If you’ve ever stayed here with us at Jubilee Suites, you’ve no doubt met Christy Wells-Fritz. She’s usually the first person to answer the phone or greet guests as they come into the lobby. She takes visitors on tours and helps with breakfast most days. She arranges all the flowers in every room and suite, sings and entertains our guests with her husband Roger Fritz and their bandmates and musician friends, oversees the hospitality staff, arranges weddings and other events for our guests, and generally does whatever she needs to do for however long it takes to make sure our guests are comfortable and happy. She’s our bubbly, ever-helpful, say “yes” right-hand gal, the Experience Manager at Jubilee Suites. We love her and so do our guests.
Christy comes by her many talents and versatility naturally. Born in California near Bakersfield, her parents were part of a huge extended family that migrated to California from Texas and Oklahoma during the dust bowl of the 1920’s. Christy’s parents worked as general contractors who built tract homes in places like Paradise and Stockton, so the family moved around quite a bit. But Christy was always surrounded by family.
Christy credits her mom, Barbara Ann, with encouraging her love of all things musical, artistic, natural, and beautiful. Barbara Ann was a born hostess and entertainer and Christy remembers the house always being full of flowers and food from the garden and people playing music and dancing. Her first memory is of lying in her crib with the radio on and a harmonica in her hands, encouraged by her grandfather to learn Turkey in the Straw, a simple blow-in, blow-out, blow-in, blow-out folk song that’s quick and easy to learn by ear on the harmonica.
Playing the piano was also something Christy learned to do by ear. For quite a while, no one knew she could play piano except her kindergarten teacher. Christy would stay inside at recess and practice songs she had heard at home. When Barbara Ann came to a parent/teacher conference one day, Christy’s teacher complimented her on her daughter’s piano playing. At first, Barbara Ann thought the teacher had Christy mixed up with another child. When Christy demonstrated that she had taught herself to play a Creedence Clearwater Revival song she had heard at home, Christy’s parents got her a piano.
After college, Christy’s artistic and musical careers really took off. Her oil paintings were being shown in galleries and she was teaching art in the Sacramento River Delta School District. One day, after a chance meeting with Ning Hou, a Chinese artist she had been following for years, he invited her to be his private student and she studied plein air painting with him for the next 6 years. They painted side by side, mainly outdoors, concentrating on natural light and the spirit of light, color, and movement. We love to feature local artists’ work for sale at Jubilee Suites and we have a few of Christy’s paintings on the walls also. She is also available by appointment for our guests to take art lessons.
During these years in California, Christy’s musical career was in full swing. She formed and sang in reggae and punk bands, played guitar and vibraphone, and wrote and recorded 4 studio albums. In 1988, she formed a new hippie girl band called Frida’s Circus, popular on the alternative circuit. They played all around California at her art showings, and even had circus acts as part of the show.
Roger Fritz, her future husband, lived in Nashville at the time building guitars for Gibson and his own line of custom Fritz Brothers Guitars. He was also an accomplished musician and was in California to record a new album with the Grammy Award-winning artist, Shelby Lynne. During one of Christy’s gigs in the Mendocino area, Roger came to the performance and they met. One thing led to another and Roger moved to California to be with Christy, play music, and continue to build Fritz Brothers Guitars. They have been together ever since and have made a lot of music and 2 children. They all relocated from Mendocino, CA to Fairhope, AL in 2013.
Fast forward to today, and Roger and Christy are brand new empty-nesters. Their youngest daughter, Greta, left for college at Auburn in 2021 to study Fine Art. Their son Emerson is also in college at the University of South Alabama studying Business and Political Science.
Christy’s typical day at their Fairhope home begins early with coffee and feeding her 3 dogs, 2 cats and her fish. While Roger heads to his shop to build Fritz Brothers Guitars for celebrity musicians, Christy is at Jubilee Suites by 7:30 am most days to help with breakfast and greet the guests who are hungry for one of Jim’s specialty omelets or Dana’s signature baked oatmeal. After a huddle with Dana and Jim about the day’s events and priorities, Christy begins her rounds, making sure every guest is cared for, every suite is perfect, and every detail is being overseen.
After work, Christy and Roger enjoy making music together with their family and friends and in their party band, ROGERWOOD, playing original music and covers. They can be found performing the first Friday of each month at The Copper Column during Fairhope’s monthly Artwalk and regularly at the Book Cellar in the Page and Palette Bookstore. (Use this link to see when they’re on the music schedule at Page & Palette.)
Family, art, music, flowers, food, friends, nature… the very things Christy enjoyed growing up are the things she and Roger enjoy today. Next time you’re here at Jubilee Suites, ask Christy how to use edible flowers in her cooking or how to make the perfect spoon pie. She’ll greet you with a smile, share her secrets, and make your day just a little bit better.
We have a wonderful Guest Services team here at Jubilee Suites and Jim and I count on them every day for both their local knowledge and for their love of serving our guests. As we grow together, they become more like family every day. Learn more about our team! Click here to meet Caitlyn, our Beach Manager here at Jubilee Suites.
To see more of our boutique hotel and all our individually decorated luxury suites, check out our Suites page. If your travel plans include a trip to Fairhope, AL we hope you’ll consider staying with us. Contact us here. We’d love to meet you!
