‘It’s magnificent,’ people say as Markham Hotel reopens in downtown Gulfport
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- A crowd turned out Thursday for the Markham Hotel grand opening in downtown Gulfport.
- Lodging & Leisure Investments converted the landmark into 115 rooms with amenities.
- Renovation added The Library Restaurant, Velvet Bean, rooftop bar and Crystal Ballroom.
Another chapter in the 100-year history of the Markham Hotel is starting as a crowd turned out Thursday for the grand opening of the landmark in downtown Gulfport.
It was a 20-year gap in the history since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 flooded the ground floor and damaged the roof of the building, which opened in January 1927 at 14th Street and 23rd Avenue.
“There was a serious effort to have it demolished,” said Mayor Hugh Keating.
“Thank goodness for unanswered prayers, because this lady has been resurrected,” he said, as people were already checking in for the first night’s stay.
Those who hadn’t been inside the building in 20 years marveled at the gleaming porcelain walls and columns in the lobby, the elegant restaurant and the Crystal Ballroom and Rooftop bar that held so many memories.
“What the Stewart family has done in transforming this majestic building into not its former glory, but better than it ever was — can you agree on this?” former Mayor Billy Hewes asked the crowd and received resounding applause.
Lodging & Leisure Investments transformed the Markham into 115 hotel rooms and suites with a swimming pool and fitness room, along with The Library Restaurant and Bar, the Velvet Bean coffee shop, The Upstairs Bar on the ninth-level rooftop and The Crystal Ballroom.
This is the company’s fifth historic renovation in South Mississippi since Hurricane Katrina. The others included centennial Plaza in Gulfport and in Biloxi, The White House Inn, Hotel Legends and Margaritaville Resort Biloxi.
What people are saying
“People are going to be talking about this,” Keating said at the ribbon cutting. The community —and memories — came out for the grand opening. Here’s what people had to say:
“Elegant” is how former Biloxi Mayor Gerald Blessey described the restoration. “Proved you can have preservation with progress.”
Coast architect Frank Genzer said he is the only surviving partner of the group that owned the Markham in the 1980s. “When we had it, it was like a gentlemen’s club,” he said, with dark paneling. Now it’s bright.
Donna and John Burch of McComb saw the hotel a couple of years ago when it was badly damaged and again a few months ago while restoration was under way. “They got it done, and it’s beautiful,” she said. The Coast is fortunate to have the Stewart family do these historic preservations, she said.
Rip Daniels, “It’s a New Day” podcaster and owner of Almanett Hotel & Bistro in Gulfport, said he worked in the penthouse of The Markham at radio station WQFX after 1984, when the property was converted to an office building. Looking around the lobby Thursday, he said: “This is exquisite. This is way beyond the elegance that used to be here.”
State Sen. Scott DeLano said the restored Markham Hotel is reminiscent of the King Edward Hotel when it opened in Jackson, but really not comparable to anywhere else. “This is a landmark all its own,” he said.
“This is great for downtown rejuvenation,” said Chett Harrison, general manager of Golden Nugget Casino Biloxi and a resident of Gulfport. His father was a lifeguard and an elevator operator at the Markham in the 1940s. “I’m thrilled to see it back,” said Garnett Stewart, who grew up a few blocks away. She said she was five years old when World War II ended and her father drove the family to the Daily Herald newspaper office to get the latest news. People were tossing toilet paper out of the Markham windows in celebration, she recalls. She also attended her Gulfport High School prom at Markham Hotel and has a meeting this week to start work on the Gulfport High Class of 1957 reunion at the Markham.
This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 5:04 PM.
