Houston, TX: The AstroWorld Hotel
Address: 8686 Kirby Dr, Houston, TX 77054
Opened: 1969
Built By: Judge Roy Hofheinz and the Houston Sports Association
Status: Open, now the Wyndham Hotel
Elvis Dates: February 25-March 1, 1970
I Visited On: July 8, 2023
My experience
Long story short, when we pulled up, we thought it was abandoned.
Pulled up into the parking lot on a rainy Saturday. There were only 2-3 cars out front, but we thought they were just contractors or appraisers, or something, until someone walked out the front doors with a luggage cart. Turns out the hotel wasn’t abandoned, but from everything I saw, it should be. The plain exterior doesn’t match the extravagant wrought iron and glass doors. The lobby has a lot of mismatched furniture that, by no means goes together, not even in an eclectic manner–stone tables were painted with oil paint, the ceiling had been removed in some places and replaced with a different material, and all the finished materials seemed to be patchworked together with materials from the discount bin. Everything seemed out of place.
There was a restaurant connected to the lobby on the right-side. We didn’t try to go in, but no one appeared to be in it and I assumed it was closed.
We drove around the entirety of the building and something cool about the hotel is that you can, in fact, see the Astrodome from the building. Around the back of the hotel, there is a second building that’s connected to the first, and I think it is mainly used for conferences and private events. At the very back of the property, there are exterior-access hotel rooms, but that entire section of parking was blocked off by cones, so I assume that section of the hotel is no longer in use.
Driving back to the front of the building, we got to see the back of the building. Well, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
After visiting, I did a little more research on the hotel, which mostly consisted of reading current reviews, 95% of which are some of the worst reviews I've read for a hotel. One of the big concerns were the elevators-reviewers basically said that when the elevators are actually functioning, you shouldn't risk it and you should always take the stairs. Another very popular topic was the pool and how it looks like a green cesspool that hasn't been cleaned in years. Only about 5% of the reviews were flattering, and I'm convinced those reviews were fake or from people that had only attended an event in the other building.
History of the site
Everything started when Judge Roy Hofheinz brought Major League Baseball to Houston (he was the original owner of the Houston Astros). After building the AstroWorld Amusement Park (closed October 30, 2005) and the Astrodome as a way to share his love of baseball and spur Houston’s economy in the 1960s, 4 hotels were added to the massive complex, including the AstroWorld Hotel.
At the time of its construction and for decades after, the AstroWorld Hotel was known for having the most expensive suite in the world; reports say the price ranged anywhere from $2,500 to $5,000 USD per night in 1970 ($20,000 to $39,000 USD per night in 2023). The 2-story suite/penthouse on the 9th floor was named the Celestial Suite, a Houston legend.
The designer of the massive penthouse was Harper Goff, an award winning designer for Disney / Disneyland. Each room was designed uniquely and could take you to a new world, with rooms styled like P.T. Barnum’s Circus and others based on Roman baths and mini-Astrodomes. The hotel was noted as being so extravagant, that during his stay there, Elvis was supposedly quoted as saying the suite was “too gaudy.”
As of 2017, the suite was still intact with little visible damage because it still had functioning air conditioning at the time. Although, I can't speak to its current condition six year later. As far as I know, the penthouse is completely closed to the public. Even if people were allowed up there, I don’t know that visiting the ninth floor is such a great idea right now, based on the exterior of the hotel and the scaffolding that appears to be holding it up.
Ownership Timeline
Over the last 54 years, the hotel has changed ownership 9 times (although the penthouse has gone relatively untouched since Hofhienz commissioned it). In 1969, it was first built as the AstroWorld Hotel and owned by Judge Roy Hofheinz. Around 1975, it changed to the AstroVillage Hotel Complex owned by Servico Hotels, who added 2 hotels next door to the original building - the original structure continued to function as the main hotel, and the others became a Holiday Inn. Between July 18, 1993 and 1996 the AstroVillage Hotel was renamed the Sheraton Astrodome Hotel, then in 2002 the building was foreclosed. It was bought soon after and opened as the Radisson Astrodome in January 2004. A few months later, it changed again to the Park Plaza Hotel Reliant Center. In December 2005, the Park Plaza Hotel became the Houston Grand Plaza Hotel owned by Metro Hospitality Partners. And from 2007 to 2017, it was known as the Crowne Plaza by NRG, until it finally landed on the Wyndham Hotel (present-2023).
