Ponce De Leon Hotel

Central Avenue’s Ponce de Leon Hotel has been part of downtown St. Petersburg’s streetscape since 1922, when architect George Feltham put it up during the first wave of Florida’s land boom. It was one of the city’s earliest high-rises along the waterfront corridor, built at a time when most visitors were still staying in small boarding houses, and the building has stuck around through nearly a century of St. Petersburg’s growth, hosting Major League Baseball players during spring training seasons, soldiers passing through during World War II, and a run of recognizable guests over the decades, including Christopher Reeve, Tony Curtis, and a visit from Richard Nixon.

The hotel today runs as a straightforward, well located boutique property rather than a restored luxury showcase. Rooms range from compact Petite Queens at around 150 square feet up to a two room Suite with a queen bed and sofa bed, and several of the Queen Deluxe rooms and the Suite look out over the marina and the Tampa Bay skyline. Every room includes free WiFi, cable television, a mini refrigerator, and a sitting area, the basics done reliably rather than an attempt at boutique flourishes, which keeps rates lower than the historic hotels a few blocks north on Beach Drive.

On the ground floor, Tapas at Ponce serves Spanish style small plates with a Sunday brunch that runs from 11am to 4pm and features live music through the afternoon, a draw for St. Petersburg locals as much as hotel guests looking for dinner without leaving the building. The restaurant’s presence means the hotel functions as a bit of a neighborhood spot on weekends, with the patio filling up for brunch even among people who aren’t staying upstairs.

The Ponce de Leon’s location on Central Avenue puts guests in the middle of downtown’s restaurant and gallery row, an easy walk to the waterfront, the Dali Museum, and the St. Pete Pier, without the premium pricing of the Beach Drive properties directly on the water. It has picked up some notable press over the years, including an “Ultimate Boutique Hotel” nod from the Tampa Bay Times and coverage in the New York Times and on Boston.com’s travel pages, recognition that speaks to the hotel’s staying power even as downtown St. Petersburg has filled in with newer, flashier competition.

The hotel shares ownership with the Mansion Inn Bed & Breakfast a few blocks away in the Old Northeast, and both properties book through the same reservation system, a sign of a small, locally run hospitality operation rather than a chain. For travelers who want a historic downtown address, a restaurant downstairs, and rates that undercut the bigger names on the waterfront, the Ponce de Leon remains one of the more practical choices in the neighborhood.