Our Visit to See the ‘White Queen of the Gulf’

For our fifth anniversary, Jeff and I drove over to Clearwater Beach and stayed at the historic Belleview Biltmore Resort. Built in 1897 by the railroad tycoon Henry Plant, it sits in a private waterside enclave in the Bellair community of Clearwater, FL. The original hotel is a historic property and one of the last of the great American Victorian “Grand Dame” Resort. Known as the “White Queen of the Gulf,” it was the ultimate destination for wealthy northeasterners.

The oldest operating hotel in Florida, the resort is scheduled to begin a massive renovation next year that will last two years and even remove parts that aren’t original to the hotel, so it was cool to be one of the last guests before that starts. The place has a lot of character and was just a really different experience. Jeff said it has an “old Hollywood” feel to it. It even had an old movie projector close to the lobby. The hotel was decked out in Christmas gear too. Other than me being really sick, we enjoyed a couple days to ourselves while Madilyn played with Mima back home. Here are some pictures Jeff took of the resort.