Belleview-Biltmore Hotel

Belleview-Biltmore Hotel
Formerly listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The hotel in 2007
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Location	25 Belleview Boulevard Belleair, Florida
Coordinates	27°56′41.52″N 82°48′35.24″W / 27.9448667°N 82.8097889°W / 27.9448667; -82.8097889
Area	4 acres (1.6 ha)
Built	1897
Architect	Kennard, Francis J. Miller, Michael J.
Architectural style	Queen Anne Shingle Style
Demolished	2015, except for a portion of the original 1897 structure
NRHP reference No.	79000687[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	December 26, 1979
Removed from NRHP	October 2, 2017[2]

The Belleview-Biltmore Resort and Spa was a historic resort hotel located at 25 Belleview Boulevard in the town of Belleair, Florida, United States. The 350,000 square feet (33,000 m²) hotel structure was the last remaining grand historic hotel of its period in Florida that existed as a resort, and the only Henry Plant hotel still in operation when it closed in 2009. The building was noted for its architectural features, with its green sloped roof and white wood-sided exterior, and handcrafted woodwork and Tiffany glass inside. Constructed of native Florida heart pine wood, it was the second-largest occupied wooden structure in the United States after 1938; only the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego was larger.

The Belleview-Biltmore is situated on the highest point of the Florida coastline with views of the bay and the barrier islands which border the Gulf of Mexico. The hotel was built in the summer of 1896 by railroad tycoon Henry B. Plant and opened January 15, 1897. Originally known as the Belleview Hotel, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on December 26, 1979 as Belleview-Biltmore Hotel and removed in 2017 following its relocation.

When the last member of the Plant family died in 1918 the hotel was sold to John McEntee Bowman founder of the Biltmore hotel chain. He renamed the hotel the Belleview-Biltmore in 1926 during a rebranding of his hotel chain.

The hotel closed in 2009 and thereafter the property deteriorated from neglect. Despite the hotel's historic designation and efforts by preservation groups to save it, various proposals to restore the property as a resort hotel were unsuccessful and the owners began demolition in 2015 for condominiums. A portion of the 1897 structure was saved and relocated on a new foundation and restored as The Belleview Inn, a boutique inn.^[3] The Belleview Inn is a member of Historic Hotels of America.^[4]

The Belleview-Biltmore hosted dignitaries and world leaders through the years, including U.S. Presidents Barack Obama, George H. W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, and Gerald Ford, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the Duke of Windsor, as well as celebrities such as Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford. The Hotel was featured in a segment on the Weird Travels series on the Travel Channel television network in the U.S., which was filmed in March 2004 by Authentic Entertainment.^{[citation needed]}