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They quickly bought an Atlantic City hotel for $4,350,000 (they later sold it for $15 million), leased another in Atlantic City and two more (the McAlpin and Belmont Plaza) in Manhattan. By refurbishing each, cutting costs, adding attractive facilities and raising room rates, they made all prosper. In 1956 they decided to build their first hotel. The result was the $17 million Americana in Bal Harbour, Fla.—which was so flamboyantly luxurious, even by the standards of nearby Miami Beach, that it easily won the title of Miami's "hotel of the year."
THE Tisches sold the Americana last April to put their money into higher-paying investments, immediately leased it back. They have also built two luxury motels in Atlantic City, but intend to make most future acquisitions in the hotel-motel field through Loew's. They had been large stockholders in Loew's Inc. before the court-ordered separation of the theater corporation in March 1959 made it a separate company. Early this year they got control (they now own 650,000 shares) of the theater firm.
While luring guests into his hotels with conspicuous luxury, Larry Tisch has little use for it in his own life. He lives with his wife and four children in a ten-room house in suburban Scarsdale, commutes by train, neither drinks, smokes, nor indulges in any steady hobby. He often works late into the evening, spends his free evenings at home or at Broadway plays or movies (twice a week) with his wife, works hard in fund-raising and community affairs. Larry Tisch is shocked by any suggestion that he might like to relax and enjoy his money. "This is too much fun," he says. "The harder I work, the better I like it."