Looking Back 50 Years Roger deWardt Lane

The early years were very active in keeping with the growth and expansion of the hotels along Collins Avenue, all the way up to Bal Harbour and the motels eventually built on the Sunny Isles strip. Prior to the 50's all the hotels closed for the summer. The new hotels now stayed open all summer, offering $7. a day rooms to summer visitors (secretaries from New York) and a dollar extra for breakfast.

Rooms on South Beach rented in the summer for as low a $1. or $2. a night. No one at first had air conditioning. Then window shakers were installed in the older properties. As new resorts were built, they all had central air- conditioning and did convention business in the off-season along with tourists.

This was the period of 'This Year's Hotel', the Algiers, the Casablanca, the Americana, the Fontainebleau, the Eden Roc, the Carillon and the Balmoral. Each property had a Controller (the term now used for the head of the accounting Department) for hotels of 200 rooms or greater. The older and small places still had their "Auditors".

With the new larger hotels having a half dozen accounting office staffers, our association expanded to include them; Assistant Controllers, General Cashiers like Walter Vorack of the Fontainebleau, our 14th President, and Paymasters (payrolls were done all by hand and eventually by NCR accounting machines).

Twelve dinner meetings a year would be held at one of the member hotels; with each trying to out do the other with outstanding food presentation (all bookkeeping done at steward sales, as we knew how to keep the cost low). An industry speaker would put on an Educational Talk. The dinner was always preceded with an open bar Social Hour.

The success of the association was based to two things; the employer paid the dues and in many cases the dinner fees and more important the NETWORKING aspect of getting together each month and knowing your fellow hotel accountant.

When I opened the "original" Diplomat Resort and Country Club in 1958, I came from the Kenilworth Hotel, of Arthur Godfrey fame; where I had a winter season only assistant. At the "Dip", I staffed almost my whole accounting department through people I knew from the Hotel Accountants Association of South Florida.

Robert Pinker, Golden Gate Resort, local 5th President, became our first International President and we held our first International Convention at the Americana (now the Sheridan) at Bal Harbour. Several of my assistants became Chapter Presidents; Ray Witkowski 1964, Sal Spano 1974, Denise Perman 1980 and Doug McFarland in 1984.

Our second International President was Tom Moore. He was Chapter President 1966/1967. Our next two, both from the Diplomat Hotel, International President Sal Spano, International President Doug McFarland and later International President Len Bartello 1987 represented our local chapter.

South Florida gave the International two other Presidents who had moved on before their inauguration – Rene Morato and Arlene Phelan, both of which served as local Presidents.

These were the heady days for the hotel business on Miami Beach and some of the greatest years for the Hotel Accountants Association of South Florida. Our members to the north from Ft. Lauderdale all the way up the Palm Beach, formed a new chapter - Gold Coast and even later, further north, the Treasure Coast Chapter was formed. HITEC was conceived at Texas 30 years ago. Sal Spano and I invited the second tech meeting to be held at the Diplomat, which was a great success. The next four annual Tech exhibit meeting were also held at the Diplomat in Hollywood. By this time HITEC had out grown us and needed to move around the country. Computers were a must in hotel accounting departments and were rapidly being installed in larger properties as on-line systems.

Following the 6th HITEC held at the Diplomat, NCR invited me to inspect their new on-line property management system HOST, recently installed at the Hyatt in New Orleans. The system was soon ordered and we became the first local successful on-line property in South Florida.

Both the local and the International have had to change their names several times, to keep up with the industry and now include the technical side of our profession as Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals.

The International honored me in June 2002 with their first HFTP Technology Award of Merit during their 30th anniversary HITEC convention in Chicago. Fifteen years earlier the South Florida Chapter presented me with a Life Membership.

In June of Year 2004, the Association celebrated their 50th Anniversary at the New Diplomat Resort on Hollywood Beach. The classic Diplomat was well represented.



