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The architects of the Hotel Alcazar were Carrere and Hastings who went on to build the U.S. Senate Office Building and the New York Public Library.  Flagler always hired the best craftsmen including Louis Comfort Tiffany.  Flagler's two hotels served 50,000 guests a year.  Whereas the Ponce de Leon was only opened during the winter season, the Alcazar was opened year round. 

Less than a year after opening the Ponce de Leon, Flagler opened the Hotel Alcazar across the street.  Opened year round, it had many facilities including an Olympic-sized indoor swimming pool, steam baths, grand ballroom, bowling alley, small casino, and outdoor tennis courts.  In 1948, O. C. Lightner, founding editor of Hobbies Magazine, bought the building and donated it to the town to house his eclectic collection of America's Gilded Age.  Today, the building on the National Register of Historic Places is home both to St. Augustine's City Hall and to the Lightner Museum containing three floors of 17^th and 18^th century artifacts. 

In front of the Lightner is a statue of the founder of St. Augustine Pedro Menendez, donated by St. Augustine's sister city Avili, Spain where a comparable statue sits in their plaza.

Entrance hall of the Lightner

The former swimming pool and casino area now has an eating area and a few shops.  The pool was described as the world's largest indoor swimming pool, 120 feet long, 50 feet wide, with depths from 3 to 12 feet.  Sulphur water from an artesian well was piped into the pool.  There was also a ballroom on the upper floor around the pool.

Steam bath