The Hotel Lucine, a 61-room boutique hotel situated at the edge of the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston, Texas. The hotel structure that was originally the Treasure Isle Motel, a 1960s motor court, has been fully revitalized and transformed.
Designed by Austin-based Kartwheel Studio, the hotel is a cozy retreat for guests with a principal facade that opens toward the Gulf of Mexico. The hotel’s on-site restaurant, The Fancy, is a 56-seat “American fine-ish dining” restaurant led by Houston’s chef Leila Ortiz.
At the heart of the property, the pool and patio provide a central communal area that carries over into the Den area. The Den is another full-service dining space inside Hotel Lucine that has coffee in the morning and an afternoon meal or a cocktail at night. Offering 180-degree unobstructed ocean views, Hotel Lucine also has the largest beachfront rooftop bar in Galveston, with a cocktail program from beverage director Jesse Rubio. Located off the courtyard, The Lanai serves as a multipurpose dining and event space for executive meetings, cocktail events and private dining, as well as a greenroom for visiting musicians, among other uses.
“We’re so excited to finally introduce Hotel Lucine to Galveston,” Hotel Lucine partner Keath Jacoby said in a statement. “I feel so privileged to create a space like Hotel Lucine in the very community that raised me and to continue sharing my love for Galveston with travelers and locals alike.”
Hotel Lucine partners include Dave Jacoby, a Galveston-based finance and hospitality development professional who also served as president of the board of the Galveston Historical Foundation; Robert Marcus, a real estate and hotel operations, development and finance professional; and Galveston native Keath Jacoby, a marketing and branding executive who helped launch Vision Galveston. Additional partners on the project include marketing, branding and promotions entrepreneur Shawn Ullman and experienced financial executive and entrepreneur Jeffrey Solomon.
Many original aspects of the low-slung, two-story structure’s mid-century spirit have been incorporated into the new vision for Hotel Lucine. The classic U-shaped courtyard underscores the hotel’s intimate layout and creates a lively, people-centric atmosphere that promotes gathering and shared experiences. Colorful concrete tiles used most notably around the pool, courtyard, The Den and The Fancy have been sourced from Ladrilleria Favilli, a family-owned and operated tile business based in Granada, Nicaragua, led by Maria Favilli.
Originally developed by brothers Saul and Ben Kotin in 1963 as the Treasure Isle Motel, Hotel Lucine is the oldest remaining of a generation of mid-century beachfront motels in Galveston. In addition to the Treasure Isle Motel, the Kotin brothers and their lead architect, Tibor Beerman, made many contributions to their community, including the Galveston County Courthouse, Galveston Junior College and Moody National Bank.