Oh miss Vinoy, you’re truly a beauty. The Vinoy Park Hotel was built in 1925 by oil tycoon Aymer Vinoy Laughner. Construction began in February and took 10 months to complete, with the hotels grand opening on December 31. During those years It was a seasonal hotel, open from December to March. Rates were $20.00 a night, the highest in the area at that time, where celebrities ranging from Babe Ruth, Herbert Hoover, Calvin Coolidge and James Stewart are known to have stayed there. During World War II, the hotel closed on July 3, 1942 and was taken over by the U.S. Army for use as an Army training school. The hotel reopened in December 1944 and was sold to Charles Alberding in 1945 for $700,000. The hotel prospered for several decades but fell into disrepair in 1960. In 1974, the Vinoy Park closed and most of its contents were sold at auction. On September 11, 1978, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The hotel sat vacant until 1990, when it was bought by the ...