccentrics, and the island was just beginning to be recognized as a world-class tourist destination. And with this awareness, came a restoration movement that would restore the Old Town area to its glory days.Builder/designer David Wolkowsky, a Key West native, realized the potential of this revitalization and the importance of preserving the past by making it work for the future. In 1962 he rescued a condemned bar, the original home of “Sloppy Joe’s” of Hemingway fame. From there he developed property on lower Duval and Front Streets including “Pirate’s Alley” and the Original Cigar Factory. In 1963 Wolkowsky accomplished a major coup with the purchase of choice waterfront property near Mallory Square for $106,000. This deserted area around the old Cuban Ferry Dock, a haven for the homeless, was destined to become a one-of-a-kind tropical resort. Locals watched as their hometown boy lifted the 1890 Porter Steamship office off its foundation and moved it 300 feet out, setting it on pilings in 40 feet of water. He transformed the Steamship office into “Tony’s Fish Market”, a restaurant and cocktail lounge where guests could relax and watch shrimp boats in the channel on their way into port. In 1967 Wolkowsky and architect Yiannis B. Antonidis began construction on a motel around the restaurant with 50 unique rooms, to which 50 more rooms that faced the ocean where quickly added. The completed structure was christened “Pier House Resort Motel”. |
Just as Key West began to emerge a vacation paradise, Pier House Resort and Caribbean Spa took its place right in the thick of things, literally and figuratively. The first luxury resort on the island, Pier House Resort has remained the heart of Key West and the focal point of any number of events, not the least of which is Pretenders in Paradise at Fantasy Fest.
The original Pier House Resort, which cost $370,000 to build, also included the Chart Room, a cubbyhole of a bar where Jimmy Buffet is said to have begun his career. By the mid-seventies, a fine dining restaurant, known as the Pier House Resort Restaurant was the Key West “in” place for tourists and locals alike. The likes of Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote and Peter Fonda could be found dining on stone crab claws and yellowfish and listening to live piano music. And in that sense, although Key West has changed a great deal in the past 35 years, Pier House Resort and Caribbean Spa has remained the same. Defining the island as much as being defined by it. Through various expansions and renovations – such as the addition of the Caribbean Spa – Pier House Resort has remained in a class of its own on Key West. Indeed, the “flagship hotel of the Key West state of mind”. 
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Pier House Resort and Caribbean Spa
One Duval Street, Key West, Florida 33040, USA. Tel: 305-296-4600, 800-723-2791 Fax: 305-296-7569
E-mail the hotel: mailto:info@pierhouse.com
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