what's a flying tiger to do after the war? Go into hotel construction and ownership it seems, because he happened to inherit a ridiculous fortune in hotels from his dad, including the Waldorf Astoria. Seems his dad got rich from railroad hotelss.

The Robert Meyer Hotel had its groundbreaking July 9, 1957 in downtown Jacksonville.

The hotel owner was Jack Meyer, a former pilot from Alabama who flew with the Flying Tigers squadron in World War II. The hotel was named for Meyer’s father and brother, both named Robert. His brother died fighting in the war, his remains weren't found until the 1970s

it took a truckload of tvs to stock those rooms. Imagine the commission the sales guy made!

Opening in 1959 it was claimed to be Florida’s largest commercial hotel with 563 guest rooms to host business travelers and convention business that was never fully realized. The hotel went bankrupt in 1977, was sold in 1980, renovated and reopened under a new name but closed again in 1982. The building sat empty until February of 1998 when it was imploded.

https://vintagejacksonville.net/2015/01/28/g-e-tv-delivery/

meanwhile, in Orlando,

Walt Disney's was making plans to build Disney World, and while he did that, he stayed at the Robert Meyer Motor Inn. His parents had been hotel managers in Daytona Beach, of the Halifax, in the spring of 1888. When fall came along, things dropped off so significantly that the Disneys decided to move to Chicago where Elias found work as a carpenter for the upcoming Chicago World’s Fair.

So, where did the influence for Walt Disney's mega hotel and park management come from, along with building entertainment venues for millions of people? His dad. Next time you hear about dead beat dad's, you might recall this, and wonder just how much an impact a father has on the success of a kids life.

The Robert Meyer Motor Inn became the Kahler Plaza and then, in the late 1970s, the Harley. It became the Four Points by Sheraton in the late 1990s but closed in 2004 to evolve into The Metropolitan at Lake Eola condominiums.

https://allears.net/2013/12/16/forgotten-disney-resort-history/


Orlando attorney Finley Hamilton opened a Hilton Inn on Colonial Drive and then acquired ten acres on Sand Lake Road near an I-4 ramp to build the Hilton Inn South. Because it was so near Disney property, the Disney Company offered to manage it for Hamilton for sixteen months until Walt Disney World opened so they could train their staff for the Contemporary and the Polynesian.

Hamilton paved the nearby dirt road and wanted to call it “Hamilton Drive” but there was another street by that name in Orlando so he had to settle for “International Drive”.

 The Hilton Inn South opened May 1970 under Disney management and was the location where Disney executives stayed, as well as Disney transfers who had not found a permanent home yet. It was also open to the general public but the standards were extremely high because Roy O. Disney himself visited frequently and commented on flaws.

And now, for any other former Orlando residents who used to cruise I Drive, and have been all over the area, now you know some obscure history of it. Plus, you get an idea of how Disney was a success at taking care of guests in the many Disney hotels. He had his employees trained beforehand at another successful hotel.

back to Meyer;

so, he had a summer home in Monmouth Maine, lived in Birmingham, and owned a LOT of big hotels

Jack Meyer, returned from the China-Burma-India Theater partially blind from his service with General Claire Chennault’s “Flying Tigers” as a result of a shell burst. He was able to land the fighter plane he happened to be piloting, because his wingmate talked him through it.

After all, you don't need to see to fly or float, all you need sight for is so you can avoid colliding with the earth.

One aspect of his time in China benefitted him for the rest of his life, he had become a good friend of Madame Chiang Kai-shek (Soong May-ling) during his time in China. Perhaps it was her years of education at Wesleyan College in Macon, GA, where she picked up a southern accent, but in any event they became lifelong friends and she sought out beautiful Chinese jade pieces from the Qianlong Period(1736-95), and sent them to Jack for his personal collection.

In 1947, his dad, the founder of the Meyer Hotel Group, died leaving Jack a chain of “railroad hotels” located in the central business districts, designed to meet the railroad traveler’s needs, when railroads were the principal means of transportation.

 As a consequence they occupied large sections of extremely valuable commercial property. Among these hotels were The Waldorf-Astoria in New York, The Mayflower in Washington, The Emerson in Baltimore, The Windsor and Roosevelt in Jacksonville, etc.

While he did sell eleven of the older and larger ones, he also built the Robert Meyer in Jacksonville and the Robert Meyer in Orlando.

While he loved these hotels, the convention trade failed to materialize and he grew tired of operating a marginal venture. It was sold in the 1960s. He was more fortunate with the Orlando venture, building The Robert Meyer Motor Inn at the height of the Disney World boom and selling it for a handsome profit in 1973 (before the boom collapsed in 1974).

It's a nice way to retire, right? No businesses to operate and worry about, with a ridiculous amount of money in the bank.

https://rivereagle.wordpress.com/2014/03/07/toms-tidbit-3-the-fighter-pilot-returns/
you can learn a ridiculous amount about Jack Meyers on https://rivereagle.wordpress.com/page/2/
https://www.bhamwiki.com/w/Robert_Meyer