During its long life, the hotel's Celestial Suite has hosted many famous names, including Elvis Presley, President Lyndon B. Johnson, Frank Sinatra, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jackson, Sammy David Jr., and many others.
It is not a complete list, but here is a list of most of the rooms in the Celestial Suite:
*The Minidome - a miniature, 2-story version of the Astrodome that came with a bar and a replica of the Astrodome’s scoreboard that was synced to show actual game scores
The Club - a nightclub
*The Tarzan Bedroom - a jungle themed loft and Michael Jackson’s favorite room
Fu Manchu Bedroom and Mandarin Bathroom - an oriental themed room named after Dr. Fu Manchu, a fictional character written by Sax Rohmer
P.T. Barnum Suite - a circus themed bedroom and favorite of Roy Hofheinz’s children
Acapulco Patio / European Patio - the Mexican themed entrance to the Barnum Suite
*Big Top Bedroom / Big Top Parlor - a circus themed room with a tent ceiling; included features of an original Barnum and Bailey Carousel
*Bandwagon Bedroom and Bathroom - a circus themed bedroom with a bed made of an actual bandwagon calliope from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, with a similarly themed bathroom
*Crusader Bedroom / Baronial Bedroom - Roy Hofheinz’s bedroom with a private balcony; a Roman themed bedroom said to hold the bed of Vivien Leigh from “Gone with the Wind”; a complete replica of the room was built by John McArthur at Colonnades Hotel in Palm Springs, Florida (he stole the blueprints from Hofheinz)
*Roman Bathroom / Pompeiian Bathroom - a Roman themed bathroom wit, h a tub so large it required an indoor pool permit, and a 10-person shower
*Marble Library - styled after the royal palace in Madrid with a 2-story ceiling and a fire screen from Queen Wilhelmina’s winter palace outside Amsterdam
*Gilded Birdcage Dining Room / Golden Birdcage Dining Room - an antique French-style room that’s meant to represent the United Kingdom’s Great Crystal Palace
*Monterrey Kitchen - had 7-types of Mexican tile, wine cellar, and breakfast nook
Sadie Thompson Suite - theme based on Sadie Thompson, a fictional character from the South Pacific Islands
*Lillian Russell Suite - named after the real actress and singer, Lillian Russell (1861-1922), known for her beauty and voice
Lady Chatterley Room and Bathroom - had a puppet stage where Hofheinz would put on puppet shows for his grandchildren and the bathroom could be converted into a darkroom
*pictured All the pictures are in the order they're listed.
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Photo Credit:
All the recent photos of the hotel's exterior, lobby, and Astrodome were taken by me. Please, credit me if you use my photos.
Roy Hofheinz at the Astrodome by Dan Hardy | June 13, 1965
Black and white of Roman bath (AstroWorld Hotel GM Jim Spring and wife, Marjorie, pictured) by Blair Pittman | December 18, 1969
Black and white hallway (partygoers, pictured by Blair Pittman | December 18, 1969
Bandwagon bedroom (bed close-up) by Lisa Petrole | Unknown date
Bandwagon bedroom (far shot) by Astroworldhotel.com | Unknown date
Black and white golden birdcage dining room by Blair Pittman | December 18, 1969
The Tarzan Room by Lisa Petrole | Unknown date
Minidome (photo 1) by Brett Coomer | September 28, 2017
Minidome stairs (photo 2) by Lisa Petrole | Unknown date
Black and white Minidome bar by Unknown | Unknown date
The AstroWorld Hotel Postcard (full-view) owned by Pen News | 1969-1970
Big Top Bedroom by Lisa Petrole | Unknown date
Crusader Bedroom (bed-view) by Lisa Petrole | Unknown date
Stairs to Crusader Bedroom by Lisa Petrole | Unknown date
Balcony by Hilary Schuhmacher | Unknown date
Roman bathroom by Lisa Petrole | Unknown date
Marble library by Lisa Petrole | Unknown date
Golden birdcage dining room by Lisa Petrole | Unknown date
Black and white golden birdcage dining room by Blair Pittman | December 18, 1969
Monterrey kitchen by Brett Coomer | September 28, 2017
Lillian Russell suite by Lisa Petrole | Unknown date
Sources:
