Montagu Hotel At 804 Fannin St.

[WyattEarp]

Does this hotel have a cool brass canopy?

Or is that Club Quarters?

I noticed a small one today at Hotel Icon. I love thoes things.

They look so much better than the cheap things you see today.

I'm not sure if it the canopy in front of the main entrance is brass or some other material. It is covered up by plastic signage added many years later. Old postcards of the building show a metal canopy of some sort.

I've posted photos from the new A/C crane lift and installation last night.

[The Great Hizzy!]

Cool!!

[WyattEarp]

You can also view these photos on the website at:

http://www.hotelcotton.com/new-ac.htm

I haven't linked this page to others in the website yet, so you'll have to click on the above link to get to it.

-George

[WyattEarp]

More interesting history about the Montagu / Cotton hotel. I've finally been able to confirm that country music legend Patsy Cline stayed at the Montagu Hotel in early May of 1961. She was in town to perform at the Esquire Ballroom on Hempstead Highway - which was the only time she ever performed in Houston, Texas. I've updated the history page on the website with relevant info on this. Enjoy!

http://www.montaguhotel.net/hotelcottonhistory.htm

-George Kalas

[h-townsfinest]

wow the history of this place is amazing, i kno this is off subject, buton the homepage it says foleys is now macys, "a downtown mini-mall - and just 4 blocks from Macy's (formerly Foleys), department store." Has the name changed already?

[WyattEarp]

wow the history of this place is amazing, i kno this is off subject, buton the homepage it says foleys is now macys, "a downtown mini-mall - and just 4 blocks from Macy's (formerly Foleys), department store." Has the name changed already?

You know, probably one of the most gratifying aspects of my job right now is the historical research. I'm getting to write a history that has not previously been written.

BTW - good catch regarding Foley's/Macys. I wrote that text based on a news article a few months ago that indicated that the name would change right after Christmas. Since then I've read that the name change is still several months off. Gotta update the site again to correct that....

-George

[Subdude]

You know, probably one of the most gratifying aspects of my job right now is the historical research. I'm getting to write a history that has not previously been written.

BTW - good catch regarding Foley's/Macys. I wrote that text based on a news article a few months ago that indicated that the name would change right after Christmas. Since then I've read that the name change is still several months off. Gotta update the site again to correct that....

-George

Thank you for all the information and updates. This has been really interesting!

[brucesw]

Wow! What great information! Thanks for sharing this. :-)

It is so much easier working up a solid history of the hotel when knowledgeable people volunteer their memories of the building and donate research effort in this manner. I'm going to update the website appropriately and will be happy to give you credit if so desired.

I'm very pleased that many are enjoying the information and picutres I've posted to the website. I'll be adding more pictures soon and at some point I'll probably have to re-structure the history section into several pages because too many images on a single page tends to present bandwidth problems for people accessing the site via dial-up connections.

Best Regards,

-George

I'm working on a website on the history of Houston radio. Actually, I haven't made any progress on it since I discovered the Central Library is closing and I've been trying to cram in as much research as possible. I'm going to try to make the site attractive to anyone interested in Houston history, not just radio buffs. I'd be grateful for a mention on your website when I get it up. And I'll probably link back to yours.

I took a quick look at the Post-Dispatch for 11/28, the month the Richmond station was sold to some Houston businessmen, but found nothing. The Houston papers didn't cover such far-flung places as Richmond very well back then .

I know I have a photocopy of a KIKK newspaper ad mentioning the studio at the Montagu. I'll see what else I have and let you know.

I'll bet Patsy Cline stayed there because she was scheduled to be a guest on the radio station, perhaps was even sponsored by them. That's fascinating. There may have been other country stars who stayed there for the same reason.

[Subdude]

I also read that the Hotel Cotton was a favorite hotel for cattlemen visiting from out of town.

[WyattEarp]

I'm working on a website on the history of Houston radio. Actually, I haven't made any progress on it since I discovered the Central Library is closing and I've been trying to cram in as much research as possible. I'm going to try to make the site attractive to anyone interested in Houston history, not just radio buffs. I'd be grateful for a mention on your website when I get it up. And I'll probably link back to yours.

