Suhwaro Hotel
Just nine years after the 1904 establishment of the town of Chandler, the mighty San Marcos hotel was constructed. This luxury hotel was an instant success, attracting a flock of wealthy guests every winter. Just across the street from the San Marcos, another hotel was lying in its shadow. The Suhwaro hotel was constructed in 1916 as an alternative to the San Marcos, a less expensive establishment that served a clientele who was worlds apart from the San Marcos’s parade of celebrities.
In 1916, the Chandler Arizonan newspaper reported that the suites in the Suhwaro could go toe to toe with their counterparts across the street. From 1917 to 1924, the Suhwaro was usually close to full capacity during the fall and winter months, to the extent that the downstairs amusement center was renovated into additional rooms in 1919.
Despite the general success of the hotel, owners William Robinson and Henry Collins leased the hotel to the San Marcos Hotel Company in 1924, due to problems with the guests and staff. The Company used the Suhwaro as housing for their own employees until 1930, when the Suhwaro was sold in a sheriff’s sale. After stints in the possession of the Arizona Bank, the Northern Securities Company, and the Chandler Improvement Company, the building returned to the San Marcos Hotel Co. in 1937. G.W. Edward then sold the San Marcos to John Quarty, whose wife took possession of the Suhwaro after his death in 1982. Five years later, the Hotel was put into a trust. In July of 1993, the Suhwaro was purchased once more by former Chandler Mayor Jerry Brooks, who restored the building to its historic character and now leases it to local businesses.
