 Most were accustomed to a higher standard of living than the typical St. Augustine resident enjoyed, and preferred the more individual attention offered in a boarding house, as opposed to the city's public hotels.This era in St. Augustine's history — after Florida was ceded to the United States in 1821 and well before the grand Flagler hotels opened in the second half of the 1880s — was the beginning of tourism in Florida.By 1834, there were six boarding houses in the city.