Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center -- A Doubletree Hotel

Description:

• The Norfolk and Western Railroad built this grand Tudor-style hotel in 1882 on a hill overlooking its new town, even before it changed the name from Big Lick to Roanoke. Heated by steam from the railroad's maintenance shops and cooled by America's first hotel air-conditioning system (which cooled the rooms with circulating ice water), it became a resort as well as a stopover. Some 26 passenger trains a day rolled into the station (now the visitor center and the O. Winston Link Museum) at the foot of the hill, and virtually every celebrity passing though Roanoke stayed here, among them Elvis Presley and five presidents. For the locals, it was the place for wedding receptions, reunions, beauty pageants, and other special events.

  The hotel fell on hard times and was closed from 1989 to 1995, when it reopened after a magnificent restoration financed in part by Virginia Tech and local residents who dug into their pockets to save the venerable property. Now managed by Doubletree Hotels, it's recognized as a Historic Hotel of America, and Roanokers -- who call it simply The Hotel -- again celebrate very special occasions in the elegant Regency Room. Pub fare is available in the knotty Pine Room Pub, which has a large bar, sports TV, and billiard table, and you can dance the weekend nights away at Club a.k.a. in the basement.

  The building was gutted and rebuilt above the public areas, so all the rooms and suites are completely modern. Given the odd shape of the structure, there are now 92 room configurations, many with sloping ceilings and gable windows. Some have windows on two sides, while a few others seem like small cottages.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Very Highly Recommended 2010