Gagehotel1

The Gage Hotel

The Gage Experience

by Larry Gore

Traveling can be fun! New horizons to explore, places to visit, things to do, and memories to create. For me, personally, great food and outstanding accommodations make traveling special.

Too often we travel and stay in places that offer no memories or are just “ho-hum”. Maybe they are clean, reasonably priced and comfortable but they just don’t burn themselves into your memory banks and they don’t instill a desire to come back.

One place that is definitely not on the “ho-hum” list is the Gage Hotel in Marathon, Texas. The term “The Gage Experience” struck me as just another clever slogan coined by a marketing firm with an overactive imagination and a penchant for turning a catchy phrase. After two visits (and, hopefully, many more to come) to the Gage Hotel I can bear witness that there really is a “Gage Experience” and it is a positive one.

The lobby is furnished just as it might have been in the 20’s when the hotel was first opened. Each of the 44 rooms is decorated in an array of artifacts and authentic furnishings representing the Mexican, native Indian, and American Cowboy cultures of the Big Bend region of West Texas.

The rustic looks do not mean that guests have to sacrifice anything in the way of creature comforts or luxury. The beds are as comfortable as sleeping on a cloud, the rooms are spacious and the large showers in the bathrooms are a welcome and refreshing amenity after a long day of riding the Big Bend Country.

Alfred Gage left his native Vermont in 1878 and set out to make his fortune in the wide-open spaces of far West Texas. He first found work as a cowhand and later he and his brothers founded the Alpine Cattle Company south of Marathon. By 1920 Gage was a prosperous rancher and banker. Gage needed a headquarters for his extensive interests and he employed an architectural firm (Trost & Trost) to design a hotel.

The Gage Hotel, across the street from the railroad, opened in 1927 and was a popular gathering place for many of the local ranchers and miners. Gage, however, was unable to enjoy the success of his hotel. He passed away the year it opened.

Houstonians J.P. and Mary Jon Bryan purchased the neglected property and began restoring the property. The new owners revived the Gage so successfully that they quickly realized that the capacity of the original Hotel was going to be inadequate. In 1992 they added the Los Portales section and the Café Cenizo opened in 1996.

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The Gage Hotel After two visits (and, hopefully, many more to come) to the Gage Hotel I can bear witness that there really is a “Gage Experience” and it is a positive one.