Dallas Hilton
The Dallas Hilton , also known as Plaza Hotel announced a historic building at the intersection of Main Street and S. Harwood Street in Downtown of Dallas in Texas in the United States . The hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 for its architectural and engineering importance and is a contributing structure to both the Harwood Historic District and the Main Street District . In 1988 it was designated a Texas Historic Landmark . Now operating as the Dallas Hotel Indigo , it is across from Main Street Garden Park .
Beginnings
The Hilton Hotel was built in 1925 for Conrad Hilton and was his first high-rise hotel in Texas and the first to bear the name " Hilton ". Conrad Hilton owned one of the state's first two hotel chains and grew to become one of the leading hoteliers in the world, operating an international chain of hotels and resorts.
Unlike his previous hotels, which he bought and renovated, Hilton's new Dallas hotel was designed as a high-rise from the start. Hilton chose the highest point in downtown Dallas as the location for the building. Hilton commissioned the well-known architecture firm Lang and Witchell , one of the most recognized architecture firms in the city, to plan the new hotel. They designed the hotel as a 14-storey structure made of reinforced concrete and masonry in a simplified Sullivanesque style with symmetrical facades and details of the Beaux Arts architecture. The horseshoe-shaped floor plan is similar to that of the Magnolia Building and has two towers facing Harwood Street, forming an open courtyard. Both towers are connected by the main entrance and a bridge on the tenth floor.
The foundation stone was laid on July 25, 1924 and the hotel was completed a year later. The construction costs amounted to 1,360,000 US dollars (in today's prices 19,802,000 US dollars) and the building was then the second most expensive construction in Texas. The hotel officially opened on Thursday, August 6, 1925. Hilton maximized the space available in the hotel's public area for various types of services. The presence of a drugstore, shaving salon, hairdressing salon, suitcase storage, coffee, tailor, cigarette and newspaper stand, telegraph service, dining room and other services were coordinated with Hilton's emphasis on service and helped to finance the operation of the hotel through their rent payments. Not wanting to capitalize on land, Hilton introduced the concept of lease for 99 years, which was well known from the East Coast but unknown in Texas.
Hilton's private offices were in the mezzanine of the entrance wing, which also contains seven sample rooms with fold- away beds . The 325 guest rooms were typically small in size and painted pearl gray and cream in color. Rooms and corridors were carpeted. Most of the rooms were equipped with full bathrooms, the rest with shower and toilet. Seventy-five percent of the rooms faced south or east, with no west facing.
Competition with the luxury Adolphus and Baker hotels just a few blocks away prompted Hilton to adopt a marketing strategy geared towards a new audience - The Average Man - moderate prices and handsome looks would appeal in a city where it there were few alternatives.
Change
During the Great Depression , Hilton lost four hotels but was able to keep five of them; one of them was the Dallas Hilton. In 1938 he gave up the lease for the Dallas Hilton when he relocated to California. George Loudermilk, the owner of the property, signed a contract to operate the hotel with another Texas hotel operator, AC "Jack" White, in July 1938. White changed the name of the hotel to White Plaza . He invested $ 150,000 in improvements to the building, including air conditioning. The number of hotel rooms has been reduced from 325 to 234. Loudermilk stayed in the hotel until his death in 1953.
In 1961 the building was sold to Earlee Hotels, but was named White Plaza until 1974. During this time, the building began to deteriorate and the hotel began to decline in popularity.
renovation
Real estate investor Opal Sebastian bought the building in 1977 and changed the name to Plaza . For a period of time all floors above the fourth floor were closed and the hotel rooms were generally in poor condition. After a while - the details are incomprehensible - Sebastian opened the previously closed floors in a renovated state.
On February 15, 1985 the hotel was sold again. The new owner was Dallas Plaza Partners, a California-based joint venture between Hotel Equity Management and San Francisco-based real estate bank Blackmond, Garlock and Flynn. Dallas Plaza Partners signed a contract with Corgan Architects Associates to renovate the hotel and Jerry O'Hara was awarded the interior design contract. After a ten-month renovation, the hotel reopened as the Dallas Plaza Hotel in December 1985 . It was later named Aristocrat Hotel and was operated by the Holiday Inn hotel chain .
present
In 2006 the hotel was converted to the Hotel Indigo , a chain that is also operated as a franchise by the InterContinental Hotels Group . The interior of the property was renovated for $ 5 million. The rooms have new hardwood floors and bathrooms, a business center has been set up and the fitness area has been expanded. Today there are 169 rooms in the hotel.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Hilton Hotel, Marker Number: 6739 . Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved on March 3, 2011. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ A b Sandra Zaragoza: Aging Dallas hotel gets re-energized ( English ) American City Business Journals, Inc. December 9, 2005. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
- ↑ a b c d e f g History of the Aristocrat Hotel Dallas ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
Coordinates: 32 ° 46 '54.7 " N , 96 ° 47' 39.8" W.