Luther Hotel
- CURRENTLY CLOSED -
The Luther Hotel, also known as the “Pride of Palacios,” was originally built in 1903 with longleaf yellow pine and cypress on East Tres Palacios Bay as a project of the Texas Rice Development Company, and according to records, over 250 people attended its opening. Due to its popularity, only two years later, in 1905, the hotel was moved half a mile to South Bay Boulevard and expanded with the addition of east and west wings as well as a 300-foot-long front porch. For decades, the hotel advertised fine bathing suites, water activities like boating and fishing, and an orchestral performance in the dining room every day. After a string of different owners, it landed in the hands of Charles and Elsie Callaway Luther, who renovated some of the space into apartments veterans of World War II. During its heyday, the hotel housed notable figures like Rita Hayworth, Carol Landis, and even the future president, Lyndon B. Johnson.