St. Augustine Luxury Hotels

Hotels. Near the end of the 19th century (1882), oil magnate Henry Flagler envisioned St. Augustine as "America's Riviera," preserving much of its centuries-old structures and building a new resort hotel, Ponce de Leon -- making the city one of Florida's earliest resorts. The Ponce de Leon, circled in blue, appears on the topographic map. The Ponce de Leon is now a private college. Another luxury hotel, Alcazar, had already been built in 1809 in the Spanish Renaissance style --located across the street from the Ponce de Leon and is now City Hall.