In the pink at age 75, the Vinoy celebrates

All year, patrons and staff will toast a hotel that regained its luster after extensive cosmetic surgery in 1992.

By SHARON BOND

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 13, 2000

ST. PETERSBURG -- For a business like the historic Renaissance Vinoy Resort, celebrating a 75th anniversary throughout this year is an expensive and time-consuming operation, but one that could produce long-lasting benefits.

"An anniversary is the perfect excuse for a major theme promotion," Krista Boling, director of public relations, wrote in the early months of planning that began in August 1998.

"Some hotels use an anniversary to thank their customers; others use it to establish a stronger image in the community. Whatever the reason, anniversary promotions build sales and good will."

Boling said in a recent interview that the Renaissance Vinoy had no special budget for the celebration.

"It has to fit within the marketing or advertising budgets we already had."

Hotel officials declined to disclose the total cost of the 75th anniversary, but they did release a few figures.

The Renaissance Vinoy's signature item for the celebration is a 128-page coffee table book, The Renaissance Vinoy: St. Petersburg's Crown Jewel. It contains photographs and text of the hotel's history. The history was written by Florida author Prudy Taylor Board. The hotel spent $55,000 having the book produced. It was delivered in November and sells for $29.95.

"The book probably won't make any money for two to five years," Boling said. The hotel ordered 4,000 copies and expects to break even when half have sold. So far about 800 have been purchased.

"We were looking for every way we could to make sure people knew, to create awareness," Boling said. That extended as far down as the cheapest: $60 paid to Pitney-Bowes to add "Celebrating Grand Hospitality for 75 Years" to the mailing meter.

The Vinoy commissioned a portrait of the hotel by artist Christopher M. Still of Tarpon Springs. Called More Beautiful With Time, the painting displays 36 items that are important to the history of the hotel, including a small portrait of a 1920s flapper. Elice Laughner, great-granddaughter of the original owner, posed as the 1920s party girl.

The painting was unveiled on New Year's Eve to officially kick off the yearlong anniversary celebration. Its cost would not fit in the existing budgets, Boyd said.

So the hotel bartered with the artist. It hosted art shows for him in 1998 and 1999 in the ballroom. Vinoy staffers helped set up the shows, and the hotel banquet services provided complimentary hors d'oeuvres for about 600 and cash bars.

"It was a mutual benefit for us both," Boling said, adding that the hotel probably got show visitors who normally wouldn't have come into the hotel.

The Vinoy, which is one of 70 properties in 23 countries owned by Renaissance Hotels and Resorts, just ended its eighth year of operation as a refashioned jewel after sitting empty, dirty and neglected for 18 years. So while it is celebrating its 75th year of existence, it has not been open the whole time. It reopened on July 31, 1992, after a $93-million renovation and restoration.

The original resort, the Vinoy Park Hotel, opened on New Year's Eve 1925, built for $3.5-million by Aymer Vinoy Laughner. It prospered along with St. Petersburg as a vacation and tourist destination for decades.

Hard times hit the faded pink, waterfront hotel in the 1970s. It closed permanently in 1975. Repeated efforts to revive the Vinoy failed until 1990, when restoration began and a new annex was built. Luxury condominiums now are under construction beside the hotel.

For the book and its history gallery, the Renaissance Vinoy needed the community's help and memories from past guests, Boling said. It launched a search in November 1998 for hotel memorabilia and written recollections.

"Tracing people who were connected with the hotel might have been the most difficult, but at the end it was the most gratifying part," Boling said.

A 92-year-old woman who unintentionally left the hotel with a small silver pitcher in 1928 read about the search and walked into the Vinoy one day to return it.

Thirty ideas were on the first list of possible ways to celebrate the 75th anniversary. In its heyday, the Vinoy was known for elegance, and planners thought restoring high tea in the afternoon would be a symbolic and perhaps prosperous addition to food service. Cost -- $19.25 per person. That idea was dropped.

"For the silver service, we would have had to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars for as much as we would need," Boling said.

High tea was replaced by casual tea, available for $10 per person. Boling says that price is more realistic for this area. Casual tea has been a hit since it started in March; it has even been used for a couple of business meetings.

Another idea that didn't take was the plan for a weekend manners class for children for $250 to celebrate Emily Post etiquette. Only three people were interested.

The Renaissance Vinoy teamed up with Continental Airlines to offer travelers interested in the hotel's deluxe weekend package 2,000 extra frequent-flier miles. The package costs about $2,000.

About 19 of the 30 ideas for celebrating the 75th anniversary either have been or will be carried out by the time New Year's Eve arrives.

And in the process, a history of the hotel has been recorded and memorabilia gathered, which will make it much easier for future anniversary planners, Bolding said.

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