The story
Construction on the Hotel Floridan began in 1926 and it opened in 1927. It had 19 floors and 316 rooms, cost $1.9 million, and was Tampa's tallest building until the Franklin Exchange Building was completed in 1966.
During World War II its bar, the Sapphire Room, was popular with servicemen training at nearby Drew Field. The wild reputation earned it the nickname the Surefire Room. In 1966 the hotel stopped taking overnight guests and reopened for long-term renters only. A fire struck in 1987, and in 1989 the building closed for good after new owners did not meet updated fire-code requirements.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 12, 1996. In 2005 Tony Markopoulos bought it for $6 million and began a multi-year restoration, and the original rooftop sign, found in storage that year, went back on the roof in 2008. The hotel reopened on July 30, 2012 as the Floridan Palace Hotel, then in January 2024 as Hotel Flor Tampa Downtown.
What's There Now
It is Hotel Flor Tampa Downtown, a Hilton Tapestry Collection hotel that reopened in January 2024.
Everything that was here
- 1927–present · still open
Floridan HotelHotel
Tampa's tallest building for 40 years, its wartime bar was nicknamed the Surefire Room, and it sat empty from 1989 until 2012.
See the map in 1928 →
Did you know?
Nearby history
F. W. Woolworth Store (1960 lunch counter sit-in)
S. H. Kress and Co.
The Hub Bar
Tampa Theatre
Franklin Theatre / Florida Theatre
Maas Brothers Department Store
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