Postcard circa 1974: Courtesy of Tim & Tom Bernert
 
Clearwater Beach, Florida -- 430 South Gulf View Blvd
 
Heralded as "The World's Finest Howard Johnson Motor Lodge," Clearwater Beach was also one of the shortest lived! Built to HoJo's specifications and opened in about 1973 or 1974, it was only a Howard Johnson's for a year or less. However it is possible that its HJ Restaurant remained in business a little longer as it had merited an entry in Howard Johnson's April, 1 -- September 30, 1976 directory of locations. Its postcard touted the complex's restaurants, bars, lounges, entertainment, beauty shop, meeting rooms, travel agency, car rental, gameroom, pool, and its spectacular location on Clearwater Beach.
 
 
 
 
Advertisement images circa 2003

Perhaps some dispute led the location's owners to drop the HoJo's franchise--who knows. About a year into its operation it became the Caribbean Gulf Hotel, and then in the 1980s added itself to the Adam's Mark chain of hotels.

The 217 room hotel was noted for its Starlight Room and Jack's Place nightclubs. The site also afforded beautiful sunset views from its popular Tike bar.
 
 
 
 
 
Reportedly a hurricane damaged the former HJ in 2004, and it was closed in October of that year in order for $6 million in repairs and renovations to be carried out. In December, 2004, a Boston hotel outfit/real estate investment group purchased the property for $20.1 million, and penned a deal so that post renovation the site would wear the Radisson moniker -- but that never happened.
 
 
 
 
St. Petersburg Times: Oct 9, 2005. pg. 1

 

Urban Beachside Utopia
Clearwater city officials coupled with urban planner consultants and their high livin' developer friends had devised to remake Clearwater Beach into a utopian mixed use fairyland. It's a clever get-richer scheme for a select few -- a phenomenon sweeping the Nation. Perhaps tired of the type of riffraff that had patronized the three star Adam's Mark resort, Clearwater Beach began several years ago to encourage the elimination of places that might serve the general public. Wholesale redevelopment in the ruse of a utopian "master plan" serves to enrich the elites and deprive the rabble.

The hotel/investment company that had purchased the property in late 2004 flipped it in 2005 for a cool $31.5 million by selling it to UK based developer Taylor Woodrow. The British development company demolished the one-time Howard Johnson's on October 8, 2005. Can you guess what will be built in its place?

-- more high-priced luxury condominiums --

The complex will feature "twin towers" of luxury condominiums in a "West Indies style." A 78 unit exclusive boutique type hotel will compliment the 112 private condos. The condos will range is size from 2,000 to more than 3,300 square feet and be priced from $1 to $2.5 million. The boutique hotel suites start at $300,000, and if you didn't know -- the sale of hotel rooms to investors has become almost commonplace.