SPECIAL TO THE EXPRESS-NEWS
The Hotel Galvez recently underwent a $1
million renovation, fitting tribute to the 1911
hotel dubbed 'Queen of the Gulf.'
Published on Sunday, April 5, 1998
© 1998 San Antonio Express-News
Eleanor S. Morris, Special to the Express-News
GALVESTON - For decades the Hotel Galvez, "Queen of the Gulf," reigned over Galveston's Seawall Boulevard until Father Time - and all that fresh salt and sea air - began diminishing the hotel's historic grandeur.
But now, after several facelifts and additions and at a cost of more than $1 million, the glamourous Queen of the Gulf is ready to entertain guests and visitors royally. Rehabilitation work, begun in 1986, will be completed by May.
In restoring the grand old lady, the firm of Michael Gaertner and Associates has incorporated contemporary standards without losing much of either the hotel's original decor or ambience. The fully restored hotel will continue to offer gracious hospitality and Old World charm while providing New World conveniences.
The Galvez has been an especially glamorous attraction for nearby Houstonians since its beginning. I can remember staying here some 20 years ago and I had to be careful not to trip when stepping up a large step to get into the bathroom, which had old-fashioned fixtures on a floor paved with those tiny white tiles.
Now, what a difference: The luxuriously renewed bathrooms have Carrera marble tile, etched glass paneling, scalloped sinks with porcelain faucets, full-length mirrors, and elegant wall coverings.
The Galvez was built in 1911 after the Great Storm of 1900, at a cost of about $1 million, a whopping amount back when eggs were 35 cents.
SPECIAL TO THE EXPRESS-NEWS
The Hotel Galvez recently underwent a
$1
million renovation, fitting tribute to the 1911
hotel dubbed 'Queen of the Gulf.'
Restored Hotel Galvez recaptures glamorous, elegant feel of 1900s
The six-story Spanish Colonial hotel had 275 rooms, some even with private baths. The luxury beach hotel was planned to fill a void left by the Beach Hotel, which burned in 1898. The Galvez was named, as was the city of Galveston, for Bernardo de Galvez, the Spanish governor in Colonial times.
In 1912, Hotel Monthly Magazine called the Galvez "one of the best arranged and most richly furnished seaside hotels in America." Which should give you an idea of what to expect today. The restored grand seawall entrance is framed by a line-up of tall palms and rich landscaping. Inside, the lighting and the interior finishes and attractive styles popular during the 1900s have been enhanced in the 225 guest rooms, the six luxury suites, the Music Hall, the Parlors, the Loggia, the Lobby, the Veranda, and into Bernardo's Restaurant.
In 1918 the hotel hosted some 400 guests a day. Rates began at $2 a night, if you can imagine, and some of the famous names who signed the register were Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy.
In the 1920s the first bathing beauty contests in the country were held here, with beauties such as Joan Blondell and Dorothy Lamour competing. Other famous guests included Alice Faye and Phil Harris, Frank Sinatra and Jimmy Stewart, even Howard Hughes and General Douglas MacArthur.
Using historical photographs and documentation from the hotel's construction in 1911, the past has been recaptured while using today's technology and materials.
"Our goal was to create the same glamourous and elegant feel that was intended when Hotel Galvez was originally built," Gaertner says.
Guest rooms are rich with verdant greens, golds and sepia tones. New draperies, carpets and wall coverings, crown moldings and reupholstered chairs compliment the cherrywood armoires with pull-out swivel television stands, something that was undreamed of in the early 1900s.
The hotel's public rooms originally featured a barber shop, candy shop, a drug store, soda fountain, and a Gentleman's Bar and Grille. Future plans for the hotel may include the addition of 80 guest rooms, as well as expanding the basement into a service area of gift shop, game room and possibly a health spa.
The hotel has a tropical pool with a swim-up bar, and if you want more water than that, the hotel faces Seawall Boulevard with more than 30 miles of Gulf Coast beaches offering sunbathing, surfing, fishing, beachcombing bicycle and horseback riding.
And just a short way west along the Seawall, 81st Street leads to the Moody Gardens, with a 10-story glass Rainforest Pyramid. This natural nature wonderland covers an acre of 1,700 tropical plants populated by exotic birds, fish and butterflies, as well as a larger- than-life IMAX Theater.
At the Galvez's front door you can catch the Galveston Island Trolley and ride past historic homes such as Italianate beauty Ashton Villa and impressive Bishop's Palace, on the way to The Strand Historic District. There, more than 100 shops, museums, galleries, restaurants and clubs await.
At Pier 21 Theater you can almost relive the fury of the 1900 hurricane that just about destroyed the island. The Great Storm, the deadliest natural disaster in the United States, is portrayed through eyewitness accounts, historic photographs and realistically dramatic sound and visual effects.
The Texas Seaport Museum on Pier 21 is home to the restored 1877 tall ship Elissa, and you can explore the decks of this floating National Historic Landmark from the days when sailing ships challenged the oceans.
The Railroad Museum, at the north end of The Strand, is located, fittingly, in the old Galveston Railway Station, restored to its 1932 art deco splendor. There are 39 life- sized, ghostly white plaster statues of "passengers," standing and sitting around "waiting" for a train. It's fascinating to pick up the headphones near each figure and eavesdrop on a "conversation." Out on the tracks, you'll want to climb aboard the restored steam and passenger cars.
Galveston Historical Foundation is Texas' oldest historical society, and The Strand Visitors Center is the place to find complete visitor services. Brochures, maps, information, tickets, even a guide with 24-hour notice.
- Eleanor S. Morris is a free-lance writer from Austin.
mdg@mgaia.com
This page last updated on 01/30/00