More than a century of refined hospitality in Key West.
Opening on New Year’s Eve, 1920, Casa Marina is a legendary destination with guests including Hollywood celebrities, to US Presidents, and dignitaries.
Concept and Architectural Design
Conceived by American railroad tycoon Henry Flagler, the resort was intended to accommodate wealthy customers of Flagler’s Overseas Railroad, connecting Key West to the Florida mainland, and the final branch of Florida’s East Coast Railway.
Casa Marina Key West was designed by architects Thomas Hastings and John M. Carrere, who designed New York’s Metropolitan Opera House, New York Public Library and the Senate and House of Representatives office buildings in Washington, DC.
Three days after the resort’s grand opening, President Warren G. Harding came to visit, establishing Casa Marina as an exclusive destination. In 1942, the property was bought by the U.S. Navy, and used as officer’s quarters for the duration of World War II. Casa Marina re-emerged as a luxury hotspot in the 1950s, and played host to celebrities such as Gregory Peck, Ethel Merman, Ezio Pinza, Rita Hayworth and Gary Merrill.
Band leader Guy Lombardo, actress Rita Hayworth, actor and singer Rudy Vallee, composer and conductor John Philip Sousa, James “Jimmy” Hoffa, poets Wallace Stevens and Robert Frost, Donald Sutherland, Helen Mirren, the late Aaron Spelling, musician and TV personality Ozzie Osbourne.
Today, we continue to welcome athletes, musicians, actors, literary figures, politicians and journalists.
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the hotel was used by the U.S. Army’s Sixth Missile Battalion. Soon after, Casa Marina fell into a period of decline, which was exacerbated by piecemeal renovations in 1978 and 1984.