In a "Christmas miracle" fashion, the historic doors of Cimarron's St. James Hotel will reopen under new ownership in December after having shuttered in September . The hotel, which many Wild West figures passed through and where the spirits of more than two dozen murdered guests and bar patrons are rumored to roam , was placed in the hands of M Vacation Properties & Resorts on Nov.
1. The hotel is now gearing up for a Dec. 20 reopening.
When the St. James announced in September it would be closing in a matter of days, employees, former guests and the Cimarron community were fraught with emotions. Hope was one of them, as many said they wished the hotel would be bought.
Former owner Bob Funk kept hope alive by placing the hotel on the market for buyers interested in preserving its history, but the future was uncertain. The community's wishes came true through father-daughter duo Chad Mantz and Alyse Mantz, who made the trip from Red River, where M Vacation Properties is based, to Cimarron the day they saw the closure announcement. "[We] came here that day and sat down and ate and looked around and started reaching out to the family," Alyse Mantz said.
M Vacation Properties & Resorts was established as Red River Real Estate in 1974 and was rebranded after being bought by Chad Mantz in 2016. He had moved to the area to become Red River's chamber of commerce director. It was the history of the St.
James that Alyse Mantz said prompted them to pursue the opportunity, as she and he.