A surprise Aerosmith performance and other favorite memories from an iconic Sarasota hotel being demolished.
I have many favorite Sarasota bars — including one that is likely now buried in rubble.
Walk past the sun-washed porcelain of downtown Sarasota’s Hyatt Regency atrium lobby, hang a left, and there it was: the teak-adorned Currents Bar.
It always felt like it floated — suspended somewhere between the second-floor lobby, the dining room and that wide-open waterfront view, where the Boathouse restaurant and bar once famously stood, and the pool below, all of it conspiring to make one more drink feel like a good idea.
At least that’s how I remember it. I frequented that bar more times than I probably should admit over the past two-plus decades attending Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall shows — before great shows, after great shows and occasionally during mind-numbingly boring ones.
Aerosmith in 2003 and more favorite memories from Hyatt Regency Sarasota being demolished
Now, the Hyatt Regency Sarasota — the longtime bayfront landmark at 1000 Boulevard of the Arts — is being demolished after roughly 50 years of hosting everyone from superstars playing the famed purple hall next door to teens behaving badly on prom night. Somewhere in between, one of Sarasota’s most legendary rock concerts took place inside the hotel — a show witnessed by only hundreds but remembered by thousands. Call it the Woodstock syndrome.
Yes, the building holds a surprising amount of local history and a disproportionate number of personal memories. Among them: watching Aerosmith turn a tightly packed crowd of well-heeled, baby boomer Sarasota Film Festival attendees into screaming teenagers inside the hotel ballroom on Feb. 1, 2003.
Did I hallucinate the whole thing after too many Stella Artois and whatever else I was being handed? No. It happened. I was there. Singer Steven Tyler, lead guitarist and part-time Sarasota resident Joe Perry, rhythm guitarist Brad Whitford, bassist Tom Hamilton and drummer Joey Kramer gave a surprise performance of “Walk This Way,” “Sweet Emotion,” “Walking the Dog” and “The Train Kept A-Rollin’.”
The event honored Aerosmith’s longtime record producer Jack Douglas and, before the show, I rubbed elbows with celebrities at the Boathouse bar. There are, of course, many other Hyatt-fueled pre- and post-show stories from my wilder early-2000s years that will remain untold.
Chuck Norris, Walter Payton and Hulk Hogan at the Hyatt Sarasota
Another favorite Hyatt memory of mine took place during the dead of summer in 2015, when I stopped by the hotel for an entry in my old Bar Tab column I produced each week for Ticket.
By 2015, there were fancier, more prestigious and older hotels in Sarasota, but few, if any, could boast the guest book of the Hyatt. Neighboring the Van Wezel all those years helped, of course, but that didn’t account for all of the celebrity sightings — like the evening Chuck Norris, Walter Payton and Hulk Hogan hung out together and mingled with mere mortals at The Boathouse.
Or when Aerosmith performed their surprise four-song set in the Hyatt’s ballroom late at night during the height of the Sarasota Film Festival’s celebrity mania in the early 2000s — an era when I recall interviewing and meeting folks such as Billy Crystal, Allison Janney, Chevy Chase, Woody Harrelson, William H. Macy and Jennifer Love Hewitt. I might have even shared a drink or two with some of those stars.
Go back even further in time, and even bigger Van Wezel-bound names likely stayed at the Hyatt — a time before smartphones and selfies, when stars were more accessible.
Imagine, for instance, what the Hyatt was like the night Jimmy Buffett played the Van Wezel in 1977, Steve Martin at the height of his stand-up fame in 1978, or hometown hero Gregg Allman in 1996. Those must have been some wild times, you can be sure.
Missing the Boathouse bar and more from Hyatt Sarasota
Yeah, the Hyatt bartender and I had fun swapping tales back in 2015, especially about The Boathouse — the Hyatt’s waterfront restaurant and bar downstairs, popular with boaters and party people.
It had been closed for years by the time I visited in 2015. In fact, the gutting process had just started during my visit about 10 years ago. Before sitting down at Currents, I walked outside and noticed men working on the naked floor of the once-carpeted room below. The sign said it was “a waterfront event venue.” That saddened me, too, but it doesn’t really matter.
The bartender, also morose about the Boathouse, rattled off the names he had served over the years. He laughed at the memory of a waitress giving him a table so she could leave early — a table that turned out to be occupied by a movie star, his brother and their respective wives.
“I made sure I told her about the $500 tip they left,” the bartender told me with a grin.
The bartender didn’t ask my occupation and I didn’t offer. We traded first names and a handshake before I left. I have no idea what he — or the many other Hyatt employees — are doing now that the hotel has shuttered.
Memories of an iconic Sarasota hotel being demolished
Aerosmith performing and more favorite memories from iconic Sarasota hotel being demolished. Watch the video in under a minute.
What’s next for Hyatt Regency Sarasota that is being demolished?
Yes, the Hyatt Regency Sarasota is being demolished to make room for more condos, as noted by Ella Thompson, our real estate and development reporter, in her recent story. Two towers will replace the hotel — one a luxury condominium tower and another a Hyatt-centric hotel with branded condos — and plans also include redeveloping the marina. Alas, there’s no word on reviving the Boathouse bar or hosting impromptu concerts in the adjacent ballroom by Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.
I’m as nostalgic as the next guy, but not to the point where I begrudge progress. I’m sure the new Hyatt will be a fine addition to downtown Sarasota and a fun place to visit. But it’s doubtful it will amass the same number of memories as the old one — at least not in my lifetime.
Wade Tatangelo is Audience Director for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and Florida Regional Dining and Entertainment Editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and X. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. Support local journalism by subscribing.
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