Belleview Biltmore Hotel - The White Queen Of The Gulf

Belleview Biltmore Hotel - The White Queen of the Gulf was built in 1896 by Henry B. Plant and his son, Morton Plant. The hotel is the world's largest occupied wooden structure. Built of pine, the structure was originally dark since it was not painted white for many years.

This beautiful old landmark was a Winter resort to European royalty as well as the Vanderbilts, du Ponts, Thomas Edison and many other famous people.

For years I would go to this landmark hotel every Thanksgiving with my children for the most magnificent feast imaginable!

There are many stories surrounding this beautiful old hotel. One is that Morton Plant's wife, Maisie lost her necklace of double strand natural pearls that she purchased from Henri Cartier. Guests through the decades have commented that they have seen Maisie wondering the hotel, searching for her pearls. Even great hotels can have spirits wandering the halls.

I would be searching for them as well if I had lost them! It seems that Morton did not want to pay the $1.2 million that Cartier wanted for the pearls, so Maisie traded the home that Morton Plant had built and given her for the necklace. That house, on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Fifty-second Street in the Big Apple is home to Cartier Jewelers to this day.

In 2009 there were plans to renovate the hotel, which was the site of many high school proms. Upper floor rooms were said to suffer from roof leaks and restoration work was indeed needed. The facility was closed and an ad placed in the local newspaper that items would be sold to the public.

A wonderful couple who purchased a house with my assistance in 2009 went to a sale that was being held at the hotel. There they purchased a wonderful chandelier and put it in their hallway after having it rewired for safety reasons. It is still in their home, which is being sold the end of this month. They have decided to leave it here, in Clearwater.

Once again, the hotel is back in the news. New owners filed paperwork in January of 2012. They want to tear most of the building down, keeping part of the hotel and lobby as a museum and building a least 120 Victorian townhomes on the sprawling 21 acres that overlooks the sparkling waters of Clearwater Harbor.

Local historical preservation groups want to save the landmark. Only time will tell the fate of this piece of local history that has always played such an important role in Clearwater's development.