I took a quick look at the Post-Dispatch for 11/28, the month the Richmond station was sold to some Houston businessmen, but found nothing. The Houston papers didn't cover such far-flung places as Richmond very well back then .

I know I have a photocopy of a KIKK newspaper ad mentioning the studio at the Montagu. I'll see what else I have and let you know.

I'll bet Patsy Cline stayed there because she was scheduled to be a guest on the radio station, perhaps was even sponsored by them. That's fascinating. There may have been other country stars who stayed there for the same reason.

Good luck with that website. I'd be happy to link to it when you get it going. BTW - I'd love to get a scanned copy of that KIKK newspaper ad if you can lay your hands on it again.

I have no doubt that other prominent/famous folks probably stayed here many decades ago when the building was a much nicer facility. It is truly unfortunate that so little historical information and/or artifacts were passed down by the previous owners. Now it represents an enormous scavenger hunt to try to dig up this old information.

-George

I also read that the Hotel Cotton was a favorite hotel for cattlemen visiting from out of town.

Do you happen to recall the source publication where you read this?

[Subdude]

Do you happen to recall the source publication where you read this?

No, I'm sorry. It was from when I was doing some research a couple of years ago.

[brucesw]

Good luck with that website. I'd be happy to link to it when you get it going. BTW - I'd love to get a scanned copy of that KIKK newspaper ad if you can lay your hands on it again.

-George

I found the ad but sorry to say it did not mention the Montagu. Maybe it was another ad I saw but didn't photocopy. KIKK ran lots of ads in the Chronicle - they were trying to be a major player in Houston radio even though only a daytimer. However, my notes indicate a story at the same time did mention the Montagu. I don't have a copy of the story but I'll get one. It was right about the time Patsy Cline was in town so I'll look at a few more pages and see if there's any mention of that.

I have posted on an industry message board about your project. I'll pass along any responses I get with any more info about the 2 radio stations. I linked to your site so you may be getting some direct e-mail.

[wendyps]

I just took a walk past the building, and if you wouldn't mind some constructive criticsim...a good window cleaning would make a big difference on the outer appearance. Also, (a bit more expensive) but changing out those curtains, and opening those in unoccupied rooms, would make it appear much nicer.

[sevfiv]

agreed, although i think the lower windows are double-paned, and the grime is in between

i could be mistaken, though - my memory doesn't serve so well at times

[WyattEarp]

I just took a walk past the building, and if you wouldn't mind some constructive criticsim...a good window cleaning would make a big difference on the outer appearance. Also, (a bit more expensive) but changing out those curtains, and opening those in unoccupied rooms, would make it appear much nicer.

Yes. I quite agree. I've been trying to get this done for months, but have not been able to get a bid from a cleaning company that was within our renovation budget.

The curtains are also long overdue for replacement. These are very heavy-weight curtains that come with a rubberized, insulating lining, (the white part that faces outward towards the window), and the problem with these is that in the summertime the heat coming through the windows is so intense that it literally melts the white rubber lining causing it to stick together at the folds. Then, when a guest pulls the curtains shut the lining tears off the fabric as the folds are pulled out. This leaves a big black spot where the lining used to be and it makes the curtains look like hell.

Eventually we'd like to replace the curtains, but again, the expense is great and we have more pressing repairs to perform to the building's infrastructure. For example, a tremendous amount of cash was expended over the past six weeks purchasing, lifting, and installing the new 75-ton A/C chiller on the rooftop. The unit will finally be operational by early May but that project alone has consumed so much cash from the renovation budget that all other work has, for the most part, come to a halt.

As I've mentioned previously, the building's owners are doing these repairs and renovations out of their own pockets and are not working with grants and bank loans, so work progresses as finances will allow.

Regards,

-George Kalas

agreed, although i think the lower windows are double-paned, and the grime is in between

i could be mistaken, though - my memory doesn't serve so well at times

Your'e almost right. Actually, the windows are single-paned, plate glass on the ground level. However, mounted behind them are the old, historic windows from 1912 that are original to the building. We recently installed hinges on the historic windows in the lobby so that we can swing them inward to clean between them and the plate glass. All of the plate glass windows were cleaned about two months ago and it made a dramatic difference as they were very grimy. We still have to do the windows in Charlie's Bar and haven't made it to them yet. All of these also need to be remounted on hinges to allow for easier cleaning.

