The Driskill Ballroom

The Driskill Ballroom was originally the Grand Salon, the hotel's main dining room where three meals a day were served at 24 dining tables with 200 heavy walnut chairs. The Ballroom also hosted countless formal balls beginning just two weeks after the opening of the hotel with the inaugural ball of Governor Sul Ross.

Today, The Driskill Ballroom remains one of the hotel's most stunning spaces. The vaulted trompe l'oeil dome required three months of work by an artist who was compared to Michelangelo as he completed the work while lying on his back. The crystal chandeliers, copied from the hotel's original gas light fixtures, lend a subtle beauty.

In 2001, beginning his first term, President-elect George W. Bush leased The Driskill Ballroom and Mezzanine for two weeks to hold cabinet selection meetings and press conferences.