MINERAL WELLS, Texas – Update Sept. 4, 2023: The opening date for the Baker Hotel has been driven again to the Spring of 2026.
The as soon as world-famous Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells is in the end getting a facelift and it’s getting consideration on an excessively fashionable platform — TikTok.
Mark Rawlings, normal spouse and recovery venture supervisor for the resort — and now TikTok star — instructed that he started running on the 14-floor luxurious resort in October 2019.
The North Texas resort, which as soon as had 450-rooms, was once designed by way of Texas architect Wyatt C. Hedrick to benefit from the famed mineral waters for which the town is called.
“The Baker was off the grid before that was a trendy thing. They generated their own electricity and had wells for their water,” mentioned Rawlings.
The complete 2d surface of the resort was once as soon as devoted as a tub and therapeutic massage surface the place visitors may take mineral baths, use steam rooms and get spa therapies like salt rubs, scorching packs, facials and extra.
Spa therapies at the resort had been now and again prescribed by way of docs and had been believed to treatment the entirety from rheumatism to eczema, in keeping with a Baker Hotel historic pamphlet produced by way of the Mineral Wells Visitors Bureau.
Famous shoppers integrated the likes of Judy Garland, Will Rogers, Clark Gable, the Three Stooges, Lord Mountbatten and Audie Murphy.
Famed financial institution robbers Bonnie and Clyde had been reported to have stayed at the resort as smartly — a subject matter Rawlings covers in one among his TikTok videos.
Rawlings has develop into just a little of a TikTok sensation, accumulating just about 100K fans. He posts movies of his growth throughout the recovery, distinctive unearths he comes throughout and explainers about some distinctive historical past and details concerning the resort.
“The Baker had an energy management system back in 1929. When a guest left their room and locked their door, the power was turned off inside the room, thanks to a switch mechanism in the door jamb,” Rawlings mentioned.
Some of Rawlings’ favourite portions of the recovery venture come with harvesting and organizing the numerous treasures he’s discovered at the resort. He mentioned probably the most ancient pieces from the Baker Hotel are getting used in the renovations.
“I’m looking forward to the decorative plasterwork — this is when the hotel will truly begin to look restored,” Rawlings mentioned.
The Baker ceased operations as a resort in the mid-Sixties as lodge trip declined. The floor surface was once nonetheless applied for a couple of years by way of traders, however the doorways had been in the end locked on the Baker in 1972.
The Baker Hotel and Spa, situated about an hour west of Fort Worth, is predicted to reopen in 2024 with 165 visitor rooms, tournament ballrooms, a spa, eating place, espresso store and retail choices.
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