The Tremont House in Galveston Offering Thanksgiving Getaway Package
In celebration of the upcoming holiday, The Tremont House in Galveston is offering a Thanksgiving Getaway package. Step away from the stove and enjoy a Thanksgiving Dinner Buffet served on November 26 (other meals at Tremont Cafe are 20% off, excluding alcohol), then relax with a transcendental "Thank You Special for Two" treatment at The Spa at The Hotel Galvez, which also includes a 50% discount on a second spa service. Guests can also get in the spirit of the season with two tickets to the Moody Garden Festival of Lights.
Available from November 25 - 28, 2009, a two-night stay $325 can be booked for Wednesday and Thanksgiving Thursday, while a two-night stay on Thanksgiving Thursday and Friday can be booked for $395, based on double occupancy. (Couples can add an additional night for $175.) Guests staying on Friday get an additional treat, as the Hotel Galvez presents its annual holiday lighting celebration.
Hotel Galvez in Galveston Rings in The Holiday Season
The holidays are close at hand, Galveston's Hotel Galvez is ready to celebrate the season. Patrons can pack their suitcases for a special Thanksgiving Getaway Package stay, which features brunch for two, pickets to the Moody Gardens Festival of Lights, and transcendental treatments from The Spa at Hotel Galvez with its Thank You Special for Two with a 50% discount on a second spa service. A two night stay on Wednesday and Thanksgiving Thursday costs #369, while stays on Thanksgiving Thursday and Friday are available for $479, based on double occupancy.
The "Queen of the Gulf" will look regal in the glow of the Holiday Lighting ceremony. an event free to the public which will take place on November 27th. Galveston's Mayor will flip the switch on the hotel's front lawn, illuminating rows of Christmas lights, their sparkle matched only by the beaming smiles of children as they have their photo taken with Santa. The Galveston Ballet will dance to the delight of both the young and the young at heart and the harmonious voices of carolers will echo in the air as the public peer at a gingerbread replica of the Hotel Galvez, while inside the real hotel adult attendees can sample specialty drinks from the lobby bar. A royal visit by "Queen Victoria" is a welcome invitation to Galveston's upcoming annual event, Dickens on The Strand.
Loving his stay in the Lone Star state, Saint Nick will make future appearances at Hotel Galvez at Sunday Brunch with Santa on December 6, 13 and 20th, when kids can once again have their picture taken with the jolly old elf. Live holiday entertainment will also keep the hotel in the holiday spirit every Friday and Saturday in December from 5 p.m. - 10 pm and on Sundays from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
If you're looking for a Halloween season happening that will haunt your memory, take a tour of Galveston's historic Hotel Galvez for a possible glimpse of one of the Queen of the Gulf's ghostly guests. Although typically reserved only for those who have booked a room, this year the public can explore the mystery of the ethereal elementals which reportedly have made the hotel their otherworldly home.
A commanding presence on the Texas Gulf Coast since its construction in 1911, the Hotel Galvez may have welcomed both Presidents and paparazzi magnets over the years, but perhaps its most famous patron is the forlorn phantasm which resides in room 501. Perhaps in the hope that she would be reunited with her beau in the beyond, a young woman forfeited her life on the premises upon hearing that her seafaring fiance had met his end. Not until the sailor's return to the hotel was it was learned that the news had been false. To this day her soul is said to still wait for her love in room 501, from whose windows she had peered out on the waves which she had believed had taken him from her forever.
Hotel Galvez's sad specter is not alone as she ambles through the afterlife at the regal retreat. Visitors may also feel the presence of a friendly phantom near the portrait of Bernardo de Galvez which hangs in a hallway, or even in the ladies loo. Hotel concierge Jackie Hasan will take sightseers intrigued with the supernatural on a one hour tour of the hotel, using an electromagnetic field detector and an infrared thermometer to determine if the departed make an appearance.
Interesting Fact: The Discovery Channel series Ghost Lab will turn the spirits of Galveston into TV stars when an episode filmed at Hotel Galvez airs this fall.
Tickets for the tour are available for $10 per person at the hotel's gift shop. Ticket holders also receive a 20% discount at Bernardo's Restaurant at Hotel Galvez.
When: Tours are .conducted for the public at 5:30 p.m. each Thursday from October 8 - October 29, 2009
As Halloween approaches, Galveston is offering a number of "spirit"ed tours that may provide proof that some of the city's dearly departed denizens may still consider the Gulf Coast area home.
