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Magnolia Stops Presses With Renovation of Post-Dispatch Building

By Dennis Nessler

Hotel Business

The John Hardy Group provided Project Management services.

[Houston, TX]—The Hotel Magnolia Houston has stopped the presses, figuratively speaking, with its recently completed conversion of the former Post-Dispatch Building into a 314-room, four star boutique property.

Keeping the historic exterior largely in tact, the interior of the hotel, which is owned by Holtze Houston LLLP and operated by subsidiary Steve Holtze Hotels, has been designed to reflect the city’s texture with an inviting, contemporary feel.

“We have a tagline here that is called ‘easy elegance,’” said Leigh Hitz, vp, The Magnolia Hotels. “It is a warm, open and friendly hotel with a high level of design.”

Representing the third Hotel Magnolia nationally, including Denver and Dallas, this property maintains many of its own unique characteristics while still tapping into some common elements that tie it together with its predecessors. This was made easier by the fact that projected architect Guy Thornton of Guy Thornton & Associates was also involved in the design of the other Magnolia properties. While Hitz maintains there was a lot of collaboration on design, there were certain elements that Thornton clearly brought to the project.

“By using Guy we made sure we would have a grand staircase opening up the center of the hotel, and he created layers for guests. He made it inviting to be inside,” said Hitz.

According to Thornton, the biggest challenge was where to put the entrance of the hotel. “We had to decide how to create a warm, inviting, comfortable experience as you come in,” said Thornton, who opted to use the entrance on the north side of the hotel on Texas Avenue for the additional shade it offers, particularly during summer months.

With a unique blend of leather and glass throughout and four large columns extending to the top of the lobby. Thornton believes the design of the lobby is different but functional as well.

“There’s a sense of compassion, relief, arrival and departure,” he said.

The floors of the lobby also represented a vital design element and difficult decision for Thornton. He ultimately went with wide thorn oak. “We spent a lot of time and effort trying to find the right wood.”

Meanwhile, one of the more popular design feature throughout the hotel thus far has been the custom-designed original artwork used in the hallways and other public areas. A local Denver art gallery, Sandy Carson Art Gallery. Has provided the art.

According to Hitz, there is a different theme, such as transportation or flowers, on each floor. The 13th floor, for example, has a bad luck theme with a picture of a ladder and other bad luck icons.

“The interiors played into the arts, we spent a lot of time understanding Houston,” said Hitz.

Paying homage to the building’s not-so-distant past, the third-floor carpet is newspaper print and the original elevators have not been changed.

The company continued to tap into the Denver market for its furnishings, using Valiant Products for the majority of furnishing products. However, a variety of suppliers were used for the hotel’s lighting needs. For example, Hallmark provides a custom over the bed light for the hotel and a host of specialty lighting came from Spain and Canada, according to Hitz.

With approximately 99 two-bedroom suites which can be converted into one-bedroom suites and single guestrooms, and an additional 116 individual guestrooms, a total of 314 hotel rooms are available. This allows the hotel to adjust the room package daily, which is particularly valuable when considering the broad range of guest the property attracts.

“We can appeal to the business traveler and we have weddings on the weekends.” Says Hitz. “ We can reconfigure every night, we have flexibility.”

While Thornton wanted to be current with regard to his style, he also felt an obligation to the demands and intricacies of the hotel’s ownership.

“We’re not as much trying to be cutting edge. It’s a sense of style that has evolved from the ownership,” he said. “We want it to be different; striking and stylish enough without becoming trendy or dated,” he said.