The Haunted Hotel Flor (Floridan Hotel), Tampa

For almost four decades the Floridan Hotel was the tallest building in Tampa, a 19-story Beaux Arts tower where business travelers, servicemen and celebrities passed through its lobby. Then it slid into decline, closed, and stood empty for years at the corner of Florida Avenue and Cass Street. Today it is Hotel Flor Tampa Downtown, part of Hilton’s Tapestry Collection, after two restorations brought it back.

Its ghost stories are not about one famous spirit. They come mostly from the long dark years: residents who heard music and laughter in empty hallways, and passersby who saw lights and figures in the windows of a building that was locked up. Downtown ghost tours still stop outside, and guests still report odd moments in the lobby and on the guest floors.

The ghosts of Hotel Flor

Music and laughter in the hallways

After 1966 the Floridan stopped taking overnight guests and became a place for long-term and weekly renters. People who lived there in those years described music and laughter in the hallways when nobody was around, radio dials turning on their own and faucets found running. The Bradenton Times, looking back at the stories, points out that nobody ever identified who or what was behind them.

Lights in an empty building

After the hotel closed in the 1980s it stood empty for more than 20 years. During that time people downtown reported lights in the windows and figures looking out of rooms that should have been sealed. For many Tampa residents this is the story that made the Floridan a haunted building.

Servicemen and mobsters

Tampa ghost tours that stop at the hotel tell of spirits of World War II servicemen and mob figures roaming its corridors, and of an icy presence felt near the building. Both stories come from real chapters in the hotel’s past: the wartime Sapphire Room was packed with soldiers from Drew Field, and rumors have long linked the hotel to Tampa’s mob history. The ghosts themselves are tour lore.

Reports since the reopening

Since the hotel reopened, visitors and staff have reported unexplained activity in the lobby and the guest rooms, according to Florida Backroads Travel. The hotel does not market itself as haunted, and there is no single room linked to the stories.

The most haunted rooms and places to look

• The lobby: Restored with its original detail, and where most reports since the reopening start.
• The upper guest floors: Linked to the music and laughter from the apartment years. High floors also have the best views over downtown.
• The Sapphire Room: The wartime bar servicemen called the Surefire Room. Ask the staff whether it is open during your stay.
• The view from Cass Street: Walk across the street at night and look up at the windows, where people once saw lights in the empty hotel.

History of Hotel Flor Tampa Downtown, Tapestry Collection by Hilton

In 1925 Allen J. Simms and a group of local investors formed the Tampa Commercial Hotel Company to build a modern hotel for business travelers. Tampa architect Francis J. Kennard and builder G.A. Miller designed the 19-story Beaux Arts tower, and construction began in 1926 at a cost of 1.9 million dollars. The Hotel Floridan opened in 1927 with 316 rooms and stayed Tampa’s tallest building until 1966.

During World War II its Sapphire Room bar was so popular with servicemen from nearby Drew Field, and so rowdy, that it earned the nickname the Surefire Room. Florida Backroads Travel lists Elvis Presley, who stayed in 1955 after a concert, among the hotel’s well-known guests.

As motels spread along the highways in the 1960s, downtown hotels struggled. In 1966 the Floridan stopped serving overnight guests and offered long-term rentals instead. A fire in 1987 was followed by years of vacancy, and in 1989 the hotel closed after its owners failed to meet updated fire codes. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 12, 1996, while it was still empty.

In 2005 hotelier Antonios Markopoulos bought the building for 6 million dollars and began a long restoration, including returning the original rooftop Floridan sign in 2008. It reopened on July 30, 2012, as the Floridan Palace Hotel, with smaller rooms combined into 213. Owner 1754 Properties then announced a further renovation and a Hilton affiliation, and in January 2024 the building reopened as Hotel Flor Tampa Downtown, Tapestry Collection by Hilton.

Tips for a haunted stay

• Ask for a high floor for the views and for the stretch of building linked to the hallway stories.
• Take a downtown ghost tour. Tampa tours stop outside the hotel and tell the servicemen and mob stories.
• Look for the old details. The lobby and the Crystal Ballroom are where the 1927 hotel shows best.
• Visit Ybor City too. The Cuban Club is one of Tampa’s most famous haunted buildings, a short ride away.
• Expect a city hotel. This is a full-service Hilton property, so book like any downtown stay and use Hilton points if you have them.

More haunted hotels nearby

• The Vinoy, St. Petersburg: a 1925 grand hotel across the bay
• The Don CeSar, St. Pete Beach: the Gulf coast’s famous pink palace
• Haunted places in Tampa: more ghost stories around the city
• Haunted hotels in Florida

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.

• Wikipedia: Floridan Palace Hotel
• Hotel Flor Tampa: Our story
• Florida Backroads Travel: Hotel Flor Tampa
• The Bradenton Times: The guests who never checked out
• US Ghost Adventures: Tampa Terrors ghost tour

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