The Biltmore Hotel

Few buildings anywhere in Florida carry the weight of history that the Biltmore Hotel does. Opened in January 1926 as the centerpiece of George Merrick’s vision for Coral Gables, the hotel was designed by the architecture firm Schultze and Weaver, the same firm behind New York’s original Waldorf Astoria, and it shows in the building’s soaring Giralda inspired tower, modeled after the bell tower of Seville’s cathedral. In its early years the Biltmore hosted presidents, European royalty, and Hollywood stars, and it earned a reputation as one of the grand resort hotels of the Miami area during the boom years of the 1920s.

The hotel’s ownership structure is unusual and worth understanding. The City of Coral Gables holds title to the building itself, having been granted the property in 1973 under a historic preservation arrangement, and the Biltmore carries both Historic Landmark and National Historic Landmark status as a result. Since 1992, however, day to day operation has belonged to Seaway Hotels Group, a company led by Gene Prescott and his son Tom Prescott, who took on a ten year, forty million dollar restoration to bring the property back from a long period of decline and disrepair. That renovation reopened guest rooms, public spaces, and the hotel’s famous pool, once the largest hotel pool in the continental United States, complete with a diving platform used for exhibitions by Olympic swimmers including Johnny Weissmuller.

What makes the Biltmore relevant to a directory of independently run properties is that, despite its scale and its membership in luxury referral networks like Preferred Hotels and American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts, it is not flagged to a national hotel brand. There is no Marriott, Hilton, or Hyatt sign attached to the building. Seaway Hotels Group runs it as a standalone luxury resort, with 271 guest rooms, a Donald Ross designed golf course, a full service spa, and several restaurants, all under local management rather than corporate franchise ownership.

For Coral Gables residents, the Biltmore functions as something closer to a civic landmark than a typical hotel, hosting Sunday brunches, holiday events, and the occasional wedding for families who grew up within walking distance of its tower. For visitors, it offers a rare South Florida version of a European grand hotel, built into a structure that has now stood for a full century. Anyone putting together a serious list of independently operated lodging in Coral Gables has to start here, both for its historical significance and because it remains, structurally and operationally, one of the few large hotels in the city not owned and run by a chain.