GALVESTON, Texas – Galveston's historic Hotel Galvez officially opened its doors on June 10, 1911.
Hotel Galvez boasts a beachfront location, an outdoor pool with swim-up bar and the Galvez Bar & Grill restaurant. The hotel has served as both a quick weekend getaway for Texas residents and a landmark on the island.
Named after Bernando de Gálvez, who discovered the Galveston area in 1786, Hotel Galvez opened its doors with $1 million about 11 years after one of the deadlist U.S. natural disasters, the Galveston Hurricane of 1900.
It underwent an $11 million renovation in 2011.
With over 224 guest rooms and six luxurious suites along with the renowned Hotel Galvez Spa that provides treatments from signature massages to customized facials, the hotel is not only famous for its luxury amenities and history on the island, it also is an attraction for ghost hunters and thrill seekers alike as Room 501 is claimed to be haunted.
The heartbroken fiancee of a seaman was in the room when she took her own life after receiving the news that her lovers' ship had sunk. The ghost's energy and spirits are said to still spookily surround Room 501 and the halls of the fifth floor.
With rooms starting at $2 a night on its opening night in 1911, the hotel has exponentially thrived since its opening transforming into a temporary White House for President Roosevelt, a U.S. Coast Guard facility in World War II and a celebrity favorite for guests such as Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.
For more information about the hotel, visit www.hotelgalvez.com/.