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Blackstone Hotel / Courtyard by Marriott

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#1 JimmyR

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Posted 07 February 2008 - 08:25 AM

The ten year anniversary of the Blackstone Hotel restoration is quickly approaching. Does hotel brands normally carry around a 10-year lease, or there about? I'm just curious if there's been any word about Courtyard and if anything has came up about any brand change, or even possible renovation, esp with the changes with the other major downtown hotels? It seems just like yesterday I was viewing the artwork covering the street level windows of the abandoned Blackstone, and now here we are 10-years later after the renovations.


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#2 JBB

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Posted 07 February 2008 - 09:08 AM

I believe it received a pretty standard interior overhaul in the last year or so. New carpet, new furnishings and decorations, etc. There's probably a topic about it on the forum.

#3 Brian Luenser

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Posted 07 February 2008 - 10:30 AM

The Marriott people have actually hired my kitty, Grace, as a security lookout... though I have caught her napping a few times on her watch.


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#4 cberen1

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Posted 07 February 2008 - 01:29 PM

QUOTE (monee9696 @ Feb 7 2008, 12:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
The Marriott people have actually hired my kitty, Grace, as a security lookout... though I have caught her napping a few times on her watch.


lol This gets my nomination for least expected response to a thread so far in 2008.

#5 Austin55

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Posted 08 June 2017 - 11:43 PM

The hotel was sold and new owners plan a few million in capital improvements.

http://www.star-tele...e154817094.html

#6 John T Roberts

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Posted 31 March 2019 - 03:41 PM

The main entrance canopy surround has been recently replaced.  Historic Fort Worth has a facade easement on the hotel, so I was involved in approving this new signage.  This is the only one that has been replaced so far, but the overall sign package for the building will be redone.

 

33633358058_fb3749fbbd_h.jpgblackstonecanopy1 by jtrobert, on Flickr



#7 renamerusk

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Posted 31 March 2019 - 03:51 PM

From my artistic radar, it does not really wow me.  Having not previewed any of the options, I wonder if there was one design among the options that was more indicative of the period of its time.



#8 John T Roberts

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Posted 31 March 2019 - 04:09 PM

This signage was also approved by the DDRB.  We were not given a lot of options and the font and colors were non-negotiable.  Here is this same canopy as it appeared in the 1940's.  This photograph is from the UTA Library Special Collections. (UTA Library Digital Galleries)

 

81df5926f257d8d495d7bbbeee982149.jpg



#9 renamerusk

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Posted 31 March 2019 - 06:15 PM

I prefer the 1940's Canopy; the font and the ribbons grace the building in ways that the new canopy does not.  It would be wonderful if the Blackstone Hotel could resurface.

 

I understand that Marriott has multiple categories of hospitality groups, but in the beginning, I never cared for the label "courtyard" replacing the "hotel" label.  Maybe Marriott  someday will elevate the Blackstone a few stars up to Hotel Group.



#10 renamerusk

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Posted 25 November 2019 - 01:13 PM

I keep clicking on this thread expecting to read of something to do with the Marriott Blackstone Hotel.  At most, its a marginal topic about MBH in as much as it happens to lease space in the building.

 

How about creating a thread  for The Corner Bakery in Arts and Entertainment to discuss the pros and cons of this cafe where ever one is located?



#11 John T Roberts

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Posted 25 November 2019 - 10:44 PM

The first 9 posts in the thread are on topic about the hotel.  I was the one who derailed the thread by just mentioning the Corner Bakery had reopened after closing down for remodeling.  I honestly didn't think it would completely take over the topic.  On Tuesday, I will split the thread into a separate one regarding the Corner Bakery's downtown location.

 

Corner Bakery discussion has been moved to "Arts and Entertainment".



#12 RD Milhollin

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Posted 07 December 2019 - 04:55 PM

It would be great to see some attempt at putting the hotel lobby back to the way it was when built. Any photos available of the original Blackstone Lobby?



#13 Doohickie

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Posted 07 December 2019 - 06:23 PM

It's not gonna happen any time soon, seeing as how they just finished remodeling it.

 

Besides, that "old west" stuff goes better in the Stockyards than Downtown.


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#14 John T Roberts

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Posted 07 December 2019 - 07:03 PM

RD, I agree with Doohickie.  If they restored the lobby, they would lose a lot of their meeting room space on the 2nd floor.  It probably won't happen because of the extreme alterations that had been done over the years.  I have seen a few pre-1950s photographs, but they weren't any direct photos of the lobby.



#15 RD Milhollin

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Posted 07 December 2019 - 11:16 PM

It's not gonna happen any time soon, seeing as how they just finished remodeling it.

 

Besides, that "old west" stuff goes better in the Stockyards than Downtown.

Was it "old west"? My very vague memories of going in there when I was pretty young and it was a going concern seem to be that is was more vertical, formal, "Victorian" or something to that effect rather than rustic...



