We present a simplified synthesis of hollow gold nanoshells 20-50 nm in diameter via the wellestablished templated galvanic replacement reaction of silver for gold. The surface plasmon resonance absorbance of nanoshells made in this fashion can be tuned using basic colloid chemistry to control the size of the silver templates. The gold nanoshells can be varied in size and shell thickness depending on silver/gold reagent ratios and have an aqueous core. The template replacement chemistry is rapid, highly scalable, uses minimal amounts of toxic reagents, and in many cases is a true `one pot' synthesis. The smallest nanoshells (20 nm diameter, 7 nm wall thickness) reach the highest temperature on irradiation with femtosecond light pulses in the near infrared and anneal to form spherical nanoparticles fastest, even though their plasmon resonance does not overlap as well as the larger nanoshells (50 nm diameter, 7 nm wall thickness) with the 800 nm wavelength excitation. Optimizing a nanoshell structure to reach the highest nanoshell temperature is not the same as optimizing the structure for maximum energy absorbance.