The Tampa Bay Hotel was built by railroad magnate Henry B. Plant between 1888 and 1891. The construction cost over $3 million.[ The Tampa Bay Hotel was considered the premier hotel of the eight that Plant built to anchor his rail line. The hotel itself covers 6 acres and is a quarter-mile long. The Tampa Bay Hotel was equipped with the first elevator ever installed in Florida, and the elevator is still functional today, making it one of the oldest continually operational elevators in the nation. The 511 rooms and suites were the first in Florida to have electric lighting and telephones. Most rooms also included private bathrooms, complete with a full-size tub. Room Pricing ranged from $5.00 to $15.00 a night at a time when the average hotel in Tampa charged $1.25 to $2.00. The poured-concrete, steel-reinforced structure of the building was advertised as fireproof.
The grounds of the hotel spanned 150 acres and included a golf course, bowling alley, racetrack, casino and an indoor heated swimming pool. In all, 21 buildings could be found on the hotel's grounds. The Moorish Revival architectural theme was selected by Plant for its exotic European appeal to the widely traveled Victorians who would be his primary customers. The hotel has six minarets, four cupolas, and three domes spanning five stories all trimmed in ornate Victorian Gingerbread. In the early 1990s, all were restored to their original stainless steel state.