The Habana Inn, the “largest gay resort in the Southwest” that recently marked its 50th anniversary in Oklahoma City, recently was sold to a Los Angeles ownership group.
According to a story filed by the Associated Press, Alternatives Resorts bought the 170-room Habana Inn for $2.4 million.
More from the AP story:
Alternatives Resorts spokesman Arnold Greenspan says the property will be renamed Hotel Habana and that a first phase of renovations will start in the fall.
The resort has two nightclubs, a novelty store and a closed restaurant space.
The hotel recently celebrated its 50th birthday and is a centerpiece of a string of businesses catering to LGBTQ clientele along a stretch of road that was part of historic Route 66 that connected travelers from Chicago to Los Angeles.
The hotel stated on its website:
Hotel Habana is under new ownership and is being renovated in 2019-2020 with luxury rooms, a brand new lobby, upgraded swimming pools, and a calendar of exciting and unique new events.
Hotel Habana honors the historic significance of the original “Habana Inn” which was built in 1968 and eventually became a cornerstone of gay culture for the LGBTQ community in OKC.
The 2019-2020 renovations are turning Hotel Habana into a modern hotel centered around providing luxury, comfort, nightlife, and a safe space for OKC’s LGBTQ community and allies to enjoy.
Regular rooms will remain available during renovations. We look forward to seeing you at our grand opening in 2020.
Having been a resident of Oklahoma for almost a decade, I learned from lifelong Sooners that Oklahoma City long has been a gay-friendly oasis in the conservative state. The Habana Inn and its 50 years seem to be proof of that. Too bad the hotel didn’t keep its sign from that earlier era (see modern-day image below).
A not-insignificant number of LGBTQ people travel Route 66 every year, drawn by the historic road’s kitsch and old-school architecture. For many of those folks, the Habana Inn would seem to be a good lodging option.
(A 1968 image of the Habana Inn from its website; a modern-day image of the Habana Inn via Facebook)
What exactly is a “gay friendly” hotel/inn/etc? How is it different from any other hotel/inn/etc that caters for anyone who wants to spend their money in the establishment. If a hotel/inn/etc is “friendly” towards one section of the population (especially a small minority of that population), then, by logic it is “unfriendly” towards the rest, in this case the majority of that same population. Is this an example American “positive discrimination” I hear so much about?
No, it’s not. Educate yourself.
Eric, I understand what you’re saying. This is not unlike segregated schools in the deep south, or segregated bathrooms in at the bus station. This is like all those places you feel disenfranchised by after you’ve read about them, because you weren’t allowed, or were heavily discouraged to enter into. And I agree that anything that could happen in the “Gay” hotel could happen anywhere, but not at just any time. Only in the last few years have attitudes started to change. So before that time there needed to be a friendly place to go in order to be yourself. Something that you’re taking advantage of now. So, knock it off, grow up a bit, and stop voting for Trump. It destroys your brain cells, obviously.
Eric is a British citizen. So he definitely is not a Trump voter.