-George

[DMac]

1946 Data

Cotton Hotel

Robt. H. Moffatt, Pres. & Mgr.

The Home of Hospitality

175 rooms each w/Tub & Shower, Running Ice Water

Rates: $2.20 single, $3.30 Double, $3.85 Twin Beds

Strictly Modern

Fireproof

802-10 Fannin @ Rusk

1008-20 Rusk @ Fannin

Also in that same block were:

Western Union TelCo @ 1015 Rusk

Grivas Coffee Shop restr. @ 10818

The Silver Grill restr. @ 1019 &

Martha Washington Candles co. @ 1021

[Subdude]

Big article on the Montagu redo in the Chronicle.

July 7, 2006, 6:10PM

Bringing back the Montagu

Downtown hotelier rebuilding time-worn inn room by room

By MAGGIE GALEHOUSE

Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

THE dark-brown sign above the lobby door, underlined by burned-out and dimly lit bulbs, reads Montagu Hotel.

Local historians know the building at Fannin and Rusk by its original name: Hotel Cotton.

But for Leo Klonis, who has lived on the ninth floor for 20 years, it's home.

Klonis, one of a handful of Montagu residents who pays by the month, has seen the hotel through some hard times. Through short-term guests who brought a stream of shady characters in and out. Through the vagrants and hardscrabble crowd that sometimes still gather on the corner outside. Through years when the rooms were left to slide into decline

[ricco67]

Thanks for bringing the article to my attention, I have no idea how I missed it.

I remember working at 1111 Rusk when Texaco was there, and at night, we saw ALL sorts of interesting things in the windows. Most of which I can't really tell in this forum, but perhaps if we manage to get a friendly HAIF dinner somewhere, I might share.

[Trophy Property]

Threads like this one are the reason I keep coming back and back to this great site.

Mr. Kalas, thank you so much for your updates. I had not read any of this post until today and I was amazed at the time and effort you have exhausted to keep us "strangers" updated on your project.

I too have fond recollections of your hotel, or at least the bar located in the basement of your hotel. We all called it the 804 Underground (whethere or not this was the real name, I am not sure). We used to enter through the side entrance into a upper bar that I assume was Charlie's. There was a bouncer named Spider. He was nice as could be and I was always amazed that he would remember me each time I entered the place. He even tried to get me a "date" one night with a lady seated at the bar. I declined, but found the experience to be a lot of fun. The downstairs area was really dark and had a lounge feel to it, but also had a dance floor and played loud clubby type music. I am not sure when I first hit this place but it had to be in the late 90's. We would go about once a year for 4 or so years. I have not been back since probably 2002 (maybe earlier - my memory for dates is not so strong).

At any rate, I appluad your efforts with this hotel. I think you are correct in your analysis that downtown needs more a middle of the line hotel. I stayed at the Courtyard downtown when the Stones were in town and I was able to get a room for $120. It was a very plain room (as Courtyard's tend to be), but served its purpose (letting me and wife drink at concert and not drive home). I am not sure there we any other options for us that my wife would have felt safe in. Hopefully your transition will fill the gap for lower priced, safe, and clean hotel rooms.

The article in the chronicle was very flattering If you ask me. I think the quote from the gentleman who stated you needed to spend $100,000 per room to update was way off. The fact that Bob Eury and other downtown groups are behind you says a lot. I also commend you on the chiller move and installation. Those projects are never easy and extremely costly. I think that move shows just how serious with your committment to update this hotel.

Please keep us updated with any additional changes that occur. I know there are quite a few of us on this board who are extremely interested in your endeavor. GREATEST of luck to your and Uncles and the futre of the Montagu / Cotton Hotel.

[WyattEarp]

Thanks for the many kind words. I very much enjoy participating in this forum and have all of you to thank for helping me network with the right folks downtown who have supported our efforts to save this neat old building.

