The Lightner Museum is planning an after-hours tour titled “For Health, For Pleasure: The Hotel Alcazar” from 6 to 8 p.m. July 31. The tour explores the entertainment facilities that made the Hotel Alcazar such a highly prized place to stay.
Designed by the firm of Carrère and Hastings, the Alcazar was the second grand resort hotel built by Henry Flagler in St. Augustine. In a 1910 marketing brochure titled “For Health, For Pleasure,” the hotel was celebrated for its entertainment facilities. To attract its wealthy Gilded Age clientele, the Alcazar featured an alluring combination of exotic architecture, modern amenities, sports and entertainment facilities and fine cuisine.
From “The Alcazar Baths: For Health, For Pleasure,” 1910 promotional booklet:
“The Alcazar Baths are the only curative baths in the world available from December to April under such satisfactory conditions … Patrons may enjoy the benefit of the most modern appliances with which any electrographic institution in the country is supplied.”
At the north of the hotel complex was a courtyard lush with tropical plants and lined with a covered arcade of luxury goods stores. The central area of the hotel was dedicated to the baths, a series of spaces designed for the health and wellbeing of hotel guests. To the south was the Casino, a vast four-story space featuring a substantial indoor swimming pool and a grand ballroom. Beyond the Casino, a croquet lawn and tennis courts completed the hotel’s entertainments.
Tickets to this special after-hours tour are limited in quantity. Guests must register in advance. Guests should enter through the front lobby of the museum. The tour will conclude with wine, non-alcoholic beverages and light hors d'oeuvres.
Register at: lmoh.ticketapp.org/portal/product/29
Tickets are $40 per person, $20 Lightner Museum members. Learn more at lightnermuseum.org/events/alcazarafterhours.
