Delivering historic hotel experience requires constant upkeep, communication with ownership
"Every city in the United States has some historic hotels. Those historic hotels have things that you're not going to see in a modern environment," Paul Eckert, executive vice president of operations and business intelligence at Davidson Hospitality, which manages 11 properties in its portfolio that are nearly or over a century old, said on a recent episode of the CoStar News Hotels podcast.
Eckert said he feels that travelers are drawn to these types of stays more than previous generations, and he gave his father as an example. Eckert's father valued consistency when he traveled — especially for work. He wanted every room to feel the same no matter what city he was in.
"I would say that the travelers now are much more adventurous," he explained, adding that guests do want consistency in quality but don't want to wake up not knowing what city they are in based on the room's cookie-cutter interior. "I think the interest in historic hotels has actually been growing because the unique nature of them and the fact that they have a heritage that a brand-new -build hotel can never have."
Guests are increasingly drawn to this experience because the decisions they are making — where they stay, where they dine, what music they listen too — are all lifestyle-defining characteristics of who you are as a person, Eckert said.
Providing this guest experience includes maintaining and running a 100-year-old property, which comes with its own nuances on both the hotel's ownership and management sides. And Davidson Hospitality is very familiar with the added challenges. Its portfolio includes Michigan's Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island, built in 1887, and Spokane, Washington's The Louie, A Davenport Hotel, Autograph Collection, built in 1890.
"There's a lot more of an investment in maintaining a historic hotel. And there's also some regulatory oversight from local community and also from national," Eckert explained.
This requires Davidson to work with local organizations intimately — with most new materials needing to be approved before installation.
"If your property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, there's governance to what you can and can't do with the facade or exterior of a building," he said.
Eckert said it comes down to consistent communication. He has calls with ownership weekly, and every year they update their rolling five-year plan.
"A brand-new hotel you're going to renovate every seven years. A historic hotel you're going to be repairing and maintaining a lot of things every year, regardless of if you want to or not," Eckert said. "It's a requirement of the building in order to maintain it and keep it pristine and deliver it to the guests the correct way."
For more from the interview with Davidson's Paul Eckert, listen to the podcast embedded above.
Launched in 2019, Signia by Hilton debuted at one of the most difficult times for new brands to scale, but in the six years since, Hilton officials have managed to carve out a spot for the brand with a growing portfolio and global presence.
A big part of that strategy is leaning into conversions during a period of historically low supply growth for the U.S. hotel industry. At launch in 2019, Hilton leadership anticipated the brand would be mostly new builds. While Meghan Fitzgerald, Signia's brand leader at Hilton, said new-builds are on the horizon for Signia as construction costs moderate, for now the company is "targeting high-quality conversions to grow the brand."
An example of this is the recently opened Signia by Hilton La Cantera Resort and Spa in San Antonio, Texas, which marked Hilton's fifth Signia to open, and 9,000th among all Hilton hotels when it opened this year. The resort was converted from the longstanding and regionally popular La Cantera Resort & Spa.
Fitzgerald said she describes the brand as "Hilton's approachable luxury brand."
When it launched in 2019, Signia by Hilton was described by many as a more direct competitor to large meeting and event brands like Marriott Marquis. Fitzgerald said Hilton takes pride in the brand's ability to execute events "of every size and for every occasion."
"Some of the ways we do this is through technical event space, innovative technology, and service for both our meeting planners and our attendees," she said.
In 2025, Hilton welcomed its first international Signia property with the opening of Signia by Hilton Amman in Jordan. Fitzgerald said growth of Signia outside the U.S. will be a key driver for the brand going forward, with signings in India and Egypt and the Signia by Hilton Tainan set to open in Taiwan midway through 2026.
Overall, 2026 is expected to be a big year for the brand domestically, with the new-build Signia by Hilton Indianapolis slated to open in the fall and the conversion of the Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, Florida, into the Signia by Hilton Diplomat Beach Resort expected to wrap up.
Fitzgerald described the Indianapolis hotel as a "purposeful property that will transform the skyline of the city."
Fitzgerald said the Indianapolis hotel is illustrative of how the Signia style can adapt to any market. This hotel may "bring the brand to life in a way that's appropriate for that fantastic Midwestern city" but isn't necessarily the same way Hilton approaches resort markets.
In addition to the Amman property, open Signia hotels include the Signia by Hilton Atlanta Georgia World Congress Center, Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek and Signia by Hilton San Jose.
Current signings and underway projects mean Signia by Hilton will double its portfolio by 2028, Fitzgerald said.
She added the growth of the brand will be meaningful for the larger Hilton system because it "strategically bridges that gap between full service and luxury" and that its growth has been fueled by "rising demand for premium meetings and group travel."
Going forward, Fitzgerald said she hopes construction costs continue to moderate, making the path to more new-build hotels more feasible. But she added Hilton already has more hotel rooms under construction than its competitors, so that is likely to remain the case.
