A Practical Look at the Garland Hotel

Most people ask about the Garland Hotel because they are visiting Phoenix and saw the name somewhere, or they are researching old Art Deco buildings for a project. I ran into the archives for a local preservation group back in 2018, and what I found made the whole thing worth understanding. It opened in 1930 on North Central Avenue, designed by a firm that specialized in small but polished commercial buildings. The architect, Henry J. Trost, was already known for work across the Southwest before he passed away a few years later. The Garland was one of his last commission, and you can see it in the detailing. For decades it operated as a standard downtown hotel. Business slowed, the building sat mostly empty through the 1970s and early 1980s, and it was almost demolished during the urban renewal phase that wiped out a lot of older structures in that corridor. It survived because a small group of residents pushed hard on the historic register side of things.

Renovation happened in stages. The first major effort in the late 1990s stabilized the structure and brought it back to usable condition. Later work restored the original tile, some of the signage, and the facade. It reopened as a functioning hotel with a smaller room count than the original. One practical thing I learned digging through records: the city files do not list every interior change. What you see in photographs from 1931 is not exactly what is there now. Some original fixtures were replaced during a remodel in 2005, and the restoration crew had to rely on vintage postcards and scattered blueprints to get close to the original appearance.

What to know if you are researching this building

If you want actual documents instead of tourist summaries, start with the Phoenix municipal archive and the county recorder. The original permit applications, the 1930s insurance maps, and the 1999 renovation submissions are all public. The Phoenix Public Library also holds a decent collection of newspaper clippings from the opening era. I spent an afternoon cross referencing the original floor plan with the current layout because a client wanted to verify whether a particular wall was original. The answer was no, it was added during a 1970s reconfiguration. You can find that out without hiring someone if you look at the right set of drawings. The official historic designation paperwork is another solid resource. It lists materials, construction methods, and some of the architectural features that qualified the building. That is useful when you are doing any kind of restoration or comparison with nearby properties from the same period.

Pitfalls and limitations

Search results for the Garland Hotel often mix up details from other Phoenix hotels. The Roosevelt, the Jefferson, and a few smaller properties all share overlapping timelines, and it is easy to accidentally attribute something to the wrong building. Always check the source before using a fact. A couple of popular websites repeat the same incorrect renovation date, which causes confusion when you are trying to build a timeline. Another issue is that a lot of the older interior elements are not accessible to the public now. The lobby and some corridors are, but private areas and mechanical spaces are off limits. If you need measurements or condition reports, you have to go through the property management office and request access, which takes time and is not always granted. Preservation status helps protect the exterior and certain designated features, but it does not lock every detail in place. Interior updates that do not affect the certified historic character are still allowed, so the room layouts and finishes have changed more than the street-facing side would suggest.

Quick reference

  • Opening year: 1930
  • Architectural style: Art Deco influences
  • Location: North Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ
  • Major renovation period: late 1990s
  • Current use: operating hotel with restored exterior elements

If you are working on a project around this building, I recommend starting with the permit file and the city preservation commission notes. Those two sources together will save you from chasing down incorrect details that show up on casual browsing.