	Looking Back 50 years by Roger deWardt Lane, CHAE Miami and Miami Beach was then, a much different place than it is today, seasonal, but with lots of hotels. Miami was the business center (downtown along Biscayne Bay). U.S.1 (Biscayne Boulevard) was lined with hotels facing Bay Front Park, The Everglades Hotel the tallest. On the beach, the strip started with South Beach and worked it's way north on Collins Avenue, to just south of what today is the Fontainebleau Hilton, then the Firestone Estate. I arrived in 1949 and joined a chain of five properties, 50 to 100 rooms each. My first assignment was the El Morocco Hotel across the street from the world-famed Saxony Hotel. After a short stint there, I was moved to the Caribbean Hotel, 100 rooms on the ocean at 37th & Collins Avenue. My work area was the empty executive suite pent-house as "Auditor" and answering the phones for the absentee Chicago owners. The books were all kept by hand, with the use of a Monroe calculator and NCR full keyboard adding-machine. Our soon to be First President Yoel Eisen, head of the accounting Dept at the world famous Boca Raton Club, 40 mile up coast, called a half dozen or so, auditors together for a initial meeting of the proposed Hotel Accountants Association of South Florida at a large and well known resort owned by the same Schine Chain, as his Boca Raton Club. Many of our early officers were present; Frank Shober, San Souci Hotel (our 2nd President); Jess Levy, Saxony Hotel; Eudora Hendricks, Everglades Hotel; Gerry Prime and myself, Kenilworth Hotel.
	South Florida Chapter - First Banquet Bob Apple, 10th Pres., Eudora Hendricks, 6th Pres., Bob Pinker, 5th Pres & IHAA Pres., Jerry Prime, 19th Pres. unidentified, Roger Lane, 4th Pres.Yoel Eisen, First Pres. unidentified, Marty Berman, 3rd Pres. unidentified, Jess Levy, Charter Member. This meeting preceded the International which was formed a year to two later when Texas, New York, South Florida and a few other local chapters formed the International Hotel Accountants Association and elected their first President Fitzsimmons.

	First Summer Outing - August 6,1953 - Boca Raton Beach Club The early years were very active in keeping with the growth and expansion of the hotels along Collins Avenue, all the way up to Bal Harbour and the motels eventually built on the Sunny Isles strip. Prior to the 50's all the hotels closed for the summer. The new hotels now stayed open all summer, offering $7. a day rooms to summer visitors (secretaries from New York) and a dollar extra for breakfast. Rooms on South Beach rented in the summer for as low a $1. or $2. a night. No one at first had air conditioning. Then window shakers were installed in the older properties. As new resorts were built, they all had central air- conditioning and did convention business in the off-season along with tourists. This was the period of 'This Year's Hotel', the Algiers, the Casablanca, the Americana, the Fontainebleau, the Eden Roc, the Carillon and the Balmoral. Each property had a Controller (the term now used for the head of the accounting Department) for hotels of 200 rooms or greater. The older and small places still had their "Auditors". With the new larger hotels having a half dozen accounting office staffers, our association expanded to include them; Assistant Controllers, General Cashiers like Walter Vorack of the Fontainebleau, our 14th President, and Paymasters (payrolls were done all by hand and eventually by NCR accounting machines). Twelve dinner meetings a year would be held at one of the member hotels; with each trying to out do the other with outstanding food presentation (all bookkeeping done at steward sales, as we knew how to keep the cost low). An industry speaker would put on an Educational Talk. The dinner was always preceded with an open bar Social Hour. The success of the association was based to two things; the employer paid the dues and in many cases the dinner fees and more important the NETWORKING aspect of getting together each month and knowing your fellow hotel accountant. When I opened the "original" Diplomat Resort and Country Club in 1958, I came from the Kenilworth Hotel, of Arthur Godfrey fame; where I had a winter season only assistant. At the "Dip", I staffed almost my whole accounting department through people I knew from the Hotel Accountants Association of South Florida. Robert Pinker, Golden Gate Resort, local 5th President, became our first International President and we held our first International Convention at the Americana (now the Sheridan) at Bal Harbour. Several of my assistants became Chapter Presidents; Ray Witkowski 1964, Sal Spano 1974, Denise Perman 1980 and Doug McFarland in 1984. Our second International President was Tom Moore. He was Chapter President 1966/1967. Our next two, both from the Diplomat Hotel, International President Sal Spano, International President Doug McFarland and later International President Len Bartello 1987 represented our local chapter. South Florida gave the International two other Presidents who had moved on before their inauguration – Rene Morato and Arlene Phelan, both of which served as local Presidents. These were the heady days for the hotel business on Miami Beach and some of the greatest years for the Hotel Accountants Association of South Florida. Our members to the north from Ft. Lauderdale all the way up the Palm Beach, formed a new chapter - Gold Coast and even later, further north, the Treasure Coast Chapter was formed. HITEC was conceived at Texas 30 years ago. Sal Spano and I invited the second tech meeting to be held at the Diplomat, which was a great success. The next four annual Tech exhibit meeting were also held at the Diplomat in Hollywood. By this time HITEC had out grown us and needed to move around the country. Computers were a must in hotel accounting departments and were rapidly being installed in larger properties as on-line systems. Following the 6th HITEC held at the Diplomat, NCR invited me to inspect their new on-line property management system HOST, recently installed at the Hyatt in New Orleans. The system was soon ordered and we became the first local successful on-line property in South Florida. Both the local and the International have had to change their names several times, to keep up with the industry and now include the technical side of our profession as Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals. The International honored me in June 2002 with their first HFTP Technology Award of Merit during their 30th anniversary HITEC convention in Chicago. Fifteen years earlier the South Florida Chapter presented me with a Life Membership. In June of Year 2004, the Association celebrated their 50th Anniversary at the New Diplomat Resort on Hollywood Beach. The classic Diplomat was well represented.


			HOME