It goes without saying that my family was delighted with the very fair and mainly favorable and supportive article that was published in the Houston Chronicle this past Sunday. Thanks to this article we've already seen a modest boost in our guest traffic and the increased revenues were immediately put to good use to move forward our renovation work. Three days after the article appeared, my Uncle Albert threw out the old couches and chairs in the lobby. In their place is a 3-piece matched deluxe leather chair, couch and love seat in the waiting area. They are very comfortable and attractive and are another step forward in our efforts to improve the lobby area of the hotel.

Tonight, I purchased another 11 new microwave ovens to finish out the premium rooms on the 11th floor that still lacked them. This weekend I'll be purchasing another 10 mini-refrigerators which will also be headed to the rooms on the 11th floor. At present, the 11th floor is at what I call "Stage Two Renovation" and these latest purchases means that every room on that floor will now have a brand new microwave and refrigerator. With this finished, I can now turn my attention to trying to repairing minor room defects and to making further improvements to the bathroom areas. My idea here is to continuously improve the 11th floor (our best one at present), so that it can serve as the model for future renovations in the rest of the hotel.

In the meantime, the remaining rooms in the hotel have been undergoing "Stage One Renovation" which involves patching, priming and repainting all the walls and trim and replacing all the flooring with ceramic tile throughout each room. It has taken a bit longer than I anticipated last February, but we have now finished Stage One work on the 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th & 12th floors. We have also begun doing rooms on the 4th and 5th floors and will continue to work on these through the rest of this Summer. This Fall we should be able to complete the 8th and 10th floors and then it will be time to move to Stage Two renovation work on those floors.

I should also mention that the article in the Chronicle has generated many phone calls and visits from downtown office workers in nearby buildings and from people who either stayed in, or worked at the hotel many years ago. I was especially tickled this evening to receive an email from the lady whose father, Mr. Morin Montagu Scott, was the previous owner of the hotel from 1952 - 1974. She and her husband plan to visit with me soon and I'm hopeful that she may be able to provide more history and possibly some more historical photos of the building from the mid-20th century - which would be fun to add to the "history" page on our website.

Here's another news flash: As the article mentioned, a Subway Sandwich shop may soon take over the space formerly occupied by the Hard Hat Deli. It's not a done deal yet, but if Subway and my family can agree on the terms of the lease then we will remove all of the old restaurant equipment and furniture - gutting the space down to the walls and floors. Subway will then come in and completely remodel that area to their standards. If they lease from us, it'll probably go for 15 years - which is a nice long-term commitment. They will add new restrooms to this area of the building and we will most likely close off the doorways connecting Subway to our lobby. This will allow them to better control access to their restaurant space and it will give us an opportunity to renovate the largest wall in our lobby and reclaim space for the display of historic photos, maps, and artifacts from the hotel's past.

Naturally, this means some of the outdoor signage would change on the corner at Rusk and Fannin, which can only help improve the appearance of the building at the ground level. I also think that having Subway as a tenant on the corner will aid our efforts to keep the sidewalks clear of vagrants since Subway will have a vested interest in helping us keep the area safe and free of scary-looking characters.

Since you mentioned the old underground lounge I must hasten to add that I was contacted by a producer of theatre productions this week who wanted to see if we had a space that might serve as a venue for a downtown theatre group to perform for upwards to 100 customers at a time. We have to see what he has in mind, but the underground area is probably big enough to support a entertainment venture of this type. I think it could be a classy thing as the guy specializes in one-act plays and such. That would be quite different from some of the more seedier ventures that have operated out of the basement level in the past, to say the least!

Lastly, the Kalas family members are still discussing re-doing the sign on the hotel to rename it back to "Hotel Cotton." Right now the family is debating the best way to do this in a classy, yet economical manner. We're batting a lot of ideas around and still trying to find something that fits within our budget. Everyone still agrees that a name change must happen. But changing a sign is a big deal and it's an expensive proposition and we want do the best we can with the resources we have. I would very much like to see the name change happen by the end of the summer, but can't guarantee the timing yet.