Each Tuesday through Saturday in October at 7:30 and 6 p.m. on Sundays, paranormal professional Dash Beardsley of Ghost Tours of Galveston will take tourists on a two-hour trip back in time. Starting at the Railroad Museum at 25th and Strand, where a headless haunt is said to hover, the sojourn into the supernatural continues at a former bank building, where sightseers can search for a sighting of a police officer from yesteryear who lost his life at the site. Before the "Boo"fest concludes, a visit to an old infirmary which once gave shelter to Civil War soldiers may offer a viewing of an incorpeal vision.
The Galveston Historical Foundation is offering three haunted happenings tours throughout the month of October:
Guests arriving for a one-hour tour of Ashton Villa (seen in the photo to the right) will be greeted by a guide, but perhaps also by the ghost of Miss Bettie, the daughter of the Italianate mansion's original owner whose ethereal presence reportedly lingers among the family heirlooms. Visitors will get an up close look at the restoration of the residence's ground floor after the devastation of Hurricane Ike, and walk through the send floor, which remains just as it was in Miss Bettie's day. Ashton Villa's Are We Haunted? tour will take place throughout the month each Friday at 5, 7 and 9 p.m. and on Halloween at 3 and 5 p.m.
Seafaring specters might be spotted at the Haunted Harbor Tours aboard Seagull II. One-hour tours will take place every Friday and Saturday at 4:30 pm. at the Texas Seaport Museum, Pier 21, and on October 30th and 31st at 4:30 and 6 p.m.
As a person remembered never truly dies, pay your respects to the residents of seven Broadway Cemeteries during a guided tour of the grounds. Perhaps a few phantoms will cross the veil to welcome visitors on October 29th, 30th and 31st at 6:30 and 8 p.m.
The Tremont House in Galveston Offers Summer on Sale Special
Although the flood waters from Hurricane Ike brought destruction to the Galveston area in late 2008, time and tide has brought rebirth to one of the city's treasures, Tremont House, a Wyndham historic hotel. Recently restored to its former glory after its first floor suffered damage, the landmark venue is inviting guests to celebrate its rejuvenation with a Summer on Sale special.
Patrons who make reservations by July 31, 2009 for a stay of three or more consecutive nights from now through September 8, 2009 will receive a 30% discount. Guests checking in during the month of July will also enjoy a complimentary breakfast, a 25% discount on food from Olympia The Grill at Pier 21 and a 15% discount on transcendental treatments from The Spa at Hotel Galvez.
The arrival of August will bring the opening of a new Tremont Cafe, where guests can sip Starbucks coffee and dine on pastry or pizza in front of 42-inch plasma TVs or check their e-mails in an Internet booth complete with complimentary Internet wireless service and printing capabilities. The eatery will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and will provide meals for room service.
Following a renovation from the wake of Hurricane Ike, the rejuvenated spa at The Hotel Galvez in Galveston will once again offer an oasis of tranquility to its clientele. On June 1, 2009, the spa will open its doors to patrons who can enjoy pampering amid a meditative Mediterranean ambiance.
The 9,736 sq. ft. facility features a fitness area complete with elliptical cross trainers, Precor treadmills and cycles, while 12- inch personal flat screen TVs, MP3s and iPod stations help to make the workout fly by. A total of seven treatment rooms includes a Vichy shower room, a room for couple's massage and a hydrotherapy room. A relaxation room and an outdoor garden where patrons can peacefully gather their thoughts before rejoining reality.
Inside the spa boutique, visitors can peruse for purchases among the array of La Bella Donna cosmetics, Creative Design nail polish and L'Oreal hair color after getting their digits decorated in one of four pedicure chairs the the 3-station manicure bar.
For folks delivering Galveston back to its former glory after the devastation of Hurricane Ike, which wreaked havoc along the Texas Gulf Coast in September 2008, Hotel Galvez is offering a Giving Back to Galveston Voluntourism package. Through May 21, 2009, guests signed up to work with Help4Galveston can save 30% on their stay at the Wyndham Historic Hotel dubbed the "Queen of the Gulf" by presenting E-mail confirmation of their assignment with the organization when checking in.
Available to volunteering patrons for $159/night for bookings made for Sunday - Thursday accommodations, guests can greet the day with a full American breakfast for two the following morning. (Double occupancy is required for this package.) Volunteers can opt for a second night stay Sunday - Thursday for only $119/night plus tax.
