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| Fort Lauderdale |
17 S. Atlantic Blvd.Fort Lauderdale, FL
By Jane Feehan
Three West Point graduates (Class of 1946) from Pittsburgh agreed that Fort Lauderdale held solid prospects for a new hotel. They bought a beach site in 1951.
The Pittsburgh group—Roland Catarinella, Harold Gray and W.C. Powers—moved forward with their hotel idea, formed the Penndale Corporation and filed a fictitious name to do business as the Marlin Beach Hotel in 1952. The hotel was to include an underpass or tunnel to the beach, the first in Fort Lauderdale. The reason: heavy traffic (even then) along Atlantic Boulevard making it difficult to cross to the beach. They also announced plans for 51-rooms, an unusual lower-level lobby with ultra-violet lighting illuminating aquatic scenes and a cocktail lounge with glass walls providing an underwater view of the pool.
The Marlin Beach Hotel opened to an enthusiastic crowd Jan. 20,1953 with cocktails and a buffet. The lounge, unnamed at opening, was the biggest draw with its underwater pool view. The name for the nightspot was determined by a contest announced by manager L. Bert Stephens. The winner tapped a month later, was picked from nearly 5,800 entries. Fort Lauderdale resident Edward Elmer struck success with “Two Fathoms Down.” He received a $500 credit for drinks and food … a big sum those days when dinners often ran for less than $2 or $3. Deemed “bar sensation of the year” in 1953, the lounge provided music, comedy and underwater acts. In 1961, the popular nightspot was renamed the Jules Verne Room and continued to offer quality nightclub acts and dancing.
As with most Fort Lauderdale beach hotels, owners changed several times over the decades. Under new owners in the 1970s the then-named Marlin Beach Resort with over 90 rooms, was marketed to gay visitors. By the early ‘80s it became a “mecca for gay vacationers” drawing clientele from around the world.
According to news accounts, the hotel slipped into a downward spiral when a new owner set out to attract the college crowd in 1986 and failed; those efforts coincided with Fort Lauderdale’s plan to shed its spring break image. Marlin Beach Hotel fell into disrepair—and bankruptcy. Doors closed in April 1992 but not before 2000-3,500 gathered over two or three nights that month to party and reminisce about 20 years of popular tea dances, weddings and other gay community gatherings at the "grand old lady."
In 1995, a group purchased the closed Marlin Hotel and its 3.2 acres for $3.1 million (a low price tag in the 2020s) and developed Beach Place, the site of a Marriott Hotel and several casual restaurants, relegating the beach area’s singular nightlife of lounge acts to Fort Lauderdale’s past.
Three West Point graduates (Class of 1946) from Pittsburgh agreed that Fort Lauderdale held solid prospects for a new hotel. They bought a beach site in 1951.
The Pittsburgh group—Roland Catarinella, Harold Gray and W.C. Powers—moved forward with their hotel idea, formed the Penndale Corporation and filed a fictitious name to do business as the Marlin Beach Hotel in 1952. The hotel was to include an underpass or tunnel to the beach, the first in Fort Lauderdale. The reason: heavy traffic (even then) along Atlantic Boulevard making it difficult to cross to the beach. They also announced plans for 51-rooms, an unusual lower-level lobby with ultra-violet lighting illuminating aquatic scenes and a cocktail lounge with glass walls providing an underwater view of the pool.
The Marlin Beach Hotel opened to an enthusiastic crowd Jan. 20,1953 with cocktails and a buffet. The lounge, unnamed at opening, was the biggest draw with its underwater pool view. The name for the nightspot was determined by a contest announced by manager L. Bert Stephens. The winner tapped a month later, was picked from nearly 5,800 entries. Fort Lauderdale resident Edward Elmer struck success with “Two Fathoms Down.” He received a $500 credit for drinks and food … a big sum those days when dinners often ran for less than $2 or $3. Deemed “bar sensation of the year” in 1953, the lounge provided music, comedy and underwater acts. In 1961, the popular nightspot was renamed the Jules Verne Room and continued to offer quality nightclub acts and dancing.
As with most Fort Lauderdale beach hotels, owners changed several times over the decades. Under new owners in the 1970s the then-named Marlin Beach Resort with over 90 rooms, was marketed to gay visitors. By the early ‘80s it became a “mecca for gay vacationers” drawing clientele from around the world.
According to news accounts, the hotel slipped into a downward spiral when a new owner set out to attract the college crowd in 1986 and failed; those efforts coincided with Fort Lauderdale’s plan to shed its spring break image. Marlin Beach Hotel fell into disrepair—and bankruptcy. Doors closed in April 1992 but not before 2000-3,500 gathered over two or three nights that month to party and reminisce about 20 years of popular tea dances, weddings and other gay community gatherings at the "grand old lady."
In 1995, a group purchased the closed Marlin Hotel and its 3.2 acres for $3.1 million (a low price tag in the 2020s) and developed Beach Place, the site of a Marriott Hotel and several casual restaurants, relegating the beach area’s singular nightlife of lounge acts to Fort Lauderdale’s past.
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.
Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 20, 1952
Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 29, 1952
Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 26, 1952
Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 17, 1963
Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 21, 1953
Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 9, 1955
Fort Lauderdale News, June 27, 1956
Fort Lauderdale News, Sept. 30, 1956
Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 13, 1953
Fort Lauderdale News, June 7, 1953
Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 11, 1960
Fort Lauderdale News, March 19, 1961
Fort Lauderdale News, Sept. 10, 1961
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, April 19, 1992
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Feb. 13, 1995
Tags: Fort Lauderdale hotel history, Fort Lauderdale history, underwater acts, Jules Verne Room, Two Fathoms Down