That's all for now. Hope everyone enjoys the update. It's always nice to be able to share my enthusiasm for our project with others who get a kick out of seeing historic old buildings being brought back from the brink. :-)

-George Kalas

Threads like this one are the reason I keep coming back and back to this great site.

Mr. Kalas, thank you so much for your updates. I had not read any of this post until today and I was amazed at the time and effort you have exhausted to keep us "strangers" updated on your project.

I too have fond recollections of your hotel, or at least the bar located in the basement of your hotel. We all called it the 804 Underground (whethere or not this was the real name, I am not sure). We used to enter through the side entrance into a upper bar that I assume was Charlie's. There was a bouncer named Spider. He was nice as could be and I was always amazed that he would remember me each time I entered the place. He even tried to get me a "date" one night with a lady seated at the bar. I declined, but found the experience to be a lot of fun. The downstairs area was really dark and had a lounge feel to it, but also had a dance floor and played loud clubby type music. I am not sure when I first hit this place but it had to be in the late 90's. We would go about once a year for 4 or so years. I have not been back since probably 2002 (maybe earlier - my memory for dates is not so strong).

At any rate, I appluad your efforts with this hotel. I think you are correct in your analysis that downtown needs more a middle of the line hotel. I stayed at the Courtyard downtown when the Stones were in town and I was able to get a room for $120. It was a very plain room (as Courtyard's tend to be), but served its purpose (letting me and wife drink at concert and not drive home). I am not sure there we any other options for us that my wife would have felt safe in. Hopefully your transition will fill the gap for lower priced, safe, and clean hotel rooms.

The article in the chronicle was very flattering If you ask me. I think the quote from the gentleman who stated you needed to spend $100,000 per room to update was way off. The fact that Bob Eury and other downtown groups are behind you says a lot. I also commend you on the chiller move and installation. Those projects are never easy and extremely costly. I think that move shows just how serious with your committment to update this hotel.

Please keep us updated with any additional changes that occur. I know there are quite a few of us on this board who are extremely interested in your endeavor. GREATEST of luck to your and Uncles and the futre of the Montagu / Cotton Hotel.

[bachanon]

thanks g. k.

[Jeebus]

Wow. Sometimes just being a member of this forum makes me feel like I'm actually involved. George thanks for all the updates. You are truly setting an example for other downtown renovations to follow.

[ricco67]

Once again, thank you for the updates, and we are glad that the article has given you additional business. Perhaps you can get some regular business clientel out of the whole thing, and I'm sure that will help you immensely.

[Subdude]

Thanks for the update. Hope it all works out with the Subway, theater group, and name change. Plus now we know where the "Montagu" name came from.

[sevfiv]

another postcard, advertising the "cock n bull grill"

[Trophy Property]

Great Update. Please keep them coming

Thanks for the many kind words. I very much enjoy participating in this forum and have all of you to thank for helping me network with the right folks downtown who have supported our efforts to save this neat old building.

[WyattEarp]

I'd love to get an original of this postcard. Anybody know where I can acquire one?

-George Kalas

another postcard, advertising the "cock n bull grill"

[Don Julio]

May I join the chorus of those applauding this superlative restoration effort? So nice to see a General Manager as enthused and committed as George Kalas.

These pictures are great also. Keep 'em coming!

I recall passing by the Montagu in the 1980s many a time en route to the original James' Coney Island around the corner. Always lots of risky clientele hanging around out front.

Don Julio

[Don Julio]

Here is a thumbnail (click on it to get a full size image) of another early view of Hotel Cotton.

Taken from the essential book, "Houston's Heritage Using Antique Postcards" by Joy Lent (1983).

[WyattEarp]

I was fortunate enough to acquire an original of one of these postcards on eBay. It was mailed by a guest in February of 1914, just 11 months after the hotel opened for business and is, no doubt, the very first post card design issued by the hotel to promote business. It is my personal favorite in the small collection of Hotel Cotton and Montagu Hotel post cards that I've purchased over the past year or so.

-George Kalas

Here is a thumbnail (click on it to get a full size image) of another early view of Hotel Cotton.

Taken from the essential book, "Houston's Heritage Using Antique Postcards" by Joy Lent (1983).