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Montagu Hotel At 804 Fannin St.


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George Kalas, the new manager of the Montagu Hotel, wrote to me last week to tell me that they're re-doing the hotel. He answered a few of my questions, and I thought the people here would like to hear about the work he's doing.

I took over as general manager of the Montagu Hotel seven months ago and have been overseeing the renovation work. My uncles have owned the building for nearly 35 years, but the place had really gone to the dogs due to poor maintenance and a series of truly incompetant managers. As a result, the place has had a poor reputation for years as a haven for street people and other seedy characters. Last summer, I offered to come to work for my uncles with the goal of cleaning up and restoring the place so that we could position the hotel to benefit from the overall downtown revitalization trend.

My goal, as general manager, has been to rid the building of disreputable people - renovate the place - and reposition the hotel as a clean, affordable, historic hotel that will appeal to folks who want to stay in the central business district, but would prefer to limi t their cost to no more than about $60.00 a night.

So far, we've made some pretty good strides in this direction. Most of the "scary people" have been evicted and banned from the premises which has eliminated the vandalism in the building and restored peace and quiet to the facility. The lobby is now undergoing renovation in stages and the changes are already obvious to sidewalk pedestrians passing in front of our building. Renovation work on the 11th floor is now 95% completed and we are now moving to renovate rooms on the 9th and 10th floors. The process will continue indefinitely until the whole hotel is overhauled.

Since the work is being paid for out of our own pockets it will probably take 3-5 years to complete the most essential renovation work in the building

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I THOUGHT I noticed something different about that corner a couple of weeks ago when I walked by. For one, you don't see as many people "hanging around" and there aren't as many lights on at night, as if the building's not as occupied as before.

This would explain a lot. I wish them luck, especially with Stowers and Club Quarters looking all shiny next door to them.

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isn't club quarters membership-driven? (organization/business memberships, that is)

Yes, that is correct. From their website: Club Quarters are private, full service hotels for member organizations designed for the business traveler

Go to www.clubquarters.com for more information

The Houston Club Quarters also has furnished apartments for lease, IIRC

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  • 2 weeks later...

:) Well....now that you mention it....efforts are currently underway to restore the "Hotel Cotton" name to the building. There is a lot of bureaucratic paperwork involved when renaming a business and there will be some obvious costs associated with changing signage, but everyone in the family believes that a name change is in the best interests of everyone. I can't say just yet when the name change will happen, but I think that it's pretty much a done deal barring any last-minute show-stoppers.

For those who are interested, the Montagu hotel was known originally known as the "Hotel Cotton" from the time it opened in March 1913 until about 1951 or 1952 when a new owner changed the name to "Montagu Hotel." Throughout its early years the hotel was popularly referred to by local residents as the "Cotton Hotel." For a history of the hotel and early photos, check out the history page on our website at http://www.hotelcotton.com/hotelcottonhistory.htm

Many probably wonder how the hotel came to be in the sad condition that it arrived at by the end of the 20th century. Well, by the early 1950's the Cotton was already 40 years old and had declined from being a 4-star facility in its early years, to being a 3-star hotel. By the early 1970's the business declined further to a 2-star facility and finally it sank to pretty much a "no-star" hotel as it became a low-rent building catering mainly to the homeless and people with substance abuse problems and/or mental disabilities, which is why the place has earned such an unfortunate reputation in recent decades.

This sad state of affairs occured due to the collapse of retail businesses in downtown Houston coupled with the mass flight of downtown residents to the suburbs over the last four decades of the 20th century. This caused the two restaurants in the hotel to have to close - dramatically decreasing vitally needed revenue streams from the business. The only way the hotel could survive over the last two decades as a viable business was by opening its doors to the only people left living downtown. Otherwise, the place would have been closed down and almost certainly demolished 10 or 15 years ago. The recent demolition of the William Penn Hotel on Texas Avenue, which was 12 years younger than the Cotton Hotel, should be a cautionary tale here. I hope nothing like this ever happens to our building.

Now, because of the encouraging revitalization efforts underway downtown, it makes sense to try to improve the hotel and to attempt to attract a more middle-class clientele again. To this end, the owners recognize that a long-overdue renovation of the building is needed and that the restored Hotel Cotton should be marketed as an economy facility offering, clean, safe, affordable lodgings in the heart of downtown in an historic building that is nearing it's 100th anniversary as downtown's oldest continuously operated hotel facility.

I should note, however, that the owners do not intend to create another boutique hotel, as Houston already has too many of those downtown and most are not profitable due to oversaturation of the market. We feel that the underserved market is for middle-class guests who don't mind paying $50 or $60 a night for a good room, but who are either unable or unwilling to shell out $130 - $300 a night for a luxury suite in a boutique hotel. So, the goal is to do a modest renovation to raise the average room back up to the quality one would expect to find in a Super 8 or perhaps a Best Western type of facility. In short - clean, comfortable, & affordable. We think that the location at Fannin and Rusk will also attract new guests because of the close proximity to all of downtown's attractions as well as to the MetroRail which will allow guests to travel to Reliant Stadium, the medical center, the museum district, Hermann Park, the Zoo, etc. at very low cost.

