Hoteliers across the country have found inspiration in everything from cruise ships and train stations to banks and farms, breathing new life into these buildings by converting them into boutique hotels. Here is a look at eight U.S. hotels with quirky pasts.
Built in 1889, this Park City, Utah hotel was originally – you guessed it – a school house. Former classrooms have been converted into luxurious lofts and suites, but the decor still embraces the hotel’s historic school house roots.
This Westin was originally the Farmers & Mechanics Bank building. The hotel conversion left many of the original details intact, like the bank’s teller counter (now a bar) and the original safety deposit vault, which is now a wine vault.
Quaker Square Inn
(currently under renovation and not accepting reservations)
These silos in Ohio once housed Quaker Oats, but they’ve since been converted to house travelers and those who appreciate a quirky stay in a completely round room.
Crowne Plaza at Historic Union Station
The still-functioning Historic Union Station in Indianapolis was the country’s first union station. Today, it’s a historic hotel, too. Guests can even sleep in one of the traincars on the station’s original tracks.
Boston’s Liberty Hotel is redefining the concept of spending the night in jail. The luxury hotel is housed in a historic building that was once the Charles Street Jail, and the hotel’s roots can be seen in details like the prison bars lining onsite restaurant, Clink.
It can be a little hard to believe that Oregon’s sprawling Edgefield resort was once a country poor farm, but it’s true. The resort has held onto history with murals of the hotel’s past adorning public areas and rooms.
Stay in sharecropper shacks at this former plantation in Mississippi, filled with character and live music. Tours of the plantation are also available.
Queen Mary
This former cruise ship is now permanently docked in Long Beach, Calif. Widely believed to be haunted, guests can stay in a stateroom and experience what it was like to cross the Atlantic in the early 1900s.
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