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New owners, upgrades for Vinoy

The St. Petersburg resort's restaurants, pool area and meeting rooms will benefit from an investment of about $3-million.

By SHARON L. BOND
Published July 7, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - The Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club has a new owner who plans to step up investment in the historic hotel, a four-diamond property.

Walton Street Capital in Chicago bought the Vinoy last month in a package that included seven other hotels for $578-million, according to Marriott International Inc., the seller.

The individual price of the Vinoy was not released, but it was grouped in sale with hotels such as the Renaissance Mayflower in Washington, D.C., the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort and Spa in Palm Springs, Calif., and the Chicago Renaissance.

Russ Bond, the Vinoy's general manager, said Marriott will continue to manage one of the anchors of St. Petersburg's downtown revival. He said Walton plans to spend about $3-million in the coming year making upgrades at the resort, located at 501 Fifth Ave. NE.

Among the changes: The hotel's five restaurants will be enhanced, as will the pool area and some of the meeting rooms, Bond said. Behind the scenes improvements call for new kitchen equipment and upgraded technology.

Longer term plans call for adding a spa in a space yet to be determined.

"I'm tickled with the changes," said Bond. "I believe the new owner will continue to invest, based on contractual language, on a higher level than the previous owner."

Marriott owned the Vinoy, which it has managed since 1997, for only a few months. The Vinoy was one of 32 hotels it recently purchased from Hong Kong-based CTF Holdings Limited. Bond said that in its 10-year ownership of the Vinoy, CTF spent $4.5-million renovating the hotel's 360 rooms and another $10.5-million to build a ballroom.

Bond said the new owners were interested in the Vinoy because of the renaissance they saw occuring in downtown St. Petersburg. Local leaders consider the the two-year, $93-million restoration and reopening of the Vinoy in 1992 as one of the sparks for the city's comeback. It was called the Stouffer Vinoy Resort at its rebirth.

Originally, the resort opened as the Vinoy Park Hotel in 1925 on the downtown waterfront. It was an attraction that put St. Petersburg on the map with the elite. The hotel's fortunes started a slide in the 1960s that ended with it closing in 1975. As it stood deteriorating, the city's downtown slid into decline also, coming back to life in the '90s. The Vinoy has 500 employees and carries a three-star rating by Mobil. The four diamonds come from the American Automobile Association.

Marriott purchased 32 hotels from CTF Holdings Ltd. of Hong Kong, said Russ Bond, the hotel's general manager. CTF owned the Vinoy for 10 years, he said.

[Last modified July 7, 2005, 01:00:11]