Another one victimized by progress.... The bar was pretty run down and not especially tiki the way we understand it- but it had a pedigree.

MIAMI HERALD

THE KEYS

Tue, Nov. 15, 2005

A SPRING-BREAK HAVEN HEADS INTO SUNSET

Say goodbye to Holiday Isle as developers plan to turn the Keys getaway into a posh five-star resort.

BY DOUGLAS HANKS III

[email protected]

Holiday Isle, the spring-break magnet and reputed birthplace of the rumrunner, wants to abandon its tiki-bar tradition to become a five-star resort.

A West Palm Beach development firm has a contract to buy the 151-room Islamorada hotel, best known to road-tripping South Floridians for its two-story tiki bar and countless fuzzy memories.

The pending sale has dismayed fans of Holiday Isle's honky-tonk charm. And it's bound to add to concerns that soaring land values and the pricey hotels that come with them are remaking the Keys from a funky getaway into just one more fancy vacation spot.

''It was such a neat laid-back place at one time. Now it's going to be like everywhere else,'' said Janet Ware, the one-time author of the annual Insider's Guide to the Florida Keys and Key West. She left Key West four years ago for Tampa to find a cheaper place to live.

Holiday Isle's buyer, Ceebraid-Signal, plans to convert the property into a posh condominium-hotel resort, with lushly landscaped grounds, a luxury spa, a new name and a decidedly new look.

''The site today is rough,'' said Ceebraid-Signal president Adam Schlesinger, who first visited Holiday Isle in 1990 as a University of Miami freshman on a weekend run to the Keys with some older students. ``But our plan is to soften it up, to change the ambience, working very closely with the community.''

CHANGES AHEAD

Among the things bound to go: the motorized frozen-drink makers churning out Holiday Isle's special Rum Runner recipe, which it claims a bartender invented there in the 1970s; a novelty car made into a giant Budweiser can; the Floaters Pool Bar; and Jose Cuervo Cantina.

Those boozy amenities may not appeal to the deep-pocketed travelers who are the primary target for tourism bureaus and hotel developers throughout South Florida. The region has seen an unprecedented influx of luxury resorts this decade. Some of its best-known resorts -- from Miami Beach's Fontainebleau to Fort Lauderdale's Yankee Clipper -- are preparing massive renovations in a bid to stay competitive.

''It's the price of success,'' said Broward County tourism chief Nicki Grossman. ``That's not so good for people who like things the way they were.''

Gilbert's, a waterfront Key Largo motel and tiki bar where rooms go for $69 a night, plans to build a new condo-hotel resort named Karina Bay. Some units will sell for $1.9 million. Cheeca Lodge, a fishing resort in Islamorada, underwent a condo-hotel conversion and listed its rooms above the $1 million mark, too.

Meanwhile, hotels throughout the island chain -- particularly in Key West -- are selling off their rooms to investors and using the funds to finance major face-lifts and charge higher rates. Even smaller getaways find themselves targeted by brokers and developers looking for a piece of a booming market in commercial real estate.

''We've been approached a couple times this year,'' said Joe Harris, who bought the Kona Kai beachfront hotel at Key Largo's Mile Marker 98 in 1991 with his wife, Ronnie. ``The waterfront fever, which had been mostly for homes, has been spreading a bit.''

Schlesinger would not say how much Ceebraid-Signal, which specializes in converting properties to luxury residences, paid for Holiday Isle, though the price is reported to be close to $100 million. The Key West Citizen first reported the sale on Saturday.

FULL DEMOLITION

To turn a profit and capture the kind of five-star rates Schlesinger says he wants at Holiday Isle, a full demolition seems likely.

Robert Given, the CB Richard Ellis broker in Miami who helped put the deal together, noted Holiday Isle's facilities are ``several decades old -- in some cases, up to six decades old. They want to give it a brand new feel and look.''

The sale isn't scheduled to be completed until January and Schlesinger said he doesn't plan to close the resort until his company has all of its building and zoning permits in place -- a process that could take months, if not a year or longer.

Schlesinger said he wants a ''whole new site plan'' for the oceanfront property, which currently boasts three motels, three restaurants, six bars, a marina and a beach dotted with tourist-friendly activities, from parasailing to snorkeling trips.

Even so, he said, the resort's party-time reputation has obscured the property's potential as a serene, island retreat.

''Once you get past everyone's stories about Holiday Isle and the fun they've had there,'' he said, ``there's so many things going on.''

Pam Godfrey heads from Key Largo to Holiday Isle about three times a week -- partly for the smoked fish dip, partly for the live music, and mostly for the atmosphere.

''That's a local favorite,'' said Godfrey, who hosts Easy 96.9's weekly ''Girls Night Out'' radio show from the resort's Rum Rummers bar every Tuesday. ``It's out in the water. You're in a tiki. They've got the best bar staff ever. . . There's nothing like that place around.''

..goodbye!!

Its pretty sad that everything has a price down here. The almighty dollar wins again. :(

Even if the place was a bit run down and the drinks came out of a machine I still liked the place. This sucks for Islamorada, and the keys in general. Rich people are ruining everything with their complete lack of taste.

razz!

thejab wrote:
Rich people are ruining everything with their complete lack of taste.

I agree. I personally don't have a problem when places are renovated, upgraded, or replaced but too often the replacement sucks! I retch at the thought of another posh hotel. I've been to a few newer ones only to find them terribly sterile. Now, if only they would build a new, Tiki or Poly Pop-themed hotel, then I'd be all for it!

On 2005-11-16 12:11, thejab wrote:
Even if the place was a bit run down and the drinks came out of a machine I still liked the place. This sucks for Islamorada, and the keys in general. Rich people are ruining everything with their complete lack of taste.

Yup. Totally agree.

Dammit!

I just stumbled thru there less than 2 weeks ago. Damn! Hopefully the Seafood Buffett will stay acroos the bridge.

My biggest question is: what are all of the high-priced condo dwellers going to do with all of the boaters partying on the sandbar. For the uninitiated, the sandbar lies just offshore and is a VERY popular place to hang out for boaters. The parties often extend well into the next day. I fear rough waters ahead.