Grand Resort Built after the 1900 Galveston Hurricane

Galvez Hotel, Galveston Texas

Date added: May 12, 2024

Categories:
Texas
Hotel
John Mauran

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The Galvez Hotel stands as the oldest large beach hotel in Galveston. Designed by the St. Louis architectural firm of Mauran and Russell, the impressive six-story structure displays features characteristic of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture and represents one of the few examples of this style in Galveston. Facing the Gulf of Mexico, the Galvez was constructed in 1910-1911 on the 2000 block of Galveston's famous Seawall Boulevard.

During the late nineteenth century, Galveston was among the southwest's most important cities. Besides its prominence as the leading port and commercial center for Texas at that time, Galveston was regarded as one of the nation's most celebrated resort communities. Thousands of tourists visited the city each year to take advantage of Galveston's beaches. The Beach Hotel, a massive four-story frame structure designed by Nicholas Clayton, served as the city's only large beach hotel. In 1898, a fire destroyed the building, and Galveston was left without a major tourist facility.

Plans to replace the structure with another hotel were short lived because of the infamous 1900 Galveston hurricane. Approximately six thousand lives were lost in the storm, and the city's once-flourishing economy was devastated. Because of the severity of the damage, recovery was slow; however, the citizens were determined.

During the mid-1900s the entire city's grade was raised several feet, and a protective seawall was constructed to provide protection from future hurricanes. As the local economy was revived, efforts to construct a beach hotel became a priority. In early 1910, a group of prominent Galveston businessmen proposed that a new hotel facility be constructed to capitalize on the city's once-popular beaches and help re-establish Galveston as a major tourist center. The project instigators included H. Kempner, Adoue and Lobit - Bankers, Hutchings and Sealy Bank, the Galveston Electric Company; and they conducted an intense advertising campaign to let the country realize that the city was effectively recovering from the storm. A St. Louis architectural firm, Mauran and Russell, was commissioned to design the new hotel. The construction of the Houston-Galveston Interurban Railroad and the high number of reservations created such a demand that the hotel opened on June 11^th, 1911 before all construction was completed.

The building was named the Galvez, honoring Count Bernado de Galvez for whom the city was named. Offering 275 rooms, the hotel was equipped with the most modern facilities and was regarded as one of the "best arranged and most richly and tastefully furnished seaside hotels in America." Most of the staff was recruited from hotels all over the country, and its reputation was highly regarded. Many of America's most prominent individuals were guests at the hotel. President Franklin Roosevelt selected the Galvez during a vacation to Texas in 1937. Numerous well-known politicians, military men, movie stars, and entertainers stayed at the hotel while in Galveston. Since its completion, the building has also been the scene for numerous important social events. The spacious ballroom with its separate entrance on the west facade often served as the location of parties and celebrations.

Despite the attempts of its citizens, Galveston never achieved the prosperity it had achieved before the 1900 hurricane. The Galvez continued to be an important enterprise, particularly during the late 1940's and early 1950's when gambling was popular in Galveston. However, when the gambling industry was shut down in the mid-1950s, the local economy became extremely depressed and the Galvez' prestige reflected the town's hardships.

In 1978, the hotel was closed when the current owners purchased the structure. Realizing its significance to Galveston's post-1900 development, the owners plan to rehabilitate the hotel preserving the building's historical integrity and helping the Galvez recapture its popularity as a fashionable seaside resort.

The Hotel has been fully restored, and renamed the Grand Galvez, the following information is coutesy of the new owner:

Located on Galveston Island and the sun-kissed shores of the Texas Gulf Coast, Grand Galvez, Autograph Collection is a stunning 219-guest room hotel that envelopes visitors with grand experiences and captivating, gracious services. It is part of Autograph Collection Hotels, Marriott Bonvoy's diverse and dynamic portfolio of independent hotels championing individuality.

"When I acquired the iconic Hotel Galvez, I renamed it Grand Galvez to represent my vision and the renovations that would restore it to its grand beginnings," said Mark Wyant, owner, Grand Galvez, Seawall Hospitality LLC. "Joining the Autograph Collection definitely adds a cachet to everything we offer at this newly restored historic property."

Grand Galvez first opened in June 1911 and is also known as the Queen of the Gulf. When he purchased the property in May 2021, Mr. Wyant's goal was to reinforce its position as one of the preeminent destinations in south Texas for leisure and business travel, weddings, meetings, events and exhibitions. The property's historic legacy underlines the brand positioning for this iconic hotel, which offers first-class resort amenities, spa facilities, a heated saline pool, multiple ballroom and meeting venues as well as dining outlets with outstanding cuisine.

The "new" Grand Galvez offers a feeling of luxury and sophistication with an emphasis on stylish changes, focusing on an interpretation of modernism blended with the energy of the Gatsby era. The hotel's refreshing renovations and creative design touches will intuitively meet the needs of every guest. Mark Wyant and his wife, interior designer Lorenda Wyant, are the creative forces behind the Grand Galvez renovations and interior designs. They collaborated on the Saint Hotels, other hotel properties and homes.

The renovations include all hotel rooms, hospitality and public areas and reflect a refreshingly elegant design and color palette that is perfect for the resort ambiance of Grand Galvez and Galveston Island. The hotel and spa remained open and fully operational during the renovations with guest bookings, weddings, dining, special events scheduled. The guest rooms have been redesigned one floor at a time with new suites to open in 2024.

Public areas include a beautiful harlequin black and white marble flooring with black framing, crystal chandeliers throughout, royal burgundy carpets, and accent draperies. The front desk harkens back to the earlier front desk of 1911 with its iron detailing and glass features. Perhaps the most striking is the renewal of the original Peacock Alley, the grand walkway leading from the lobby to the spa and ballroom, a design element not seen at the hotel in over 70 years. During the renovation, original moldings and ceilings were found in the hotel walls that have been restored for the first time since 1962.

Heralding the hotel's moniker as "Queen of the Gulf", the new 43-foot by 7-foot Murano glass mosaic was designed by Grand Galvez owner Mark Wyant and his interior designer wife, Lorenda Wyant, produced by Dallas-based mosaicist Julie Richey and was installed in May 2022 by Ms. Richey and Romeo de Candido of Miami.

Twelve 4-foot-tall decorative white plaster urns have been placed on the exterior corners of the four towers at the top of Grand Galvez. The tower urns are exact recreations of those originally installed for the 1911 Hotel Galvez opening. The originals were last seen 90 years ago in 1932, possibly disappearing because of that year's hurricane.

Mark Wyant, owner, Grand Galvez, has purchased and restored a 1915 Ford Model T Speedster, considered one of the country's first sport cars. Modified to go to 50 mph, Mr. Wyant drove the 14-foot-long vehicle from Dallas arriving on June 10^th, the 111^th anniversary of the hotel's opening. The vehicle is permanently on display in the Hall of History, just off the East Loggia. This 1915 model vehicle was featured in one of the hotel's original flyers, which is also on display along with one of the beach carts used in the 1920s, kindly on loan from the Galveston Historical Foundation.

The only historic beachfront hotel in the state of Texas and known as the most haunted hotel in Texas and beyond, the over 110-year-old property continues to have ghostly sightings throughout its history through today. Ghost tours are regularly offered at Grand Galvez. Ghostly highlights include:

An image reportedly captured in an original press photo taken in 1911, hangs in the west loggia of the hotel. Many guests claim to clearly see the ghost of a gentleman standing in front of a French door politely tipping his bowler hat.

The story of Sister Katherine, a nun from St. Mary's Orphan Asylum, which was located just down the beach from where the Grand Galvez was built. During the height of the 1900 Storm, the brave sisters of he orphanage lashed children to themselves to keep them from washing away. Tragically, all nuns and orphans drowned. The bodies of Sister Katherine and her wards, still tied together, were found on the shore in front of where the hotel now stands. As with many storm victims, they were buried where they were found. Witnesses and guests at the hotel claim to see the figure of a nun in a long, dark habit protectively pacing the southern lawn of the hotel and looking out to sea whenever, a major storm approaches.

Dedicated Sister Katherine continues to keep watch over the playful spirits of the children, to whom many of the shortly pranks in the hotel are credited.

The images of a young girl bouncing a red ball has been seen multiple times through the years by guests, staff and workmen, the ball makes no sound as it bounces off the hard floor, and her form seems to slowly fade as she walks, uninterested in those who watch her.

Certain spirits seem to appear quite clearly to guests, who can describe their appearance in detail. One of these is a little girl about three feet tall who plays just outside the spa. Her blond pigtails are tied with ribbon, and she is wearing a white dress with black "Mary Jane" shoes, a popular style in the early 20^th century. She has been heard to whisper "ice cream" into the ears of passerbys. This can be explained by the fact that the hotel soda fountain and ice cream parlor used to be where the spa is now located.
She might also be one of the tiny ghosts that leave child-sized handprints along the bottom of the glass spa door. Employees confirm that, though they may wipe them off multiple times a day and never see the children in the area, the small prints quickly reappear.

