Grace Perley Robinson, c. 1915

Open

Dr. Chandler hired an experienced hotelier, Grace Perley Robinson (left), to manage the San Marcos Hotel when it opened in 1913

Grace was born in Henry, Illinois, and moved with her family to Phoenix in 1887.  She taught for several years before marrying local businessman William H. Robinson and starting a family. After ten years of marriage, Will was diagnosed with lung disease which, in Grace’s words “doomed [him] to a life of invalidism.” After two years of staying home and caring for her husband, Grace found it necessary to return to work. She found work for the next five years managing her Uncle W. J. Murphy’s new hotel, the Ingleside.

After accepting Dr. Chandler’s offer for her to manage his new resort, the San Marcos Hotel, Grace and Will moved their family to Chandler. As Grace put it, “Opening up the San Marcos was real pioneering... The world beat a path to our door, because we had what they wanted.” During Grace’s time as manager, the San Marcos grew from Dr. Chandler’s dream into a world class winter resort.

Businessmen, politicians, celebrities, artists, and socialites flocked to Chandler every winter season. In addition, Grace oversaw the expansion of the hotel with construction of new bungalows behind the hotel that could be rented out by guests. The bungalows were interspersed with gardens, ponds, pergolas, and a grassy promenade lined with citrus trees, and soon became a favorite of the elite guests. 

Grace retired from the hotel business in 1931 after nineteen years at the San Marcos. She spent seven years caring for her husband before his death in 1938. Reflecting on her career at the San Marcos, Grace wrote, “That I was chosen to act as manager has always been a source of satisfaction, and to know that I had some part in building up a reputation which made the San Marcos world-famous.”