Galveston Hotel – Hotel Galvez Celebrates 99th Anniversary June 10

Galveston’s Hotel Galvez & Spa, A Wyndham^® Grand Hotel and a National Trust Historic Hotel of America, will celebrate its 99^th anniversary on Thursday, June 10, by serving complimentary cake to anyone dining in Bernardo’s Restaurant for lunch and dinner. The hotel also invites guests to record birthday wishes and favorite memories of Hotel Galvez on video from noon to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the hotel’s concierge desk. These video memories will be posted on the hotel’s YouTube Channel.

 

The Hotel Galvez was built as a symbol of Galveston’s resilience following the Great Storm of 1900. A group of businessmen pooled their resources and raised $1 million to open the hotel on June 10, 1911 at 6 p.m.  This elegant beachfront hotel was immediately proclaimed the “Queen of the Gulf.”

 

The hotel has a colorful history, serving as a temporary White House for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as a working facility for the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II and as a headquarters for the Pageants of Pulchritude, the beauty pageants that preceded the Miss Universe Pageant.  The Hotel Galvez is now one of the most popular wedding venue choices for brides in Texas, hosting an average of 120 weddings every year. 

 

In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt spent ten days at the hotel, where he held a meeting with newly-elected Congressman and future President Lyndon B. Johnson. President Dwight D. Eisenhower was also a hotel guest in later years. In the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, the Hotel Galvez was the social hub of Galveston, then known as the “Playground of the Southwest.” Bandleader Phil Harris and actress Alice Faye married at Hotel Galvez and numerous celebrities, including Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra and Jimmy Stewart, stayed at the hotel. 

 

In preparation for the hotel’s 100^th anniversary in 2011, hotel owners George Mitchell and the Mitchell family plan to replace the building’s Gulf-facing windows with operable, divided light windows reminiscent of the hotel’s original design. Guest rooms will be outfitted with new décor, including new furniture, bedding, drapes and flat screen televisions. This renovation is currently underway and room refurbishments have been completed on the second, sixth, seventh and eight floors.   

 

This December, the hotel will release a commemorative book entitled The Hotel Galvez: Queen of the Gulf, by Gary Cartwright, who also authored Galveston: A History of the Island. This new book includes a foreword by Peter H. Brink, former executive director of the Galveston Historical Foundation, and new color photography by nationally-known architectural photographer Carol Highsmith. Beginning in December 2010, the hotel will host monthly events and activities in celebration of its 100^th anniversary, including a Spanish cultural evening celebrating Galveston’s namesake, Bernardo de Galvez, a mass wedding vow renewal, outdoor concerts and fireworks.

 

Hotel Galvez remains the only historic beachfront hotel in Galveston.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Hotel Galvez is rated four diamonds by AAA and is owned by Galveston preservationists George Mitchell. The hotel is part of Mitchell Historic Properties. For room reservations, call (800) WYNDHAM or visit www.WyndhamHotelGalvez.com.

 

Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, LLC and its affiliates, subsidiaries of Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE: WYN), offer upscale hotel and resort accommodations throughout the United States, Europe, China, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. All hotels are either franchised or managed by the company or managed through a joint venture partner.