Hotel Giles History

Hotel Giles is named after Alfred Giles--the famed San Antonio architect who designed and oversaw its construction in 1880 at the young age of 27. Giles was a highly sought-after architect in San Antonio and South Texas, who catered to the dignified gentry of the time with his symmetrical and conservative design style. However, it was not always Hotel Giles.

In 1880, Peter Ingenhuett and Marie Karger commissioned Alfred Giles to build Comfort's first hotel, and named it the Ingenhuett Hotel. Comfort was a growing German community, and many a person traveling by stagecoach enjoyed the comfortable accommodations of the hotel.

With the coming of the railroad, the original native limestone building soon became too small for the burgeoning town, so Giles returned in 1894 to design the addition, including iconic arched parlor windows and gothic lintel cross. Members of the Peter and Marie Ingenhuett family--including their son Ernst, and Marie's brother Charles Karger--operated the hotel until around 1905. Around 1909, the hotel was purchased by Louis and Mathilda Faust, who renamed it the Faust Hotel. Following World War II, hotels declined in popularity, to be replaced by motels and motor lodges. In addition, German speakers living in the United States often had a difficult time. In 1946, the Faust family ceased to operate it as a hotel, and it fell into decline.

In 1985, Dr. Bob and Diane Potter acquired the building, along with the old Post Office and the Peter and Marie Ingenhuett Homestead properties to the west. They immediately sold the homestead and used the proceeds of that sale to bring the hotel back to life. The Potters restored the property, and it once again became a flourishing business with antique vendors and bed-and-breakfast accommodations. They are credited with saving the hotel from ruin and further protecting it by acquiring a Texas Historical Landmark designation.

Subsequently, James Lord and Bobby Dent, purchased the hotel and operated it for around 18 years. It passed briefly to a couple from Houston, then to Brian and Diane Treusdell in 2015, who invested significantly in renovations and modernization and renamed it Hotel Giles.

The interior of the original 1880 portion of the hotel reflected a dog-run plan, including a central reception hall with two guest rooms on either side and a central staircase leading to the same symmetrical room layout on the second floor. It had galleries across the front and back on both floors, a copper tinner's roof and a large stone fireplace.