The Motley Hotel was one of beauty and grandeur when it opened in 1929. W.L. Motley planned and constructed the hotel in 1928.
In 1918, Mr. Motley opened a grocery store on the corner. Later he built a brick building for his grocery store. He had served as mayor of Hollis and later as street commissioner, even loaning his own equipment so the streets could be kept graded. He had a great interest in Hollis.
In 1928 there were three banks, eight grocery stores, several dry goods stores, variety stores, and a lumber yard in Hollis. In other words, Hollis was a very thriving small town. Folks came into town on Saturday to do their marketing. They�d leave their purchases in the stores until after the midnight show. The merchants stayed open. They were afraid they would miss a sale. After the late movies the customers would pick up their purchases and go home.
Traveling salesmen rode the train into town, stayed a week, walking up and down the streets taking orders. They needed a place to stay. The Gould Hotel was the only hotel in town. It was small and many people lived there, so it was usually full.
Motley saw a need for a hotel and because he was interested in Hollis, he decided to lease out his grocery store to Paul Metcalf and build a hotel. Motley was a pretty good carpenter and therefore knew about lumber and construction. He never liked to half do anything. The resulting hotel came to a total cost of $100,000.
The building had three floors and a basement. It contained 47 rooms, 22 rooms with connecting baths, 8 private rooms with bath and 16 rooms with no bath. There was a public bath on the second floor. All rooms were furnished with a bed, desk, chair, dresser with mirror, armchair, luggage bench and a lavatory. The bathrooms had a commode and a tub. Each window was dressed with sheer curtains and over each door was a transom just for the comfort of their guests. Some of the rooms had window fans.
The lobby was beautiful. Luxurious terrazzo tile covered the floor. Hanging electric lights, lovely pale beige walls with sculptured wood, and stencils, hand-painted in pale pastels accented the corners and archway.
Soft velvet draperies hung at the windows, and lovely furniture with overhead fans, was there for comfort. The halls and mezzanine were covered in carpet. All of the other floors were of fine finished hardwood.
Motley was the chief overseer and designer of the hotel. He hand-picked the lumber which came from across the street at Dascomb-Daniels Lumber Company.
The bricks were placed three deep for the walls. The floors were supported with 2 by 12 boards with lots of cross-ties and other braces for support. The floors were shiplap, covered with hardwood. The elevator cost $1,000 and was quite an attraction in 1929.
The construction itself took a year. In those days there were no power driven cranes to get heavy materials to the upper stories. Motley was fortunate to have raised a horse named Old Jim. Old Jim would obey verbal commands that were given to him. They hitched him to pulleys and levers, and then the workers loaded a wheelbarrow, set it on the line and told Old Jim what to do. All of the materials were lifted from the ground to the top of the hotel in this manner.
Old Jim also delivered groceries for Motley. He found waiting until after the midnight show very boring, consequently when his work was finished he headed home. There he waited until the family got home to unharness him.
Red Davis mixed all or the cement and mortar that went into the building by hand. For a year he worked faithfully no matter the degree of the weather, keeping the brick layers busy. The hotel, when completed, was not only a very impressive structure, but very strongly built.
Motley opened for business in 1929. The prices for staying there were;
Private rooms--$2.50
Room with connecting bath--$1.50-2.00
No bath on second floor--$1.50
No bath on third floor--$1.25
For live in guests--$15.00 a month
If a salesman stayed a week, they discounted him one night. If he brought his wife, they complimented her.
Until the depression hit, the rooms were filled about every night. There were service men stationed in Childress and Altus. On week-ends they came to Hollis and filled the hotel to overflowing.
During snowstorms the hotel would be filled with folks who were traveling through and got caught in the storm. Mrs. Iris Guest recalled having to put extra beds in the halls on occasion.
When asked who worked in the hotel, Iris replied: �Well, mostly it was a family affair.� Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. W.L. Motley, her sister and husband, Bonnie and Clifford Thompson, Iris and Oran Motley helped to run the hotel. Oran said he worked more at the gin, but when he was needed at the hotel, he was available.
In 1948 they made a banquet room out of the coffee shop. The grocery store was closed and made into a coffee shop-restaurant. The banquet room was used for showers, club meetings, and other activities. Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs were served meals for $1.00 a plate. When ladies clubs met there, they were served on crystal plates with dainty long stemmed glasses for $.25 a plate. The hotel was a well used facility.
Motley closed the hotel in 1952 because of poor health. The family is sad to see the hotel being torn down. They try not to watch, because it hurts, but they are thankful for the wonderful memories they have and of knowing the hotel served its small town well.
