Texas’ Hotel Galvez to Commemorate Centennial with Community Celebration

GALVESTON ISLAND, Texas (March 28, 2011) – Hotel Galvez & Spa, A Wyndham Grand^® Hotel, will commemorate its 100-year reign as “Queen of the Gulf” with a free community celebration on Saturday, June 11 and Sunday, June 12, 2011. On Saturday, the grounds of this historic beachfront hotel will come alive with activities during the day and culminate with a fireworks show over the Gulf of Mexico.

Hotel Galvez will host children’s activities such as face painting, arts and crafts, educational exhibits and marionettes and puppeteers on the front lawn and at the hotel’s new Centennial Green outdoor space from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The hotel will offer a “candy land” area with candy, cookies, Italian ice cream and cupcakes in a soda shop-themed tent. Street entertainers like balloon artists, unicyclists, magicians and roving musicians will perform for the crowd and five bands – Radio Star, Jud Johnson Band, Ezra Charles, Lucky Tubb and Wayne “The Train” Hancock – will perform live on a festival stage at nearby Beach Central from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Beach Central will also offer food concessions for the public. As the day’s activities come to end, the public will enjoy a spectacular fireworks show over the Gulf of Mexico beginning at 9:15 p.m. directly across from the hotel.

The weekend celebration will continue on Sunday, June 12 from 1 to 5 p.m. with live music and food at Beach Central across the street from the hotel.

As part of the centennial weekend, Hotel Galvez is offering a special getaway package. Beginning at $249 per night, the package includes a two-night stay, valet parking, breakfast for two on Saturday and Sunday, convenient access to the public centennial event activities and a keepsake copy of Hotel Galvez: Queen of the Gulf by Gary Cartwright.

In preparation for the centennial, hotel owners George Mitchell and the Mitchell family have updated all guest rooms with new décor and new furnishings; additionally, the hotel will unveil Centennial Green, a new outdoor event space, in spring 2011.

Hotel Galvez launched a year-long celebration commemorating its 100 years of operation in December 2010. Monthly events will continue through December 2011. A full calendar of events will be available online at www.hotelgalvez100.com.

When Hotel Galvez opened in 1911, Galveston had just finished building its 17-foot seawall to protect the island from storm surges; the town had also completed its grade-raising project to help protect hundreds of buildings from flooding in the event of future storms. The Causeway, connecting Galveston Island to the mainland, had also been completed. These accomplishments were part of the island’s recovery efforts following the Great Storm of 1900.

Hotel Galvez, A Wyndham^® Grand Hotel and a National Trust Historic Hotel of America, is the only historic beachfront hotel in Texas and is rated four diamonds by AAA and is part of Mitchell Historic Properties. Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, LLC, a subsidiary of Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE: WYN), offers upscale hotel and resort accommodations throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, China and the Caribbean. All Wyndham® hotels are either franchised by the company or managed by Wyndham Hotel Management, Inc., one of its affiliates or through a joint-venture partner. Additional information and reservations for all Wyndham hotels are available by calling (800) WYNDHAM – (800) 996-3426 – or visiting www.wyndham.com.

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