Hotel trades Hulk Hogan for South Beach

TAMPA — Chicago-based Oxford Capital Group has completed the first phase of a multimillion-dollar transformation of the waterfront Bay Harbor Best Western hotel in Rocky Point into the Bay Harbor Hotel.

Phase one included 15 additional guestrooms with hardwood floors, custom contemporary furnishings, frameless glass-enclosed walk-in showers and backlit LED mirrors, according to a statement. New elements in the lobby include finishes and furnishings in Italian tile, coastal lounge furniture and nautical accents. And all the meeting and special event rooms have been outfitted with new fixtures, furniture and carpets, the release adds.

The Miami office of global interior design firm The Gettys Group worked with Oxford on the project, designed to bring some South Beach, coastal chic to the hotel.

“As a longtime resident of Tampa, I have known this property for many years and feel privileged to be part of its transformation into an upscale, lifestyle oriented seaside resort,” Bay Harbor General Manager Crystal Rivera says in the statement. “I've always had a real appreciation for the beauty of the hotels along South Beach and am thrilled to carry a bit of that magic into Bay Harbor Hotel in Tampa.”

Oxford Capital Group, through its management affiliate Oxford Hotels & Resorts, paid $34.5 million for the former Bay Harbor Best Western in October 2015. The investment firm bought the hotel, once known for Hogan's Beach, a bar and restaurant that operated there through a licensing agreement with celebrity/wrestler Hulk Hogan, from area investor Ben Mallah. The purchase was Oxford Capital's first deal in Florida.