From CNN.com

Hotel reopening reveals Oklahoma City's past, future - CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/04/09/oklahoma.skirvin.ap/index.html)

Great catch, escan!

I did a Google News search after seeing it's an AP article and look what newspapers have come up already:

Google News Search Results (http://news.google.com/news?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&um=1&tab=wn&q=Its+spacious+lobby+was+the+meeting+place+of+poli ticians+and+oil-rich+millionaires.&filter=0)

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Not bad. Perhaps this will get the attention of hotel enthusiasts who like to stay in historic hotels.

I think there was some incorrect information regarding MAPS in there, wasn't there?

Here's the whole article, as often these stories don't stay posted long on the hosting website:




http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/04/09/oklahoma.skirvin.ap/story.skirvin.ap.jpg
Hotel reopening reveals Oklahoma City's past, future
POSTED: 10:22 a.m. EDT, April 9, 2007


OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (AP) -- Its spacious lobby was the meeting place of politicians and oil-rich millionaires.

Its guest rooms and restaurants bustled with the frenetic pace of freewheeling ranchers and drillers.

Its banquet rooms were the boisterous stumping ground of Oklahoma governors and at least four presidents.

The ornate Skirvin Hotel -- opened in 1911 just four years after Oklahoma became a state -- is the historic social hub of Oklahoma City. The 220,000-square-foot behemoth was a place residents and visitors to the new state wanted to see -- and where they wanted to be seen.

The hotel's luster, hidden away for almost 20 years as it sat boarded up, is brightening the cityscape once again since reopening February 26 as the Skirvin Hilton.

Following a $55 million top-to-bottom renovation, the structure's re-emergence as a full-service hotel coincides with the 100th anniversary of Oklahoma statehood and is a centerpiece of the centennial celebration.

It also marks an urban revival here that has doubled the number of downtown hotel rooms to more than 1,400 in just seven years.

"It's difficult to completely sell the idea of a renaissance as long as the Skirvin Hotel was boarded up," said Mayor Mick Cornett. "It's further validation that downtown Oklahoma City is not the city it was."

"We always saw this thing as a gem and a jewel," said John Williams, the Skirvin Hilton's general manager.

Robert Henry, a judge on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and former Oklahoma attorney general, kept a room at the Skirvin for more than two years before the hotel closed its doors in 1988.

"The Skirvin is a romantic place," said Henry, cousin of Gov. Brad Henry. "People are passionate about it. Its history is inseparable from the history of Oklahoma City."

During his stays at the hotel, he recalled seeing football icon Joe Namath, opera star Luciano Pavarotti, Dr. Christiaan Barnard, the pioneer heart surgeon, and ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov, and having dinner one night with comedian Danny Thomas in the Skirvin's restaurant.

"If you were in the lobby of the Skirvin Hotel, whatever was going on in Oklahoma City would pass right in front of you," said Henry.

Built by William Skirvin, who participated in the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889 and later made a fortune in land and oil, the Skirvin is near railroad depots and is an example of the grand hotels that prospered during the golden age of railroad travel, said Bob Blackburn, executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society.

"If you went anywhere in style and you could afford it, you went by railroad," Blackburn said.

The hotel was renovated periodically over the years, including expansion in the late 1920s that added a new wing and raised the hotel's height to 14 stories. But the Skirvin struggled in the 1950s and 1960s as railroad travel and downtown areas declined.

Closed during the oil bust of 1988, the Skirvin fell into disrepair and was vandalized over the years. Its roof became a roost for pigeons and its once-grand lobby a haven for the homeless as the building moved perilously close to the wrecking ball in the 1990s.

Plans to rehabilitate the structure were finalized four years ago by Skirvin Partners LLC, Marcus Hotels and Resorts of Milwaukee and Hilton. Construction included replacement of two-thirds of the building's roof, 900 new windows and updated mechanical facilities to bring the structure up to modern standards, said John Williams, general manager of the Skirvin Hilton. "Every pipe, every valve, every wire in this building is brand new," he said.

Throughout the rehabilitation project, planners and craftsmen worked to maintain the structure's historical character to qualify for federal and state rehabilitation tax credits that could reduce the cost of the project by up to 40 percent, said Catherine Montgomery, a historic preservation architect with the state Historic Preservation Office. The tax initiative, called Metropolitan Area Projects, has also financed and encouraged other public-private partnerships like the one behind the Skirvin.

The process included painstaking repair and rehabilitation of the lobby, including 29 hand-carved Bacchus busts accented by gold leafing that peer from the top of structural pillars. Each pillar is enveloped by stained wood.

"To their credit they went back and put a lot of effort into recovering those details," Montgomery said.

Restoration work included four plaster gargoyles perched on lobby pillars near the hotel's new elevators and their original ornamental doors. Two of the gargoyles -- complete with thick mustaches and piercing eyes -- look suspiciously like William "Alfalfa Bill" Murray, who was an advocate for statehood, served as Oklahoma's first House speaker and later as a governor.

The lobby's arched wooden entry ways and tile floor are all original to 1911. Ornate art deco tile in the Skirvin's Park Avenue Grill date to the hotel's expansion in the late 1920s.

"They really respected the history associated with the building," said Montgomery.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WOW! Quite impressive. My husband and I are planning to spend a night there next week to celebrate the end of tax season. Has anyone else stayed there yet?

