In 1923, Pennsylvania businessman Aymer Vinoy Laughner commissioned architect Henry L. Taylor to design a luxury hotel overlooking Tampa Bay. Two years later, the $3.5 million The Vinoy Park Hotel with 362 luxurious guestrooms was open for business. The Vinoy reopened as a hotel in 1945 and continued operations until 1974, when, in a state of disrepair, it closed for more than 20 years. The salmon-colored St. Petersburg hotel then underwent a $93 million restoration and expansion that added a guest tower and complete recreational facilities, including an 18-hole golf course redesigned by Ron Garl.