Hotel Dryce is a dream turned into reality for entrepreneur Jonathan Morris. As a world traveler who has visited hotels everywhere, Morris always dreamt of creating a small hotel. He always made a point to connect to the places where he stayed. One of the qualities he liked most about the hotels he has visited is that they embody and speak to millennials and Generation Z, including the fact that they “look luxurious, but are budget-friendly,” he said.
In 2018 when an old dry ice factory in Fort Worth, Texas, went up for sale he found the space to create his dream boutique hotel, which is now the home of Hotel Dryce. The hotel is adjacent to Fort Worth’s Cultural District and is within walking distance to the new Dickie’s Arena, a 14,000-seat arena and home of the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.
Morris is a Fort Worth local and one of the visions he has for the hotel is for visitors to have a sense of place when they arrive.
“I want to create a unique experience in a small space that invites people to Fort Worth, and we can use it [the hotel] as a hub to connect them with people in small businesses,” he said.
Small businesses, more specifically Black-owned businesses, such as his Fort Worth Barbershop, have seen an uptick in visitors in recent months with the increased coverage of the Black Lives Matter movement and Black-owned businesses getting more recognition in the city.
“As we continue to grow as a city, I think it’s a great indication that we’re becoming more inclusive than we have been in the past,” he said. “And that shows that Fort Worth can definitely benefit from the opportunity for the city to grow and attract more talent.”
And as the city continues to grow, it will need a place for visitors to stay, and Hotel Dryce will fit the bill. Being near Fort Worth’s Cultural District, the hotel fills a need where there aren’t any small independent hotels in the area. Guests will be greeted with a lobby bar and an outdoor courtyard. Other amenities in the 21-room and 10,000-sq.-ft. hotel include a small meeting room at 300-sq.-ft. that is ideal for small meetings. Think boardroom style, intimate meetings for six to 12 people.
From Warehouse to Hotel
Hotel Dryce is slated to open in early 2021, and the hotel is being designed with comfort and approachability in mind, similar to the Gen-Z appealing hotels Morris visited in his travels.
“We want to capture the hotel as it embodies the city,” he said. “Not a caricature of the city, but a genuine experience of what it will look like and to spend time in the city.”
Some of the ways Hotel Dryce will personify Fort Worth is appealing to the laid-back vibe of the town, or as Morris says, “lo-fi.” The city is known for its cowboy culture and embracing the Western traditions and though those sentiments are true, he says that’s not the end of the story for Fort Worth. The building will speak to the past as a portion of the façade will stay intact, but at the same time, the building will be new and improved, which in many ways, is the DNA of the hotel and brand. Honoring the past while looking toward the future and thinking about the potential of Fort Worth, he said.
Silver Lining
Given the current state of the industry and the world with coronavirus hindering plans, a new hotel opening is untimely. But Hotel Dryce is in a unique position since it’s in the middle of construction, which started in March of 2020. COVID-19 hasn’t slowed down the operation but it has forced the team to start considering what the world will look like post-COVID-19.
Top of mind for Morris and the hotel is how they will communicate the safety and cleanliness of the hotel. They’re watching how different properties, specifically smaller hotels, are solving for the problems associated with the novel coronavirus. For Hotel Dryce, instead of having to reinvent the wheel as many hotels are doing now, Morris is able to set up the hotel from the beginning to be clean, safe and ready for guests.
