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Casa Marina Key West, Curio Collection by Hilton
Key West, Florida, United States · Curio Collection · Accessible Luxury
Harding visited Casa Marina just three days after its grand opening, beginning a century of presidential and celebrity guests from Hoover and Truman to Gregory Peck and Rita Hayworth. Henry Flagler promised Key West a luxury resort in 1912 upon completing his Overseas Railroad, but died in 1913 before construction began under Louis P. Schutt.
- 311 rooms
- Opened 1921
- Neighborhood: Casa Marina
- Architect: Thomas Hastings and John Carrere
About Casa Marina Key West, Curio Collection by Hilton
- Construction under Louis P. Schutt didn't begin until 1918, six years after Flagler's 1912 promise and five years after his death.
- Casa Marina opened on New Year's Eve 1920 with architects Thomas Hastings and John Carrere, the same New York firm that designed the New York Public Library and the original Metropolitan Opera House.
- The U.S. Navy seized Casa Marina by eminent domain in 1942 for officer quarters during World War II, and the U.S. Army Sixth Missile Battalion occupied it during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- Casa Marina was built with the same German cement, sand, gravel, and saltwater mixture used to construct Flagler's original Seven Mile Bridge, linking the resort materially to his Overseas Railroad vision.
History
Casa Marina's origins lie in a promise that was never fulfilled in its maker's lifetime. Henry Flagler, the Standard Oil partner whose Florida East Coast Railway had extended American civilization — and American tourism — down the length of Florida, pledged in 1912 to build a luxury resort hotel in Key West once his Overseas Railroad, the engineering marvel that connected the Florida Keys to the mainland, was complete. The railroad opened in January 1912, Flagler arrived in Key West aboard its inaugural train, and the city celebrated. He died the following year, in 1913, at the age of 83, without breaking ground on the hotel.
Construction began in 1918 under the direction of Louis P. Schutt, Flagler's trusted associate who undertook to realize the magnate's vision posthumously. The architects were Thomas Hastings and John Carrere, the distinguished New York firm whose other works include the New York Public Library, the United States Senate and House office buildings in Washington, and the Metropolitan Opera House — a pedigree that guaranteed the project architectural seriousness to match its ambition. The hotel was built in the elegant Spanish style that Flagler had favored for his Florida properties, and it was constructed using the same mixture of German cement, sand, gravel, and saltwater that had built the original Seven Mile Bridge — a material connection to the railroad that had made the project possible.
Casa Marina opened on New Year's Eve, 1920, as the southernmost luxury resort in the United States — a literal endpoint of Flagler's vision of Florida as a winter playground for the American wealthy. Three days after opening, President Warren G. Harding paid a visit, establishing the hotel's role as a gathering place for the powerful and celebrated that it has maintained across more than a century. The hotel is the oldest and largest resort in Key West, built on the only private beach in the city, and its long oceanfront lawn remains one of the defining landscapes of the island.
Casa Marina has weathered hurricanes, ownership changes, and renovations across its century-plus of operation. It now operates as Casa Marina Key West, Curio Collection by Hilton, retaining the Spanish architectural character and the oceanfront setting that Flagler's architects designed for it, and serving as the historical anchor of a Key West luxury hospitality market that has grown considerably around it.
The setting
2 miles from Highway 1.
Restaurants and bars
- Dorada — Restaurant
- Flagler's Restaurant — Restaurant · American
Amenities
- Spa
- Pool
- Fitness center
- Private beach
- Water sports
- Pet-friendly
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