Before The Princess Martha: Remembering Hotel Mason
Mason Hotel in St. Petersburg, Florida. 1924 (circa). State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory.
By Tina Stewart Brakebill In 1995, the St. Petersburg City Council designated the Princess Martha as a historic landmark. Operating as a hotel for nearly 65 years, and then as a home for retirees, the stately Neoclassical red-brick building stands as a reminder of the city’s first big boom. It was one of 10 hotels constructed between 1923 and 1926. Its builders promised “features that are scarcely rivaled” that will “add immediately to the
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prestige which the city’s new great tourist hotels are bringing to St. Petersburg.” Opened with much fanfare on January 4, 1924, the Hotel Mason, as it was originally called, lived up to the promise.
“Announcing Hotel Mason” Just days before the grand opening, any question a potential guest or curious local might have had about the prestigious new property was answered in a special “Hotel Mason Section” of the Sunday St. Petersburg Times. Stories offered details about everything from the hotel’s builders, architects, and design teams to its unmarred construction safety record, “master key” safety system, and the career path of the highly sought-after manager who had started as a bellhop. Advertisers filled the pages to claim their status as providers of hotel furnishings, linens, draperies, and carpets. Others announced available services on the hotel grounds, including a flower shop and five-chair barber shop. An artist’s rendering of the lobby’s chandelier served as the pictorial lead to the 15-page advertorial section. According to the Times, the light fixture was a perfect symbol for another “venture of service and fortune — the Mason Hotel.” Like the chandelier’s inspiration, the 15th-century Oró del Sol, the Hotel Mason “sails into St. Petersburg laden like a galleon from the Indies with wealth and riches.”
