1927: "The Aristocrat of Florida Hotels"

The Fort Harrison was the most luxurious hotel on the West Coast, attracting tourists while also moving to the center of Clearwater's social life.

The Fort Harrison quickly became recognized as the most luxurious hotel in the area, attracting many new tourists and becoming the center of Clearwater’s social life in the process. During these years the hotel hosted fashion shows, wedding receptions, card parties, bridge teas, weekly dances, birthday celebrations, and Kiwanis and Rotary meetings.

The Fort Harrison had its own orchestra that performed in the ballroom, then known as the “Fort Harrison’s Rooftop Restaurant.” Advertisements in the Clearwater Sun described what visitors would discover there:

“The atmosphere is so congenial and the company so select that diners return again and again with the prospect of perfect enjoyment ever undiminished. A superb entertainment, irresistible dance music and a floor protected from overcrowding by a judicious limit on the number of reservations....”

The Lobby 1927

The local Chamber of Commerce broadcast a daily radio show from the hotel, featuring dinner music, a citrus report, a pipe organ recital and the Fort Harrison Hotel Orchestra.

Even as the decade drew to a close, the Clearwater Sun continued to faithfully record the glittering social events held there with descriptions of all who attended, down to the chiffon and taffeta gowns worn by the ladies as they danced on the arms of their tuxedoed escorts. But while the dizzying social whirl at the Fort Harrison seemed to continue unabated, economic hard times were looming for the city and its grand new hotel.