Redmont Hotel

The Redmont Hotel and Residences is a 14 story (160 foot) tall, 114 room hotel and conference center located at 2101 5th Avenue North, on the corner of 21st Street North. The Redmont, named after Red Mountain, is the oldest hotel in Birmingham still in use. It is currently owned by Bayshore Asset Managment and, until recently, was operated as a Crowne Plaza Hotel by Intercontinental Hotels & Resorts.

History

The Redmont opened to guests on May 1, 1925, with a public grand opening on May 9. The 250-room hotel was constructed to plans drawn by architect Geoffry Lloyd Preacher of Atlanta. The layout was unusual for its time in that each guest room had a private bath as well as chilled water and ceiling fans. The Rainbow Room lounge debuted in 1937 and became the watering hole for an informal group of influential persons called the "Knothole Gang".

In 1946 the hotel was purchased by Clifford Stiles who added a penthouse apartment on the roof for himself and his family in 1947. Some say that Stiles, who died in 1972, still haunts the building. In 1952, singer Hank Williams spent his last night in the Redmont on an uncompleted trip from Montgomery to Charleston, West Virginia. One of the suites earned the moniker "the Lucky Governor's Suite" when it served as the local headquarters for the successful Jim Folsom and George Wallace gubernatorial campaigns of the 1960s.

After decades of decline, the hotel was purchased in 1983 by an investment group made up of NBA players, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Ralph Sampson. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 27 of that year. A $7 million dollar renovation led to a grand re-opening in 1985. In 1999, the hotel was sold to Bayshore Company of Tampa, which performed another refurbishment in 2000, uncovering previously hidden architectural details and cleaning the exterior.

Current status

In April 2006 the Redmont's owners announced plans to convert 20 guest rooms on its two uppermost floors into 8 one and two bedroom condominiums with another luxury condominium in the 2-story penthouse. It was then that the name was changed to the Redmon Hotel & Residences. The plans were put on hold in November of that year due to lack of interest.

The owners dropped their association with Crowne Plaza in order to pursue the conversion and are currently operating the hotel as an independent. In 2007, Bayshore once again put up the Redmont for sale.

The Redmont has a café (The Redmont Café) and lounge (The Rare Olive), and also hosts a weekly rooftop jazz concert in the summer.

References

• Williams, Roy L. (April 12, 2006) "Redmont Hotel top floors going condo". The Birmingham News.
• Bosley, Anita S. (September 1, 2000) "Building holds clues to '20s-era Birmingham". Birmingham Business Journal.
• Williams, Roy L. (July 21, 2006) "Redmont condos go on sale Sept. 1." The Birmingham News.
• Williams, Roy L. (May 4, 2007.) "Redmont Hotel for sale again." The Birmingham News.

External links

• Redmont Hotel website