FIRST -- Retirement Hotel in Dallas, Dallas TX
N 32° 46.366 W 096° 47.433
14S E 706946 N 3628256
Fifty years after its grand opening, the Ambassador Hotel became the first "retirement hotel" in Dallas
Waymark Code: WMR3XW
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 05/09/2016
Views: 1
This historic hotel opened in 1905 as The Majestic Hotel, and was the pinnacle of luxury in the Cedars neighborhood is what was at the time the City of Oak Cliff. By 1907 the hotel had changed its name to the Park Hotel.
In the mid-19-teens, Oak Cliff was annexed by the City of Dallas, which was growing just over the Trinity River from Oak Cliff.
About the same time, the hotel underwent several ownership and name changes, becoming the The Ambassador Hotel in the 1930s.
By the 1950s, the area was mired in deep economic decline, and the Ambassador hotel, though still luxurious, could not attract overnight guests. Owners decided to keep it open as a "retirement hotel", catering to older residents who didn't want to bother with keeping house anymore. That use persisted fro 25 years, until the late 1970s.
In 1980, a church bought the Ambassador to house and support troubled girls.
The Ambassador Hotel has clearly seen better days, but is once again part of an area of Dallas that is regaining some of its old cachet and energy. In 2013 the Ambassador was sold to a developer, who is going to renovate and return the hotel to its glory days as a luxury hotel with some loft apartments to take advantage of the gorgeous view of the Dallas skyline.
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A state historic marker on the front of the Ambassador Hotel reads as follows:
"THE AMBASSADOR (PARK) HOTEL
Built 1905 as city's first suburban luxury hotel, by historic public park. In 1955 became first retirement hotel.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966
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