Toro Hotel
First, it was Hodges Gardens Motor Inn, just across the highway from the magnificent Hodges Gardens. It was created and designed specifically to complement Hodges Gardens…which in the 60s was such a heavy tourist attraction that a nearby hotel (okay, motel) and restaurant was needed. Not just wanted, but needed, and an accompanying golf course was perfect for the men who might tend to be bored with the Gardens. Later, perhaps in the early 70s though I am not exactly sure of the when, it became Toro Hills Motel & Restaurant. That is how I remember it, when my grammar school marching group from Lake Charles (the Our Lady Queen of Heaven Barronettes!) visited Hodges Gardens and ate across the street after the Many Christmas Parade. As kids, eating out anywhere was fantastic… but I remember having such a blast at Toro Hills… us all spread out in a room that I swear at the time seemed every bit as big as two skating rinks combined. When I moved to Many in the early 1990s, it was still Toro Hills. It is where we ate after the Easter Sunrise service, and they served an incredible breakfast to pretty much fill you up for the day. I ate dinner (supper) more times than I could count for the next many years at the Grille which overlooked the golf course. The golf course was one of the best in the state from what I had heard. ~ http://allthingssabine.com/goodbye-to-the-hills-once-toro-and-later-emerald/