Gulf Hills Hotel — Capone's Hideout, Elvis's Retreat

The Gulf Hills Hotel opened in 1927, during the Mississippi Gulf Coast's transformation from frontier to tourist haven — a stretch known then as "America's Riviera," reachable by Louisville and Nashville Railroad and drawn to the Sound's mild winters and cool summer breezes. Ocean Springs, at the time, still carried the Mediterranean cultural influences that had marked the region since statehood, tied to the wider world by water rather than to the rest of Mississippi. Local tradition holds that Al Capone's money built the place, laundered into every beam. The story passed down here includes escape tunnels running from the hotel to a pier — two speedboats waiting there, two getaway cars staged on land. It's said that Elvis Presley made Gulf Hills his summer home in the 1950s, playing piano at the Pink Pony lounge. Longtime residents say Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, and Jayne Mansfield all stayed in the waterfront villas. Hurricane Camille destroyed most of those villas in 1969. A fire hit in 1974. The property endured decades of quiet before current owners began restoration. Capones Restaurant and Speakeasy now operates at the adjacent golf club, keeping the legend — and the place — alive.