July 11, 1959
Luxury living in an informal homelike atmosphere will be offered guests of the El Paso Hilton Inn scheduled to be completed and in operation by Christmas.
The Inn will contain 107,909 square feet of floor space and will cost $1.5 million.
Room service will be patterned after that of metropolitan hotels, with direct-dial telephones connected to all departments. The guest rooms will face a solarium area and landscaped garden-swimming pool. Custom made furnishings include single and double beds, each of which may be made into sofas for daytime use.
Double as Racks A dressing area off the all-tile bath of each room will have a four-foot ceramic lavatory ledge where toilet articles may be placed.
Many of the rooms will interconnect for use as suites. A dresser-desk, placed between the beds will double as luggage racks.
The spacious pools at the El Paso Hilton Inn will please every age, The main pool, to be built in the shape of a letter H, will be 40x80 feet. One side of the H will have both high and low boards for younger swimmers. The other side will be shallower. There also will be a wading pool.
To Landscape Area The swimming pool area will be landscaped with $30,000 worth of trees, shrubs and flowers. There will be cabanas which can be reached from the poolside guest rooms simply by sliding open glass doors on the room solariums.
A second pool, 35x70 feet will be for the use of Skyrider Club members. It also will have a wading pool for children.
The 200-seat dining area in the central building will have both a carpeted dining area and a coffee shop with counter. The two areas are separated by transparent sun screen walls. A gift shop will be located in a corner of the dining area.
Adjoining the public dining area will be three meeting-dining rooms. Each will seat 100, and have sliding partitions which can be opened to provide one large room and a seating capacity of 300.
Music Piped to Areas The lobby of the Inn, upstairs and downstairs will be a peaceful place. Soothing recorded music will be “piped” to all public areas. Comfortable furniture will be dotted around the desk and drive-in registration entrance in the downstairs lobby. Upstairs in the second-floor portion of the lobby, guests will find an inside garden. Greenery and flowers will beautify the second-floor section year-round.
Barber and beauty shops will open off the downstairs lobby.
A private club, Skyriders, will adjoin the Hilton Inn. It will have its own swimming pool, bar, lounge, card room, dance floor, dining room and kitchen facilities.
This Hilton Inn was featured in an early episode of "Route 66," titled "Sheba," aired 1-6-61. (Season 1, Episode 12, with Lee Marvin as guest star.) The two stars, Milner and Maharis, checked in and made such a big deal about the luxury of the place that it might as well have been a paid commercial.
Posted by: Leo Miletich | December 03, 2011 at 09:19 AM