Posted on 11/01/2017 5:03:36 AM PDT by SandRat
BISBEE — The dining the room at the Copper Queen Hotel is like taking a step into another era. A grand chandelier from the early 1900s hangs in the center of the long, rectangle room and an antique-style phonograph plays old jazz in the background — the effect is transporting visitors back to what the hotel used to be in the beginning of the 20th century.
Steven Reed, the general manager of the Copper Queen, said hotel staff wanted to capture the essence of the early 1900s in one dining room experience and restore the art-nouveau atmosphere the Copper Queen once had. The hotel’s staff just celebrated the dining room’s soft opening Oct. 18 and plan to host a grand opening in mid-November.
The hotel boasts a long history in Bisbee. The Copper Queen was built in the late 1800s by the Phelps Dodge Mining Company and completed in 1902 to host investors visiting the once flourishing mining town,according to the hotel’s website.
The hotel was considered one of the few modern hotels of the west, according to the website. Since its completion, the Copper Queen has been renovated over the years to match the decades.
Now that the hotel is under new ownership, Reed said the staff wanted to bring the hotel back to its art nouveau roots.
“We needed to bring back the era of the property because of the historical value of it but try to bring accomodations to what people need today,” he said.
The reconstruction was a complete overhaul of the hotel’s old dining room. Before the restoration, the Copper Queen’s dining room sported a 1970s retro aesthetic with antler-themed lighting fixtures and turquoise carpeting, Reed said.
Now, the room is fitted with hardwood flooring and wooden beams that are part of the original construction of the hotel. Reed said the original wooden beams came as a surprise to the renovation team. They were covered by multiple layers of paint and needed to be intensely restored, Reed said.
“We wanted to restore them back to the original wood from 1902,” he said. “It’s been wonderful.”
Renovating the dining room was no easy task, Reed said. The hotel’s only restaurant was shut down for seven months to finish all the project and get every last detail perfect for the time period Reed and his staff wanted.
The team took months mapping out every element of the room including tables, chairs, even down to the place settings — which feature crystal glassware imported from Ireland that are a modern interpretation of wine glasses used in the early 1900s.
The design process was a team effort, Reed said, and every staff member had their hand in choosing an element of the $500,000 renovation.
Jacqueline Reed, managing assistant at the hotel, said the team did careful research throughout the design process in order to appropriately fit the early-1900s theme. She said the owner and the team were inspired by the aesthetic of the dining room scene in the film, Titanic.
“You know that scene when Leonardo DiCaprio walks through the door into the dining room and he’s greeted by all these people? That’s kind of the feel that we were going for,” she said. “I came in here when it was done and I felt like I was seriously going back to that time. It’s a very elegant style.”
For Fabianna Moroyoque, front desk supervisor and group coordinator, the new dining room is more inviting than ever before. She said it’s a great place for locals and visitors alike to sit down for a high-end lunch or enjoy a fine evening of dining.
“It (the old dining room) was very laid back and kind of had a cafe style. It had a very slow feel,” Moroyoque said. “Now, I love to be in here.”
The 1900s decoration wasn’t the only change to the Copper Queen’s dining experience. The menu received a complete overhaul as well.
Reed said he and his team wanted to create a true fine-dining experience for their customers — something they can’t get anywhere else in Cochise County. The menu is fit with imported caviar from Israel and oysters for appetizers; a 30-ounce steak and a rack of lamb to choose from as an entree and baked Alaska and classic cannolis for dessert.
“It’s going to be a dining experience that just isn’t available around here. The way our servers are trained — they are trained off of standards that you don’t see in Cochise County. You see that in bigger cities and at higher-end restaurants. We went more of a French-American style,” he said. “Daytime is going to be more for your relaxed food to come and enjoy yourself in Bisbee. Your nighttime is going to be more of your date-night feel.”
For now, the manager said the dining room was the only part of the hotel that received renovations. But, the team plans on redesigning the rest of the hotel to fit the 1900s decor of the dining room in hopes of restoring the Copper Queen to its original state.
“Eventually, I would like to have the entire property done so I can have it rated for the upper-scale market,” he said.
I’m not crazy about the dark blue ceiling, but I love the floor.
How’s the Bar look?
I like the ceiling. It helps define the space. I love the simplicity of the posts against the art noveau chairs and the use of the white as space to contrast the floors/ceiling. Hope the food is as good as the room.
The walls need to be paneled wood. Then it’ll look a lot more like early 1900’s.
This hotel was almost demolished. It is incredibly beautiful.
Beautiful. True to the era.
I spent 3 days there a few years ago for a work event. Stunningly beautiful.
I wish they hadn’t blocked the chandelier that they mentioned in the article. The room looks really nice, but needs a little more artwork or at least decoration on the walls to really capture that art-deco feel.
Let’s hope they recover their investment. Good effort so far.
Thanks for post. I’ve been to Bisbee many times, on business. Interesting town.
Now that is a lobby!
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