The Woodlands’ 50th anniversary Community
BY VANESSA HOLT
Editor's note: This story is part of a monthly series that Community Impact will run through the 50th anniversary of The Woodlands in October 2024 highlighting the community.
The Woodlands Resort, which features 402 rooms on a 350-acre property, began its life 50 years ago as The Woodlands Inn, serving in part as a place where prospective residents for the new community could stay. As of early 2022, the facility had joined Hilton’s Curio Collection, a portfolio of 100 unique hotels around the world, said Kelly McCourt, director of marketing for The Woodlands Resort. In recent years, the Resort saw the $26 million renovation of spaces in 2023 including adding the restaurant Harrison’s, its Spruce Market shop and Lobby Bar as well as conference space and rooms. It also introduced the restaurant the Back Table and Bar in 2021, which features regular live music oerings. How we got here When it opened, the facility had 268 rooms located in several lodges on the property. When one lodge closed, the facility stayed at 218 rooms for a while, McCourt said, but it gradually expanded again to the more than 400 rooms now available. Among the many rsts that occurred at the property, the facility was home to the rst restau- rant in The Woodlands, The Glass Menagerie, and the Resort was also the site of the township’s ice rink, McCourt said. In 2002, a $27.5 million renovation added the Forest Oasis Waterpark featuring a double helix slide and splash pad, to which a 1,005-foot lazy river was added in the $75 million expansion from 2013-15. That renovation added 184 guest rooms among other amenities. A closer look Some employees have been at the Resort through many of its incarnations and expansions, such as Charline Ekenseair, who started working at the Resort in 1979 as a PBX, or phone system The Woodlands Resort celebrates 50 years alongside community
Workers built the water park feature at The Woodlands Resort in 1996, which includes slides and a lazy river.
The Woodlands Resort has undergone several expansions since its opening in 1974.
The pool features a lazy river and mosaic tile work with scavenger hunt items for children to nd.
operator, and in 2024 she is still with the hotel as director of revenue management. Over the years, technologies also changed as the hotel adapted to new processes. “They’d have to take the message by hand,” Ekenseair said. “And they’d open the door and hand us the message and then we’re throw it in the pigeonhole and turn on their light.” Among other changes over the years, retail stores used to be located along the corridor where The Woodlands Ballroom is now located. In addition to the rst restaurant, other rsts at the Resort include Jamail’s Family Grocery, the rst grocery store in The Woodlands.
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2301 N. Millbend Drive, The Woodlands www.woodlandsresort.com
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