HGTV’s “Fixer Upper” stars Chip & Joanna Gaines have announced they’re opening a hotel this fall. The building, located in Waco, Texas, was previously known as the Grand Karem Shrine, which originally opened in 1928.
The married couple own and operate Magnolia Homes, a remodeling and design business in Waco, Texas. Their TV show, Fixer Upper, and spinoffs of same, have been on the air since May, 2013. HGTV notes that the original TV show, “…shows the process by which the couple turn dilapidated but potential-rich houses into showplaces that are helping revitalize whole neighborhoods throughout central Texas. Chip manages the construction and realty side of Magnolia and Joanna is the lead designer. They also act as part-time counselors to clients who can’t see a structure’s beauty beyond the blemishes. Combined, Chip and Joanna save homes that look hopeless, renovating the imperfect, and revealing them as what they were always intended to be.”
There was a time when watching Fixer Upper was one of my and Joe’s guilty pleasures. In the mid-2010s, we’d DVR the show and watch it before we’d go to bed at night (not that it’d put us to sleep LOL – but between jobs and “life,” it was just the only convenient time for both of us to watch the same show at the same time). We’d enjoy watch the hot messes the original houses were, and how they would get changed to the couple’s “house of their dreams” in less than 60 minutes.
Watching the show was fun for a couple of years but after a while, I started to get bored. Similar to every pimple that’s been popped, item that’s been pawnbrokered, and custom aquarium that’s been built, the shows were all pretty much the same and eventually started to feel repetitive. I mean, how many barn doors and shiplap SHOULD there be in the world? I also was irked by the fact that none of the couples on Fixer Upper was LGBTQIA+ (I know the Gaineses have had other issues as well). So although Joe kept watching here and there, I moved on.
Despite my waning interest ;-), the Gaineses continued to been wildly successful. They publish a lifestyle magazine, have partnered with Target and Anthropologie to sell their home goods collections, and even began their own media company that includes a cable channel all their own. They’ve also virtually changed the footprint of their hometown of Waco, Texas, with a home/gift shop, a gardening shop, a coffee shop, a bakery and a handful of food trucks.
When Joe and I did our near-annual visit to New Braunfels, Texas in 2022, we made the trip longer than usual and spent a few days in Dallas first, to visit with family and friends. Afterwards, on our way to New Braunfels, we planned to stop in Waco because Joe wanted to visit their most famous store, The Magnolia Market at The Silos. (Un)fortunately (depending on which one of us you were, him or me), we made the mistake of trying to visit on a Sunday. The Gaines are devout Christians and the store was closed. Whomp whomp! (or yippee skippy! LOL!)
Anyway, the next thing up the Gaines family’s sleeve is opening their hotel, done in partnership with AJ Capital Partners (the latter is a private real estate company based in Nashville that owns and operates lodging accommodations). Called Hotel 1928, it will be a boutique hotel, with 33 guest rooms, 3 eateries and over 6,000 square feet of event space. It’s scheduled to open in November, 2023.
PC: Hotel 1928
The building, as we mentioned earlier, occupied what had once been the Grand Karem Shrine Building. It’s since been completely redesigned and renovated (and, as not-so-coincidental timing would have it, will be the subject of the Gaines’s new TV show, Fixer Upper: The Hotel, which will debut – you guessed it, this November). It’s located at 701 Washington Street, six blocks (about a three minute drive or a ten minute walk) from the Gaines’s Magnolia Market at the Silos shopping and dining destination, which attracts fans from all over the world (including, as I said, my husband).
- The Franklin is a standard room with a choice of one king or two queens. It has a starting price of $412
- The Austin is advertised as offering “more space” and ideal location in the hotel. It starts at $434.
- The Columbus rooms are the largest the hotel has to offer. They are said to have a “high end” feel, and prices begin at $456.
- The Washington is a singular suite for up to 12 guests. It offers multiple sleeping and living spaces. Prices for The Washington suite are not mentioned on their website.
PC: Hotel 1928
Hotel amenities are typical of any higher end boutique hotel:
- Free Wi-Fi
- 24-Hour Front Desk
- Flat-Screen TV
- Minibar
- Custom Bath Amenities
- Room Service
- Daily Housekeeping
- Evening Turndown Service
- Bar & Rooftop Terrace
- Restaurants with Reservation Services
- All Day Café
- Library
- Retail Shop
- Concierge Services
- Pet-Friendly Accommodation
“For us, this project represents everything we are most passionate about—hospitality, restoration, and home,” said Chip and Joanna Gaines. “We’ve always been firm believers in the value of home, as a place but also as a feeling. Our dream for this hotel is that it would serve as an extension of home to every guest who comes to stay.”
Reservations at Hotel 1928 are currently available from early November 2023 through (as of this writing) late April 2024.
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