Looks like OKC now has 3 of the 4 four diamond hotels in Oklahoma. I personally think the Colcord should be given the honor as well.



Skirvin earns high AAA rating

August 29, 2007

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Skirvin Hilton hotel in downtown Oklahoma City has received a rare four-diamond rating from the AAA travel services agency, officials announced Tuesday.

The hotel joins only three others in the state to be awarded the rating by the nonprofit group for its travel guide books: the Renaissance hotels in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, and the Waterford Marriott in Oklahoma City.

“It’s very important not only for the Skirvin and all its employees, but for Oklahoma City as well,” hotel General Manager John Williams said. “For a city our size, it’s a very positive statement. … This is one of those things that helps position us as a high-quality destination for group meetings and conferences.“It will certainly help to promote tourism and activity through the city. So it makes a very positive statement about all the work and love – and certainly more than a few dollars – that we’ve put into this hotel. We intended to be an AAA four-diamond hotel. That was the mark we wanted to hit.

”It’s not unusual for a hotel to be evaluated so quickly after opening, AAA Oklahoma spokesman Chuck Mai said. The nearly 100-year-old Skirvin reopened its doors about six months ago following a massive rehabilitation; it had been closed since 1988. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ratings are decided by the AAA national office’s field inspectors who travel the country year-round and check lodgings unannounced, Mai said.“They rate everything from the quality of the bedspreads to the courteousness of the staff,” he said. “Then they have a talk with the general manager as they leave to let them know how their evaluation worked out and what sort of diamond rating they’ll receive. … It is truly an objective evaluation.”

According to the AAA online TourBook Guide, hotels worthy of four diamonds are: “Upscale in all areas. Accommodations are progressively more refined and stylish. The physical attributes reflect an obvious enhanced level of quality throughout. The fundamental hallmarks at this level include an extensive array of amenities combined with a high degree of hospitality, service, and attention to detail.”

No Oklahoma hotels have five diamonds. To achieve that highest rating, a hotel must be “the ultimate in luxury and sophistication,” the agency’s guidebook says. “The fundamental hallmarks at this level are to meticulously serve and exceed all guest expectations while maintaining an impeccable standard of excellence,” it reads.

Not all hotels have a diamond rating. Of the 142 Oklahoma City and Tulsa properties listed in the AAA online guidebook, three are designated with “FYI” icon instead of diamond ratings: “The icon indicates that a property has not been rated for one or more of the following reasons: too new to rate, under construction, under major renovation, not evaluated, may not meet all AAA requirements,” the guidebook says.

Mai said a hotel also can opt out of the rating.“If they feel they’re a three-diamond property and we come in and tell them they’re a two, they can choose to not be listed in our tour book,” he said. “There’s no cost to the property to be included in the tour book. The vast majority of them (hotel managers) see this as a means of publicizing their property and generating increased business,” Mai said.

The Journal Record

http://www.journalrecord.com/_images/articles/t_labsSkirvin%20gm%20John%20Williams%20-%20JP.jpg
Skirvin Hilton General Manager John Williams stands in the hotel’s lobby Tuesday as guests enter behind him. (Photo by Jennifer Pitts)

And here's OKC Business' article:

OKC’s Skirvin Hilton named Four Diamond recipient

By Stefanie Brickman - 8/28/2007


Just six months after its grand reopening, the Skirvin Hilton found out today the American Automobile Association has named the hotel among its Four Diamond recipients for 2008.


“It’s been on our list of things to accomplish but it came quicker than we expected,” John Williams, general manager, said. “It’s a huge thing for us.”


Only about three percent of hotels earn the Four Diamond status, putting the Skirvin Hilton in very elite status.


“People can rely on the Hilton name, the Skirvin’s history and now the Four Diamond,” Williams said. “It’s a team thing, a collective effort. It’s not about stuff; it’s about faces, smiles, service, attitude. The physical has to be good but that’s not all.”


The hotel contains 225 guest rooms, 20 one-bedroom suites, one Presidential Suite and 18,500 square feet of meeting and prefunction space.


Skirvin Partners LLC, Marcus Hotels and Resort and Hilton teamed up in 2002 to renovate the hotel which was originally built in 1911 and closed in 1988. It has remained on the National Register of Historic Places.

http://www.okcbusiness.com/images/photos/skirvinfourdiamond.jpg

That's an honor to be sure. I looked in to staying one night for our anniversary (a last minute whim) and the hotel was completely sold out. We had other things planned so I wasn't too disappointed that we didn't stay but I do look forward to staying in the future.

I checked the rates again.. not too bad for a 4 Diamond Hotel. $129 - $164 plus tax.

Congrats to the Skirvin.. another feather in OKC's cap!

Thanks for sharing the Skrivin Article's with us its always been a big part of Oklahoma City's history

Excellent news.:congrats:

I've been wanting to stay at the Skirvin since it reopened. And I agree, for a 4 Diamond Hotel, Skirvin's rates are very agreeable.

Yes, thanks for the article. Great stuff. Bringing back treasures like this is what public investment, TANF, etc. is all about!

-- now... if we could just stop making the good citizens of this state use those same vehicles to finance new Super Wal-Marts...

I wonder how much the presidential suite runs? :D