#16 John T Roberts

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Posted 08 December 2019 - 04:25 AM

RD, unfortunately we were too late to experience the "original" interiors of the Blackstone Hotel.  1952 was the year that Hilton took over and started to remove all of the old interiors.  It was also in that year that they floored through the two story lobby.  Our vague memories of the place was after the remodeling that was done to bring the hotel up to Hilton's standards. 



#17 RD Milhollin

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Posted 08 December 2019 - 08:25 AM

Maybe I'm thinking of the Westbrook



#18 John T Roberts

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Posted 08 December 2019 - 11:58 AM

That description does apply to the Westbrook, so that is probably the one you are thinking about.  By the way, the original lobby of The Westbrook was intact when it was demolished in 1978.



#19 elpingüino

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Posted 08 December 2019 - 12:47 PM

Here's a picture of the Westbrook lobby from the UTA archives, which Dismuke found and posted awhile back on another thread.

aa3c2556caee63603fb2dad2e0d30b90.jpg

#20 Dismuke

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Posted 14 December 2019 - 08:32 PM

Here's a picture of the Westbrook lobby from the UTA archives, which Dismuke found and posted awhile back on another thread.
 

 

 

Here is what is so sad about that photo: it was taken at the time the hotel was set to close and be subsequently demolished. In other words, other than the obviously much later furniture and the glass brick on the counter, the lobby remained almost completely unaltered from the early 1910s through the very end.  I don't see the four lights along the corners appearing in early postcard views and the globes on them strike me as being more 1920s or 1930s style than early 1910s - but I might be wrong on that.  The light fixture in the center is seen in early postcard views.  The columns were of green marble and you can see the white marble on the desk and lots of white marble in the staircase area.  The lobby appeared to have been in extremely good condition. 

 

My guess is all the hotel needed was an update to its plumbing, electrical and mechanical infrastructure.  And, like most hotels of that era, the rooms were probably quite small by today's standards - so it would have made sense to combine them into larger rooms as is usually done when vintage hotels are restored. But this one would not have needed actual "restoration" -  the original was still intact.  After it was demolished, the site was just a parking lot for decades.  If it could have just somehow survived another couple of decades, it could very easily have made a comeback as a hotel with the grandest interior in the city.  What a shame. 

Vernon and Irene Castle and their pet monkey lived in a suite there when he was stationed and later died in a training accident at Carruthers Field in Benbrook during World War I.  They were huge international celebrities at the time and his death put Fort Worth in headlines worldwide.  A couple of decades later a Fort Worth girl named Ginger Rogers played Irene with Fred Astaire playing Vernon in The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle which had its world premier at the Worth Theater, an event that was broadcast live statewide over the Texas State Network.  Undoubtedly Vernon and Irene would have had no difficulty recognizing the 1970s photo.  And the hotel the site of a lot of deals made during the West Texas oil boom.  Ties to a lot of history, in a addition to a really cool building, where destroyed with its demolition. 


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#21 Dismuke

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Posted 14 December 2019 - 09:08 PM

I have some stuff about the interiors of the Blackstone to post.  But, before I pull all of that together and while we are on the subject of the Westbrook, I cannot resist posting this neat advertisement that the Westbrook Hotel placed in a hotel industry trade publication in September 1917. 

 

If $25 sounds like a cheapskate prize, according to this handy cost of living calculator, $25 back in 1917 was the equivalent of $499.10 in today's currency. 

 

Undoubtedly World War I was the reason they "would not object to a more or less Military expression."  Note that they capitalized "military."  And the name should have been English, French or Italian.  Hmmmm.  I'll bet one wouldn't have stood much chance of winning the prize if one had submitted a German sounding name!   

 

As for the basement cafe and the desire for a name that was suggestive of underground, both the Baker Hotel in Dallas and the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio had basement restaurants that were named The Caveteria.  I think those were cool names.   Both the Baker and the Gunter were owned by T.B.Baker who operated the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth. 

And note how they said to limit one's reply to "just the names suggested and your address."  Translation: we don't have the time or the staff to engage in correspondence about whatever random thing is on your mind or whatever story you have that makes you think it will give you a better chance of winning. This way, we won't offend you if we don't write back or just send you a form letter telling you that you didn't win. 
 

I am not sure what names ended up being chosen by the Westbrook.  I read an article from a few years later about the Westbrook opening a new restaurant - so my guess is whatever name it was didn't last long. 

 

westbrookrewardseptember1917.JPG


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#22 ramjet

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Posted 14 December 2019 - 10:49 PM

Dismuke, you're like the ghost of Christmas past.  So glad to hear from you.  Wise and informative post, yet again.



#23 John T Roberts

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Posted 14 December 2019 - 10:59 PM

Diskmuke, you have some great information here.  It's also good see you posting again.



#24 Nitixope

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Posted 28 July 2022 - 08:04 AM

Might be some guestroom upgrades to the Courtyard / Blackstone.  Doesn't look like a big project (yet) but still out to bid so will be interested to see how big of an upgrade this is.

 

Record PB22-12977: 
Commercial Remodel Building Permit
Record Status: Plan Review
 
 
Re-Permit of this: 






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