The Skirvin Hilton Hotel

William Balser Skirvin was born in Texas in 1860 and arrived in Oklahoma during the 1889 Land Run, eventually building substantial fortunes in oil, real estate, and ranching. By the late 1900s, Skirvin had become one of Oklahoma's wealthiest citizens and a major figure in Oklahoma City civic life. The decision to build a 14-story luxury hotel in 1911 reflected both Skirvin's personal ambition and his belief that Oklahoma City needed a hotel worthy of the city's rapidly growing economic significance.

The Skirvin opened in 1911 with 224 guest rooms across the 14-story tower, designed by Kansas City architect Solomon Andrew Layton and the firm of Layton, Wemyss Smith & Hawk. The building cost approximately $1.5 million to construct — a substantial sum for the era — and was the tallest building in Oklahoma City for over a decade. Construction quality was unusually high: structural steel framework, Italian marble floors and stair treads, hand-painted ceilings in the grand public spaces, brass and bronze hardware throughout, and ornate plasterwork in every major room.

Skirvin himself lived in the hotel's penthouse suite for the rest of his life, dying in 1929 in the building he had built. His daughter Pearl Mesta — the famous Washington, D.C. society hostess and later U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg whose social parties inspired the Irving Berlin musical "Call Me Madam" — was raised in the Skirvin's penthouse suite. The Mesta family connection is the Skirvin's most documented mid-20th-century claim to fame and is referenced in the hotel's current historical interpretation materials.

Downtown Oklahoma City began its decline in the late 1960s as the city's commercial center moved southward and the downtown population emptied out. The Skirvin struggled through the 1970s with declining occupancy, deferred maintenance, and increasing competition from new suburban chain hotels. The hotel closed entirely in 1988 — the same year the city of Oklahoma City declared the Skirvin a threatened historic landmark.

Through the 1990s the closed Skirvin was bought, sold, foreclosed, and re-mortgaged multiple times. Multiple proposed demolition projects were defeated by community advocacy and historic preservation organizations. The interior detailing — the marble floors, the gilded ballroom, the original brass elevator doors — was at constant risk of being stripped and sold to architectural salvage dealers, which was the fate of most similar historic American hotels that didn't find a buyer.

The hotel was finally saved in 2003 when Oklahoma City public and private investors organized a $55 million restoration project. Construction took four years and was completed in February 2007 with the hotel reopening as a Hilton property under the Skirvin Hilton brand. The 2007 restoration is widely considered one of the most successful historic-hotel renovations in American history and has won multiple national preservation awards.

The 2007 Skirvin restoration was unusually careful about authenticity. The original Italian marble floors in the lobby and main staircase were preserved entirely — cleaned, repaired, and re-polished where needed. The hand-painted ceilings in the grand ballroom and main public rooms were restored by specialty conservators using original color samples. The original brass elevator doors, hardware, and call buttons were preserved and re-machined to operate with modern elevator technology hidden behind the historic facade.

The grand ballroom on the mezzanine level — which retained its full original Beaux Arts decorative scheme — was restored with the original crystal chandeliers, hand-painted ceiling murals, and elaborate plaster cornices brought back to working condition. The ballroom is now the centerpiece of the hotel's wedding and event program and is one of the most architecturally significant event spaces in Oklahoma City.

The guest rooms were redesigned for modern hotel use but retained the original tall ceilings, large windows, and the basic spatial proportions of the 1911 design. The 224 original rooms were consolidated into 225 modern rooms (the historic small rooms were combined where appropriate to create larger contemporary hotel-room layouts). Bathrooms were entirely new construction with period-appropriate fixtures and tile. Free Wi-Fi, in-room safes, refrigerators, and Keurig coffee are standard.

The Red Piano Lounge is the Skirvin's signature bar and one of the most atmospheric hotel bars in Oklahoma City. The lounge occupies the same physical space it has occupied since 1911 — a relatively small room off the main lobby with a grand piano at the center, leather banquettes around the perimeter, a long polished wooden bar, and the trademark red carpet and red upholstery that gave the space its name.

Live jazz piano music is performed nightly Tuesday through Saturday from approximately 6pm to 10pm. The musicians rotate through a small ensemble of Oklahoma City and Tulsa jazz performers; the music quality is consistently good and the room is genuinely atmospheric. Cocktails run $14 to $20, with a strong classic-cocktail program and a small but thoughtful list of signature drinks developed by the bar team. The Red Piano is open to the public, not just hotel guests.

Park Avenue Grill on the ground floor is the hotel's main restaurant, serving breakfast (a respectable buffet plus a la carte), lunch, and dinner with a contemporary American menu. Dinner entrees run $30 to $55. The dining room is large and elegant with crystal chandeliers and white linen — appropriate for special-occasion dining without being prohibitively expensive. Park Avenue Grill is one of the standard pre-event dining options for visitors attending shows at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center or events at the Cox Convention Center across the street.

The Skirvin is widely considered the most-haunted hotel in Oklahoma City and is the subject of multiple paranormal-investigation TV episodes. The most-documented ghost is named Effie — said to be a 1920s housekeeper who died at the hotel (the various retellings of the story vary on exactly how) and whose spirit continues to occupy specific Skirvin rooms. Reports of Effie include unexplained voices, lights and TVs turning on by themselves, cold spots in specific rooms, and occasional sightings of a young woman in 1920s dress.

The most-discussed celebrity guest reports involve visiting NBA teams who have stayed at the Skirvin for Oklahoma City Thunder road games. The most famous incident involved the 2010 New York Knicks, where multiple players reported phenomena severe enough that team management requested room reassignments at 2am and several players spent the rest of the trip at a different OKC hotel. The story made national NBA news and is referenced in subsequent Knicks-Thunder game broadcasts whenever the teams play in OKC.

Whether you believe in ghosts or not, the Skirvin's haunted reputation is genuinely a feature of the hotel's identity and is part of the experience. The hotel does not actively market the ghost stories (front desk staff will only discuss them if asked) but does not deny them either. For visitors interested in paranormal tourism, the Skirvin is one of the most-documented haunted-hotel destinations in the United States.

The Skirvin has 225 guest rooms across the 14-story tower, ranging from standard king and queen rooms to several signature suites including the Pearl Mesta Suite (the former family penthouse, now restored as the hotel's signature suite). Standard rooms typically run $200 to $280 per night; the Pearl Mesta Suite runs $500 to $800. Rooms are large by historic-hotel standards (350 to 450 square feet) with restored hardwood floors, period-appropriate furniture, modern bathrooms with marble tile, and either downtown Oklahoma City views or interior courtyard views.

The hotel has an indoor swimming pool on the second floor (heated year-round), a fitness center adjacent to the pool, valet parking ($35 per night), and concierge service. The hotel is pet-friendly with a $75 fee per stay. The lobby Wi-Fi is free for all guests; in-room Wi-Fi is free for Hilton Honors members and $10 per day for non-members.

Located at 1 Park Avenue at the corner of Park and Broadway, the Skirvin is in the absolute heart of downtown Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma City National Memorial is two blocks west; Bricktown is four blocks east; the Cox Convention Center is across Park Avenue; the Civic Center Music Hall is one block north. Walking distance to the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, the OKC Streetcar (free downtown circulator), and most major downtown attractions. Self-parking is not available; valet at $35 per night is the only option for hotel guests with cars.