The most famous ghost and a classically tragic story of the Grand Galvez is named Audra, also known as the Lovelorn Bride. Audra was engaged to a mariner who sailed out of the Port of Galveston. In the mid-1950s, she checked into Room 501 to await his return, after which they planned to be married.
Each day, she would walk down the hall of the fifth floor, take an elevator to the eighth floor and then climb a narrow ladder leading to one of the four turrets atop the hotel. Sitting inside the shelter of the hexagonal turret, she would watch though an opening for his ship to return.
When she received the news that her lover's ship had gone down in a storm with all hands on deck, she refused to abandon hope. She kept her vigil of returning to the turret to watch for him, but after several days the heartbroken bride-to-be accepted that she would never see him again.
In despair, she hanged herself in the west turret, where she had last seen his ship sail out to sea.
As if her story was not tragic enough, a few days after her death, her fiancee came looking for her at the hotel. It seems that he had been rescued by a passing ship during the storm.
To this day, there are many paranormal events that happen in Audra's Room 501, reported by guests, staff and numerous news and film crews.
The key sometimes doesn't work and when reported to the desk clerk, the key was scanned for the room code and the display read "Expired 1955"; The room phone has been known to repeatedly ring when the switchboard reports that no calls were received; There are reports of a woman walking the halls and whimpering sobs near the elevators. Guests have felt the pressure of something invisible sitting next to them on the bed.

An unnerving bit of decor at the Grand Galvez has kept a watchful eye on the occurrences of the hotel since it opened in 1911. The portrait of the hotel's namesake, Bernardo de Gálvez, hangs in the west foyer at the end of a corridor. Legend has it that the extremely white eyes of the painting follow guests as they walk by.
Because of its reputation, visitors often attempt to photograph the painting but end up with a skull-shaped glare where the face should appear in the photo. Staffers insist that this can be avoided by asking the infamous portrait's permission before a photo is taken.

Grand Galvez Website

Grand Galvez

Building Description

Completed in 1911, the Galvez Hotel is a six-story stuccoed brick building exhibiting characteristics of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture.

The structure's red tiled, low pitch roof, plastered walls, and mission parapets are associated with this style. The hotel was erected on Seawall Boulevard and faces south toward the Gulf of Mexico. The St. Louis architectural firm of Mauran and Russell designed the structure and employed a "U" floor plan.

Two five-story wings project to the sea and create a courtyard which has been landscaped with palms and oleanders. These wings display low pitch, red tile roofs with broad eaves and supportive brackets. Both the south and north facades present mission parapeted wall..dormers which divide each roof into two sections. Also demonstrating mission parapets, the west elevation entrances are connected by a series of round arched windows and reflect the Spanish Colonial Revival influences on Mauran and Russell's design. A small one-story circular bay section protrudes from the west wing and contains a spacious ballroom. An identical bay extends from the east wing and houses the restaurant and kitchen.

The main section connects the hotel's two projecting wings and contains the majority of the rooms. The central bay rises eight stories and is capped with a hipped roof. Four hexagonal towers with metal ribbed vaults extend from each corner and reveal the broad eaves and elaborate brackets. The top windows are framed with pilasters and are crowned with round arches. Six-story wings flank either side of the central bay and feature gable roofs terminated by the familiar mission parapets. A small four sided tower with a hipped roof protrudes near the southeast corner of the main section.

Originally facing north (away from the Gulf), the main entrance features a porte cochere. The hotel's name and its adopted emblem, Count Galvez' coat of arms, highlight the mission parapet of the porte cochere, a grand entrance for the many prestigious guests who stayed at the Galvez. The first floor was comprised not only of the ballroom and restaurant, as previously mentioned, but also of offices, service rooms, a large lobby and a loggia overlooking the Gulf. Two elevators provide easy transportation to and from the lobby, and the 275 rooms.

The only alterations include the replacement of the original windows with modern fixed glass openings, probably in the early 1970's. Initially, the walls were pink, but have since been painted white. In 1950, a small, one-story motel was attached to the east facade, but the current owner, in his rehabilitation plans for the Galvez, intends to raze this addition to provide more parking space for the hotel.