By Jane Feehan
The Mark 2100 Resort Hotel was one of a very few that sat directly on Fort Lauderdale’s sands. For more than three decades it attracted guests from across the nation to its unpretentious accommodations.
Locals probably miss this hotel for its Mark 2100 Ocean Lounge. Live jazz, a great bar and wooden deck provided a getaway, if only for a few hours while sipping a drink or two. The view of a moonlit ocean and sound of soft breezes rustling through the palm trees was unmatched along the hotel strip.
The beach vibe probably attracted Pennsylvania native Edward
W. Seese who retired to Florida during the late 1950s after a career in
marketing. He and brother Worthington F. Seese published an intent to do
business as Mark 2100 Motor Hotel in January 1960.
Located at 2100 N. Atlantic Boulevard, east of A1A, at the northern end of Fort Lauderdale’s hotel strip, Mark 2100 offered 47 rooms and apartments casually sprawled along a block. Room televisions, a heated pool, coffee shop and direct beach access were the advertised amenities. Wells M. Squier of Squier and Maxwell designed its interior. This then-popular firm had also designed interiors of several Fort Lauderdale hotels including Stouffer’s Anacapri Inn, the Jules Verne Room at the Marlin Beach Hotel, the Galt Ocean Mile Hotel and later (1965) the Fountainhead Condominium north of the Galt Mile..
In 1961, Mark 2100 became a member of Quality Courts United, Inc., the largest association of its kind and first hotel chain (now Choice Hotels) in the U.S.; it was a marketing cooperative set up to refer business to other members offering the same standards in accommodations and service. Stouffer’s Anacapri Inn in Fort Lauderdale joined Quality Courts the same month.
With its reputation established, and by word of mouth, Mark 2100 successfully operated for decades. Seese also developed—as well as managed—the Sea Garden in Pompano Beach. Management of the Mark 2100 was turned over to Ruth Werth while Seese worked the Pompano hotel.
Edward Seese died in March 1995. He left much more than his
hotels as legacy. Seese served as director of Florida Hotel and Motel
Association and headed several other local hotel-oriented organizations. But what
many would remember him for was the $4.5 million gift he bequeathed to Broward
Community College to help average or C students. He believed they could achieve
more in their academic pursuits if they didn’t have to worry about a job to finance
their education. This gift made headlines beyond the South Florida media
market.
Seese’s brother, Worthington, died about three months later.
His wife Ida predeceased Edward some time in the 1960s. They had no children. Of
note, Seese had worked for Philadelphia Electric in marketing and later as
producer and host of the first day time television show in the Philadelphia market.
Epilogue
The Mark 2100 was still operating in 1994. By 1995 it closed or was about to when plans to build the two-tower, 30-story
Palms Condominium went up for approval by the city commission. Residents
resisted the development. The plan was to close part of North Atlantic
Boulevard to accommodate the project and they didn’t want to lose direct access to
the beach. Residents’ efforts to stop the project proved fruitless. The Palms
was completed about 2001.
The Mark 2100 was the first of several small hotels and
motels in that area to fall to developers. The glitzy Palms, spectacular Auberge
Beach Residences and beautiful Pelican Resort now sit on those serene sands.
They say you can’t go home again...but one can always take a
trip down memory lane.
Sources:
Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 1, 1961
Fort Lauderdale News, May 9, 1961
Fort Lauderdale News, June 8, 1962
Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 13, 1963
South Florida Sun Sentinel, May 18, 1994
South Florida Sun Sentinel, March 22, 1995
South Florida Sun Sentinel,
June 19, 1995
South Florida Sun Sentinel, June 25, 1995
South Florida Sun Sentinel, Sept. 20, 1995
South Florida Sun Sentinel, Sept. 25, 2021
Choice Hotels
Tags: Mark 2100 Resort Hotel, Fort Lauderdale hotel history, Edward W. Seese
