be a marvelous cook, so they began taking in boarders, a venture which proved more profitable. In 1906 they enlarged the house and called it the Siesta Inn. Through the years, the Siesta Inn, on what is now called Roberts Point Road, attracted some colorful clients. Artists — professional and amateur — adorned its walls with local scenes, and one opera singer was reputed to have left her grand piano there. Some of the famous boarders included Cecil B. DeMille, Bette Davis, Charlton Heston, Dorothy Lamour, Agnes Moorehead, Cornel Wilde and Betty Hutton. In 1950, the cast of “The Greatest Show on Earth” preferred to retreat to the quiet serenity of the inn on Sarasota Mayor the Key after a hard day of Harry Higel shooting. Sarasota Mayor Harry Higel jumped on the tourist bandwagon and built his Higelhurst Hotel in 1914 at the entrance to Big Pass. Reputed to be the largest and most beautiful hotel on the West Coast of Florida, the Bay Island Hotel, situated on 10 acres, opened its doors in 1912. It featured three stories, 65 rooms and fine food — it was all you could eat for $1. Marjorie Hamilton purchased the Bay Island Hotel in the 1930s. She installed unheard of
The Gulf View Inn was built in 1925 as the Sarasota Beach Lodge on the Gulf side of Siesta Key. modernizations, including central heating and a bath for every room. A few Siesta Key hotels, such as the Gulf View Inn, were removed in the name of progress, but most of the old inns sooner or later succumbed to fire. Higel stood on the Sarasota shore and watched helplessly as the Higelhurst went up in flames just a short month before the first bridge connecting the Key with the mainland was completed in 1917. The loss cost Higel $20,000. The Bay Island Hotel burned in 1952. The Siesta Inn had its fire in 1922, but the invincible Roberts built it up again in 1923. He claimed the new hotel was not only bigger and better, but was fireproof and hurricane-proof. And he may have been right — it stood until being torn down in 1996.
The Siesta Key Beach Pavilion, designed by architect Tim Siebert, was dedicated in 1960. www.siestakeychamber.com
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