I'm pleased to see that news of this effort is being so well-received here and I would encourage members of this board to drop in some time during the day and visit the hotel as we slowly make improvements to the building. I am usually on duty between 6am - 2pm Mon-Sat and am often in the building at other times of day as well and I'm always happy to show people the work we have done.

-George Kalas

General Manager

This is great news for downtown.
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Thanks for the update Mr Kalas and welcome to the forum! :D

That site has some great info on the Hotel Cotton. It's exciting to see the plans for renaming and upgrading. I hope things work out. It seems like the right time with the renovated Texas State Hotel and Stowers building.

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Welcome to HAIF, Mr. Kalas, and thanks for the info on the Montegu/Hotel Cotton.

To renovate the building to a moderately priced hotel seems like a sensible choice - it's a niche which has been largely ignored in downtown Houston. I'm especially pleased that you're aware of the building's historic value, and applaud any efforts you make to preserve its architectural integrity.

Best of luck in your endeavor.

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Metropol is gone for good, but if a new lessee can be found, another club or possibly a dining facility might once more occupy that space in the basement level at some point in the future. If we don't lease the space, I still think it might be worthwhile to remodel it so that the area could be used for business meetings and/or social occasions - thus providing another revenue stream to the business.

I'm not sure what the basement space was used for in the early days of the hotel, but strongly suspect that it was restarant area due to the presence of some very old cast-iron stoves down there. It personally think it would be kind of neat to have a restaurant down there, if the downtown traffic would support one. You know, when I was a teenager I used to eat occasionly at the old L.C. Cafeteria formerly located under the Rice Hotel and it was accessible from a sidewalk stairwell, just as our own basement area is - which is why I think there is a good possibility that a dining facility once occupied that area of the hotel.

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Thanks. Glad you enjoyed our website. I will be continuously updating it as more historical facts, photos and artifacts are unearthed regarding the Hotel Cotton's past.

I agree with you that the recent renovations of the TSH (Club Quarters) and the Stowers Building have created a more favorable environment for our building. The only problem we have is that it is very difficult, financially, to turn around an old building without a big influx of cash and the support of the city and one's business neighbors. All of these things are pretty much lacking right now - which makes the attempt to renovate and clean-up a slow and tedious process.

My intention is to be a good neighbor to the other businesses in the area and to do my part to clean up the neighborhood and turn this facility back into an asset, rather than a liability, to the downtown area. I could accomplish this much more quickly if I can find a way to access grant money for renovation work. I've been told that there is a such thing as grant money for restoring historic old buildings and I'd like to know where one goes to apply for such grants.

Thanks for the update Mr Kalas and welcome to the forum! :D

That site has some great info on the Hotel Cotton. It's exciting to see the plans for renaming and upgrading. I hope things work out. It seems like the right time with the renovated Texas State Hotel and Stowers building.

That was odd, wasn't it? When I read in the Houston Chronicle that the deciding factor in the William Penn's demise was that the ceilings were too low, I was skeptical.

I don't claim to know how high the ceilings were in that building, but I do know that in the South in those days when air conditioning was pretty much unknown, most buildings were constructed with high ceilings to allow hot air to rise above the average person's head. I would be surprised to hear that the ceilings in the William Penn were 8 or 9 feet in height, for example. My expectation is that 10 or 11 foot ceilings or higher would have been the norm for a building of that era - so the excuse sounds phony.

I think the real reason the building was torn down is that there simply is no market in Houston right now for more luxury hotels downtown. There is a glut of such rooms in the downtown market and about 2,000 rooms need to go off the market for the rest of the hotel industry downtown to become profitable again.

It is nice to see that not all owners of historical hotel buildings feel they need to torn down because the ceilings are too low.
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Your observation is correct. The occupany is down, although revenue is about the same, because we raised our room rates about six months ago. This has had the happy effect of causing some of the less desireable customers to seek lodgings elsewhere and it gives us an opportunity to get into more rooms to do renovation work.

I THOUGHT I noticed something different about that corner a couple of weeks ago when I walked by. For one, you don't see as many people "hanging around" and there aren't as many lights on at night, as if the building's not as occupied as before.

This would explain a lot. I wish them luck, especially with Stowers and Club Quarters looking all shiny next door to them.

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I could accomplish this much more quickly if I can find a way to access grant money for renovation work. I've been told that there is a such thing as grant money for restoring historic old buildings and I'd like to know where one goes to apply for such grants.
Have you contacted the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance? If anyone would know, they would.
I think the real reason the building was torn down is that there simply is no market in Houston right now for more luxury hotels downtown. There is a glut of such rooms in the downtown market and about 2,000 rooms need to go off the market for the rest of the hotel industry downtown to become profitable again.