"Approximately one in every five hotel rooms under construction globally are slated to join the Hilton portfolio, and Hilton's commercial engine, global distribution and strong technical service teams really help mitigate the risk and support developers," she said.
The United States is home to hundreds of historic hotels, and travelers have their pick of long-running inns and adaptive-reuse properties for unique stays across the country.
This past year, CoStar News Hotels has profiled 10 of these historic properties. Scroll through the slideshow of these hotels and read more about each below. Be sure to click to read more if any of the hotels pique your interest.
Location: Galveston, Texas
Year built: 1911
When Mark Wyant, a former airline pilot and Dallas-based businessman, acquired the 219-room Grand Galvez in 2021, he said he "wanted to dress the old girl up." After two years and over $50 million in renovations, the hotel was returned to its original glory — so much that Hollywood came calling. "1923," a prequel TV show to Paramount's "Yellowstone," filmed the second episode of its second season at the Grand Galvez and around Galveston in August 2024 and aired March 2, 2025. Click here to read more.
Location: Nantucket, Massachusetts
Year built: 1891
Nantucket's preserved history and charm has long attracted visitors, and The Nantucket Hotel & Resort has seen over a century of tourism on the island. Originally opened as The Pointe Breeze Hotel, the 44-room resort has been completely renovated internally while keeping its exterior mostly preserved. The hotel captured the attention of New York Times-bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand, who has penned some of her novels at the hotel and was inspired to write "The Hotel Nantucket," which is loosely based off the property. Click here to read more.
Location: Montrose, Colorado
Year built: 1909
After sitting vacant for more than a decade following a fire, the KP Building in the heart of downtown Montrose, Colorado, was given a another purpose by longtime hospitality professional Clay Bales. He saw the potential for the building, originally constructed by social group the Knights of Pythias, to be transformed into a boutique hotel. Now, the 17-room hotel and first-floor coffee and cocktail concept serves visitors and Montrose residents alike. Click here to read more.
Location: Memphis, Tennessee
Year built: 1925
The 464-key Peabody hotel — known as the South's Grand Hotel — celebrated 100 years at its current location in downtown Memphis this year, and its iconic duck march has been there for almost every step of the way. The daily duck march begins at 11 a.m. with the hotel's five ducks — four females and one male — along with their duckmaster marching from the rooftop duck palace to the elevator, down to the lobby and into their fountain, where they swim and splash until 5 p.m. The experience has become a must for Memphis visitors who are drawn to the mostly preserved lobby of The Peabody for the presentation. Click here to read more.
Location: New Orleans
Year built: 1864 (Garden District Hotel)
Tucked into New Orleans' residential Garden District neighborhood are two sister hotels that complement each other with balanced experiences in the historic part of town. The 13-room Blackbird Hotel opened in late 2024, and its sister property, the 47-room Garden District Hotel, made its debut across the street in June. While the Blackbird has dark and moody vibes throughout its lobby and room design, the Garden District Hotel is light and airy and features a resort-style pool with a swim-up bar. Click here to read more.
Location: Alexandria, Virginia
Year built: 1926
Originally opened as the Hotel George Mason, the historic building that now houses the Hotel Heron was converted into an office building in the '70s. A few years ago, Chicago-based Aparium wanted to restore the property to its glory days as a hotel. The company heavily modernized the building and turned an adjacent surface parking lot into the hotel's second building. Made to blend in with the Heron's original red brick, the new building features a 3,000-square-foot ballroom and additional guest rooms. Click here to read more.
Location: Seattle
Year built: 1918
Built originally to house and educate students at the Seattle Engineering School in 1918, the MarQueen's building became apartments before current ownership acquired it in 1998 to turn it into a hotel. This year, the 59-key hotel completed a total renovation that updated the plumbing and redesigned the rooms with a theme that was inspired by a 1966 color palette that Ford used for its cars during that time. Click here to read more.
Location: Washington, D.C.
Year built: 1925
A longtime fixture in the D.C. area, The Mayflower celebrated its centennial in February. The 585-room historic hotel is known for hosting prominent presidential events throughout the years. These days, The Mayflower is still a frequent host to political and business events and also is popular for weddings — and, in some cases, the hotel has hosted multiple generations of weddings within the same family. Click here to read more.
Location: Amarillo, Texas
Year built: 1927
The Barfield has a storied history within the city of Amarillo, which is primed for a busy 2026 thanks to next year's centennial of Route 66 and recent business development in the area. The hotel opened originally as an office building and was built as Amarillo's first skyscraper by businesswoman Melissa Dora Oliver-Eakle. The 112-room hotel opened in 2021 and nods to Oliver-Eakle's impact on the town with historically preserved areas and a speakeasy much like the one she ran in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Click here to read more.
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