The Mayo Hotel

John D. Mayo and Cass A. Mayo were brothers from Iowa who arrived in Tulsa in the early 1900s and built fortunes in oil and real estate during the boom years. By 1923 they had decided to build a hotel that would establish Tulsa as a sophisticated American city rather than a frontier oil town. They hired Chicago architect George Winkler and the New York firm of Schmidt, Garden & Martin to design what they specified should be among the finest hotels west of the Mississippi.

Construction took two years and cost roughly $3 million — about $55 million in today's dollars — for an 18-story Renaissance Revival tower with 600 guest rooms. The hotel opened to public reception on May 25, 1925 with a gala that drew Oklahoma's political leadership, the state's leading oil-boom families, and visiting dignitaries from Tulsa's sister cities. The Mayo became Oklahoma's tallest building on opening day and held the title until the Philtower opened across the street in 1928.

The Mayos themselves operated the hotel for decades. The family kept the property running through the Great Depression, World War II, and the postwar years, maintaining the Mayo's reputation as Tulsa's premier hotel through changing economic cycles. The hotel was sold out of family hands in the 1960s and changed owners several times before closing entirely in 1981.

The Mayo's preserved guest registers from the 1920s through 1960s document a remarkable stream of mid-century American celebrity. Charles Lindbergh stayed in October 1927 on his post-trans-Atlantic-flight national tour and signed the register "Charles A. Lindbergh, New York City" in the same handwriting that had appeared in newsreels five months earlier. Babe Ruth's 1934 visit on a barnstorming tour drew crowds outside the hotel that Tulsa police had to disperse.

Other documented Mayo guests across the decades include Mae West (1933 vaudeville tour), Bob Hope, Ernest Hemingway (during a 1936 oil-business research trip), J. Paul Getty (multiple stays through the 1930s and 1940s as he built Getty Oil), Howard Hughes (during the 1950s aerospace years), Elvis Presley (1956 concert tour), and President John F. Kennedy (May 1961, the night before his Tulsa Coliseum oil-industry address that committed the federal government to depletion-allowance policy). Each of these stays is documented in the hotel's lobby photo and memorabilia displays.

The Mayo continues to host presidential candidates, governors, oil-industry executives, and visiting dignitaries. Recent guests have included multiple U.S. senators, network television anchors, and the touring casts of major Broadway productions playing the Tulsa Performing Arts Center across the street. The hotel staff keep a discrete confidentiality on current guests, but the historical roster is part of the marketing.

Downtown Tulsa's decline began in the late 1960s as the city's commercial center moved south toward Cherry Street and the suburbs. The Mayo struggled through the 1970s with declining occupancy, deferred maintenance, and increasingly mismatched amenities for an era of national chain hotels. The hotel closed entirely in 1981 — the same year the National Trust for Historic Preservation classified the Mayo as a threatened landmark.

Through the 1980s and 1990s the closed hotel was bought, sold, and re-foreclosed multiple times. At several points the city of Tulsa was actively considering demolition. The interior detailing — the marble floors, the gilded plasterwork, the brass elevator surrounds, the ornate ballroom — was at risk of being stripped and sold piecemeal to architectural salvage dealers, which is the standard fate of similar historic hotels that don't find a buyer.

The Mayo was saved by Tulsa businessman John Snyder, who bought the building in 2001 with the explicit intent to restore it as a working hotel. The restoration took eight years and ran roughly $42 million in renovation costs — a figure that would have been higher except that the original 1925 structure was remarkably well-built and most of the architectural detailing survived the decades of closure intact under layers of grime and water damage. The hotel reopened on May 1, 2009 — its 84th anniversary year.

The Snyder restoration was unusually careful about authenticity. The original Italian marble lobby floor was preserved entirely; the gilded plasterwork ceilings were cleaned, repaired, and re-gilded with new gold leaf where needed; the brass elevator doors were re-machined to operate while preserving the original 1925 hardware. The grand ballroom on the second floor — which retained its original Art Deco crystal chandeliers — was used as the centerpiece of the renovation, with the entire space brought back to working condition for weddings and events.

The guest rooms were redesigned for modern hotel use but retained the original tall ceilings, large windows, and the basic spatial proportions of the 1925 design. Bathrooms were entirely new construction (1925 plumbing standards being incompatible with modern guest expectations) but used period-appropriate fixtures and tile. The 18th-floor penthouse, formerly the Mayos' private quarters, became a public rooftop bar and restaurant with the original wood paneling and architectural details restored.

The exterior brickwork and the original neon "MAYO HOTEL" signs were carefully cleaned and re-illuminated — the rooftop sign is once again visible from miles away across downtown Tulsa, particularly striking at night. The hotel is on the National Register of Historic Places and has received multiple national preservation awards including a national American Institute of Architects award for the restoration project.

The Mayo has roughly 100 guest rooms across the 18-story tower, ranging from standard king and queen rooms to several signature suites including the JFK Suite (the room Kennedy stayed in, now restored to its 1961 appearance with modern bathroom updates) and the Penthouse Suite (occupying part of the original Mayo family quarters). Standard rooms typically run $200 to $300 per night; the JFK Suite and Penthouse Suite run $500 to $800 depending on season and demand.

Rooms are large by historic-hotel standards — most are 350 to 500 square feet with 10 to 12-foot ceilings, restored hardwood floors, large period-appropriate furniture, and either downtown Tulsa views (north and east-facing rooms) or BOK Center / Performing Arts Center views (south-facing). Bathrooms are entirely modern with marble tile and full-sized walk-in showers. Free Wi-Fi, in-room safes, refrigerators, and Keurig coffee are standard.

Hotel amenities include the rooftop Penthouse Restaurant and Bar (open to the public), a fitness center on the second floor, valet parking ($30 per night), and concierge service. The hotel does not have a swimming pool — the 1925 building does not accommodate one — which is the one amenity gap relative to modern luxury hotels. Pet-friendly with a $75 fee per stay.

The 18th-floor Penthouse Bar at the Mayo is open to the public (not just hotel guests) and is widely considered the best view in downtown Tulsa. The bar occupies the southwest corner of the original Mayo family penthouse, with floor-to-ceiling windows facing downtown Tulsa, the BOK Center, the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, and the broader Arkansas River valley to the south. At sunset and on clear nights the view is genuinely spectacular.

The bar serves classic cocktails, a respectable wine list, and a small bar food menu including charcuterie, oysters, and a few hot items. Drink prices run $14 to $20 — appropriate for the location. The Penthouse Restaurant adjacent serves a serious dinner menu Wednesday through Saturday evenings with reservations recommended.

Even non-guests are welcome to come up for a drink — the elevator service runs from the lobby directly to the 18th floor without requiring a room key. Pair a Penthouse drink with dinner at the Penthouse Restaurant or at one of the Blue Dome District restaurants three blocks away. Sunset is the move; arrive 30 minutes before to claim a window seat.