The Adolphus Hotel is a historic upscale

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

established in 1912 in the Main Street District of

Downtown Dallas Downtown Dallas is the central business district (CBD) of Dallas, Texas, United States, located in the geographic center of the city. It is the second-largest business district in the state of Texas. The area termed "Downtown" has traditionally ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. A Dallas Landmark, it was for several years the tallest building in the state. Today, the hotel is part of Marriott's Autograph Collection brand.

History

The hotel was developed by Adolphus Busch, founder of the

Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC ( ) is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple ...

company. He already owned the Oriental Hotel, across the street from the present hotel, when he was approached by a group of prominent Dallas businessmen in 1910 with the idea of constructing the first European-style luxury hotel in the city. Busch purchased Dallas's old City Hall on June 22, 1910, demolished it, and constructed the new hotel at a cost of $1.8 million. The name was announced as the New Oriental Hotel. It was designed by Thomas P. Barnett of Barnett, Haynes & Barnett of

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

in the Beaux Arts style. The 22-story, 312-foot (95 m) building would be the tallest in Texas until it was surpassed by the Magnolia Petroleum Building, ten years later. By the time the hotel opened, on October 5, 1912, its name had been changed to match its builder, the Adolphus Hotel. The hotel was expanded multiple times, in 1916, 1926, and 1950, eventually filling much of a city block, and giving the hotel a total of 1,200 rooms. Under the management of Otto Schubert from 1922 to 1946, the hotel grew to national prominence. In the 1930s it was run by hotel industry pioneer

Ralph Hitz Ralph Hitz (1 March 1891 - 12 January 1940) was a pioneer in the hotel industry, whose ideas for marketing and customer service became the industry standard for luxury lodging. During the 1930s he was the head of the National Hotel Management Comp ...

's National Hotel Management Company and played host to many

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

musicians of the era, including Tommy and

Jimmy Dorsey James Francis Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards " I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary Peopl ...

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

and

Glenn Miller Alton Glen "Glenn" Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band conductor, arranger, composer, trombonist, and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces ...

. The Adolphus has been the host of many respected leaders of business, government and entertainment, including presidents, from

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was one of the most ...

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

and

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

stayed at the hotel in 1991. The hotel was a Dallas hub for entertainment and provided a platform that helped developing careers, such as Bob Hope, Jack Benny and others. North American Aviation (P-51 Mustangs, World War II) and others benefited from its position as a Texas business hub. In 1980, the Adolphus underwent an $80 million renovation, which decreased the total number of rooms to 428 by combining multiple outdated guest rooms into larger ones. The Adolphus was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1983. The hotel was extensively renovated again in 2017. The Hotel has been named one of the top ten in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Condé Nast Traveler ''Condé Nast Traveler'' is a luxury and lifestyle travel magazine published by Condé Nast. The magazine has won 25 National Magazine Awards. The Condé Nast unit of Advance Publications purchased ''Signature'', a magazine for Diners Club me ...

and also receives high ratings from Zagat, Fodor's and Frommer's. The structure is a Dallas Landmark and listed on the

Gallery

File:ORIENTAL-HOTEL-Dallas.jpg, Oriental Hotel, Dallas, 1893 File:Adolphus Hotel Entrance. Dallas, TX.jpg, Front entrance File:Dallas, Texas Skyline 1913.jpg, The Dallas skyline on April 1, 1913, less than a year after the Adolphus opened File:Adolphus03.jpg, Exterior of the French Room at the Adolphus File:Adolphus02.jpg, Roof detail File:Adolphus Hotel, Dallas, Texas.jpg, Reception desk

References

External links

The Adolphus Hotel official websiteThe Adolphus, Autograph Collection official chain websiteNational Register of Historic Places narrative
{{Authority control Autograph Collection Hotels Skyscraper hotels in Dallas

Hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

Hotel buildings completed in 1912 Hotels established in 1912 National Register of Historic Places in Dallas Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks Dallas Landmarks Beaux-Arts architecture in Texas 1912 establishments in Texas Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Texas

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links