1926: The resort opens as The Cloister Inn
1927: Sells at auction to Clarence Geist, a golf enthusiast and utilities magnate from Philadelphia, after money troubles arise from bottoming of the Florida land boom
1928-29: Property closes for renovations, adding 300 guestrooms, indoor, saltwater pool, golf course, Cathedral Dining Room, tiled Fountain and Girl statue by Italian born sculptor Ettore Pellegatta (which still stands today), and a grand staircase in the east lobby
1930: Reopens as The Boca Raton Club as Geist’s “winter club” from January to March for members
1942 – 1944: U.S. Army buys and occupies the club to house its Air Corps trainees, becoming a training ground and barracks for thousands of troops
1944: Hotelier J. Myer Schine and his socialite wife, Hildegarde, acquire the hotel and change the name from The Boca Raton Club to The Boca Raton. Mrs. Schine’s affinity for the color pink led to the hotel’s being painted that color.
1956: Schines sell to Arthur Vining Davis, (ARVIDA), the South Florida developer. Davis lengthens the tourist season from three months (January to March) to Christmas through Easter and adds conventions to the slower summer months.
1968: Great Hall is built, accommodating 1,500 guests (now Harborside Pool Club).
1969: Tower is built; the Golf Villas, now the Bungalows, are completed.
1970: 27th floor and restaurant at the top of the Tower open.
1980: Boca Beach Club opens; 212 guestrooms and a half mile of private beach, with transportation provided aboard a 44-foot pink yacht, “Mizner’s Dream.”
1986: The property becomes known again as The Boca Raton Resort & Club.
1997: H. Wayne Huizenga and Florida Panthers Holdings, Inc., purchase the property.
1998: Mizner Center opens with 128,000 square feet of convention center space.
2001: New golf clubhouse opens; Spa Palazzo, “designed to replicate paradise on earth,” debuts with 44 treatment rooms, butler service and pool.
2002: Eight-story Yacht Club opens with a 34-slip marina, accommodating yachts up 150 feet.
2004: Blackstone acquires The Boca Raton and joins Waldorf Astoria Collection (Hilton).
2019: MSD Partners, headed by computer entrepreneur Michal Dell of California, purchases the property an embarks on a $200 million redevelopment.
2021: Resort leaves the Waldorf Astoria Collection to become an independent luxury property. Rebrands as The Boca Raton. Cloister and Yacht Club reopen.
Timeline source: The Boca Raton
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