Sadly, it's probably just a matter of time before the market catches up with them and some of the newer hotels end up closing. They were funded in part by a tax subsidy to encourage hotel rooms to support the expansion of the convention center. The city will have to be pretty good at drawing large-scale conventions to make this all pay off.

Couldn't the William Penn in theory been converted into something other than a luxury hotel? What annoys me almost as much as their tearing down a beautiful old building was the lame excuse about ceiling heights. :wacko:

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I'm not sure what the basement space was used for in the early days of the hotel, but strongly suspect that it was restarant area due to the presence of some very old cast-iron stoves down there. It personally think it would be kind of neat to have a restaurant down there, if the downtown traffic would support one. You know, when I was a teenager I used to eat occasionly at the old L.C. Cafeteria formerly located under the Rice Hotel and it was accessible from a sidewalk stairwell, just as our own basement area is - which is why I think there is a good possibility that a dining facility once occupied that area of the hotel.

I did a little research on the building yesterday at the Julia Ideson library's Texas Room. You may have already seen a clipping from the Oct. 23, 1951 Houston Press, in which R.H. "Bob" Moffatt is quoted. He was identified as being the first manager and current manager/owner of the Hotel Cotton, and was there when it opened on March 1, 1913.

Mr. Moffatt stated "We had a beautiful little bar where the coffee shop is now. The coffee shop was in the basement then." He also notes that rooms were all $1.50 when the Hotel Cotton opened.

Also, while the librarian was assisting me, she spoke with someone on the phone who stated that the annex to the Hotel Cotton was designed by Alfred C. Finn. Unfortunately, she did not get the source of that information. Is this the building on Fannin (south of and adjacent to the Montegu)? I haven't found the name of the architect who designed Hotel Cotton yet.

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mr. kalas, when perusing your old postcards of the hotel cotton, how did you know the date of the middle one? (1918 i beleive).

I can't state with absolute certainty that the 1918 date is correct, but when I found the card in the Internet it was listed as being from "circa 1918." I currently have one of these cards on order from an eBay merchant and am hoping it is a used card with a postmark so I can get a better idea of the accuracy of the date.

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I can't state with absolute certainty that the 1918 date is correct, but when I found the card in the Internet it was listed as being from "circa 1918." I currently have one of these cards on order from an eBay merchant and am hoping it is a used card with a postmark so I can get a better idea of the accuracy of the date.

ahh

well, the card i own (the one scanned above) has a postmark of 1918. weird.

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So is the Montagu getting a new marquee? A bit flashier with better lighting? People like lights!

:)

An excellent quation. To be honest, no decision has been made yet. We're still working with our CPA to get all of the paperwork needed to make the necessary name changes with all the local, state and governmental taxing authorities. Once the bureaucratic paperwork is completed I'll be talking with my uncles and cousins to see what we should do about changing our signage.

My own personal preference is to be historically authentic and to have a reproduction of the original "Hotel Cotton" sign mounted back on the corner of the building at Fannin and Rusk. The old sign was a vertical one, with all of the letters of the hotel name running from top to bottom. If you go to our website and study the enlarged photo of the 1945 photo relating to the fire at the Aragon Ballroom behind the Hotel Cotton, you'll see a portion of the original sign I'm talking about. You can also barely make out the sign on the 1949 photo and the c. 1918 postcard. The web address is http://www.hotelcotton.com/hotelcottonhistory.htm

I'd very much like to retire the battered and cheesy looking "Montagu Hotel" signs - both on the corner of the building and on the marquee at the front entrance. I also want to get the "Hard Hat Deli" signs taken down. It would also be nice to get the movie posters off the Rusk side of the building as well - but they generate needed revenue, so they'll probably be around for a while. I'm not sure yet if the overhang in front of the entrance had a "Hotel Cotton" marquee at any time in the past. If so, then I'll push for a restoration - provided I can find a photo of it to work from and provided that the budget will allow it.

It should be understood, however, that all of the renovation work we do is performed on a piecemeal basis out of our own pockets, so progress will be in small incremental steps. When business is slow - not much renovation happens. When business picks up, we fix more things around here. We are not inclined to run to a bank and borrow a huge sum of money because too many other hotels downtown did that and many are in the red and cannot service their debt with their bankers. I fully expect several of these "boutique" hotels to go bankrupt within the next few years. We prefer to play it conservative and "pay as we go." Nonetheless, many returning guests tell me that they are pleasantly surprised at what we've been able to accomplish in the lobby and up on the 11th floor over the past six months - so we are making progress with every passing day.

ahh

well, the card i own (the one scanned above) has a postmark of 1918. weird.

Hey - that's great. :D The postcard might have first been printed in a prior year, but at least your card confirms that this design dates back at least as far as 1918. I'd love to see a scan of the back of the card if you could post it here.

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