Marfa – If you’ve never been to Marfa, it’s hard to explain how unique this corner of the Chihuahuan Desert really is. Situated far from any major city, it’s usually a quiet hub for activities around Big Bend, and happens to have some mysterious lights and lots of art. Now in order to enjoy all these unique things to do, you have to find a place to stay, and if glamping doesn’t really get you going, there’s a hotel here that makes you feel like you’re in the middle of a modern city. The Hotel Saint George.
Emily William is the GM of Hotel Saint George, and she moved out to Marfa in 2017 without knowing she was going to stay there. “It was pure accident, which is a pretty common story out here,” said William. “I had what was supposed to be a three or four-month consulting job with Marfa Public Radio. And Tim Crowley, the owner of this property, and I had got to talking, and he asked me to stay for a while and work on some projects. And about nine months later, I was the general manager of this hotel.”
The Hotel Saint George is the only full-service hotel within hundreds of miles, so it sort of sticks out in the small town of Marfa. “It was just the right time for Marfa to again, A, have more and more contemporary accommodations, and accommodations that were a little more upscale than perhaps the town could’ve supported a decade prior,” said William
Despite only having 1,800 people, you may think that this is a sleepy town, but Marfa has so much to offer. “The day-to-day pace is so different from cities that you really have to take a step back and take stock of how dynamic the town is,” explained William. “Culturally, in terms of restaurants, people’s projects, new buildings, the town has really changed remarkably.”
That’s thanks to all the folks bringing culture with them from across Texas. “It’s a place where you want to talk to everybody you meet because they’ve all got an interesting perspective on what they love about this part of Texas, what they love about Marfa specifically, what they’re doing, and that’s really where you find the interesting things about Marfa,” said William. “People with big ideas and big dreams, and that means interesting bars, interesting restaurants, concerts, all kinds of stuff that you just don’t see in places this tiny and far-flung.”
One of those big dreams was the Hotel Saint George, the first hotel of its kind in this small town that offers guests a different experience in these parts. “When you bring the kids out for Thanksgiving break, everybody’s camping, it’s really nice to have a place where you can have a cocktail and a nice bed, big screen TV, large bathroom before you spend another seven hours driving back to Austin or wherever,” said William. “If you’re going to go all this way out, you might as well do it in comfort.”
The other part of Marfa people enjoy is the food and at this hotel, you don’t have to go far for a good meal. “Their solace is at least they know they’re going to have a place to eat dinner and breakfast the next morning, more importantly,” laughed William.
What also makes the Hotel Saint George unique is the art in every room and every hallway, which you should expect in a town like Marfa. “It’s a town that really supports creative work,” said William. “Almost all of the art on the property is by artists who either live here and work here or have some really meaningful connection to Marfa or the area. You see really distinctive artworks in the rooms, in the hallways down here, and it’s not unusual to just run across the people who made them. Most of them live down the street.”
And that encompasses Marfa, a Texas town that still has deep roots with locals while inviting those seeking refuge from the big cities, but expecting the finer things in life, all while getting some fresh desert air. “You don’t really have to go very far in any direction to be spending time in really quiet, open spaces,” said William.