The DeSoto Hotel was Sarasota’s first major hotel and a key part of the city’s early tourism and economic development

      Origins and construction (2886-1887)

In 1886, Colonel John Hamilton Gillespie, representing the Florida Mortgage and Investment Company, arrived in Sarasota-then a small fishing village-with plans to improve streets, downtown and attract wealthy visitors. He commissioned the DeSoto Hotel at the bay front, south of the company’s store. Built to be the finest on Florida’s west coast, it was three stories tall, featured an observation tower, 30 bedrooms, a large lobby and a dining room. Lumber was shipped by schooner from Cedar Key and Apalachiola to speed construction.

      The hotel opened on February 2, 1887, and was officially launched with grand ball attended with over 200 guests, the largest social event south Manatee at the time. Gillespie leased it to Alfred P. and Annie R. Jones of Cedar Key, who managed it under a profit sharing arrangement.

             Early challenges and ownership changes

              The DeSoto enjoyed a brief prosperous, but an economic slump around 1890 caused a decline in paying guests.  The hotel closed for several years in the 1890’s. In 1899, the Florida Mortgage and Investment Company sold it to a Tampa syndicate, which later sold it to the Southern Investment Company on October 6, 1902. The new owners renovated it and renamed it the Belle Haven Inn.

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