HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Elms Hotel and Spa is a historic resort hotel at Regent and Elms Boulevard in
Excelsior Springs, Missouri Excelsior Springs is a city in Clay and Ray counties in the U.S. state of Missouri and part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. The population was 10,553 at the 2020 census. It is located approximately northeast of central Kansas City, Missouri ...
. It is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
. It is located in The Elms Historic District.


History

The first Elms Hotel on the site was a 200-room resort opened in July 1888. An annex with 75 additional rooms was added a year later, in 1889. It was destroyed by fire after less than ten years in operation, on May 9, 1898. The second Elms Hotel was a 300-room hotel that opened on July 31, 1909. It was also destroyed by fire, just over a year later, on October 30, 1910.The Elms Hotel and Spa History
/ref> The current Elms Hotel was built of native stone by the Elms Realty Company and opened on September 7, 1912. During the 1920s and 30s the region around
Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the List of United States cities by populat ...
was a "wide open town" under
crime boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather, crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss typically has absolute or nearl ...
"Big City"
Tom Pendergast Thomas Joseph Pendergast (July 22, 1872 – January 26, 1945), also known as T. J. Pendergast, was an American political boss who controlled Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri, from 1925 to 1939. Pendergast only briefly held elected ...
. The Elms prospered as a
speakeasy A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an illicit establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, or a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. Speakeasy bars came into prominence in the United States ...
, and
Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...
was a frequent visitor. In 1922 the original owner, the Elms Realty Company, sold the hotel to Dr. A. S. McCleary, operator of a Kansas City sanitarium. McCleary sold the hotel in 1925 to the Roberts Hotel Company of Chicago. In 1932 the
American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016. The AMA's sta ...
released research studies which stated that there was no scientific evidence supporting the claimed health benefits of
mineral water Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. Mineral water may usually be still or sparkling (carbonated/effervescent) according to the presence or absence of added gases. T ...
, and that same year the hotel was declared
bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
and was purchased by the
Eppley Hotel Company The Eppley Hotel Company was located in Omaha, Nebraska. At the time of its acquisition by the Sheraton Corporation in 1956, it had 22 properties, and it was the largest privately held hotel business in the United States. About Owned by hotel mag ...
chain. In 1948, Harry S. Truman spent election night at the hotel. After Truman predicted victory to his staffers at his headquarters at the
Muehlebach Hotel The Hotel Muehlebach () is a historic hotel building in Downtown Kansas City that was visited by every President from Theodore Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan. It is currently operated as one of three wings of the Kansas City Marriott Downtown hot ...
in Kansas City, he then went to the Elms, avoiding the attention drawn to his home in
Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...
. In the morning he was awakened with the news he had won the election. Throughout its history, the hotel has been the site of other notable activities, including serving as a training camp for boxer Jack Dempsey, and as the summer camp for the 1948 New York Giants football team. The hotel's sale in 1956 from the Eppley chain to the
Sheraton Corporation Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is an international semi-luxury hotel chain owned by Marriott International. As of June 30, 2020, Sheraton operates 446 hotels with 155,617 rooms globally, including locations in North America, Africa, Asia Pacific, Cen ...
was part of the second largest hotel sale in United States history."Closing the gap,"
''
Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...
'' June 4, 1956. Retrieved 6/15/08.
Sheraton quickly sold the hotel again, only to rebuy it in 1960 when it went bankrupt, renaming it the Sheraton-Elms Hotel. Sheraton sold the Elms, along with seventeen other aging properties, to Gotham Hotels in 1968 and it regained its original name. It remained open until 1971. After a number years of closure, it was bought by local citizens and reopened in 1977. In 1991 the hotel again went bankrupt, but continued to operate. The city of Excelsior Springs bought the hotel in 1995 and transitioned it to new owners, who renovated the hotel in 1998 at a cost of $16 million. The hotel closed in 2011 for another renovation, costing $20 million. It reopened in 2012, celebrating its centennial. It was sold yet again to Hilton properties in 2019, and it scheduled for more renovations in 2021.


References


External links


Official website




{{National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Missouri Buildings and structures in Clay County, Missouri Companies based in the Kansas City metropolitan area Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Hotel buildings completed in 1912 National Register of Historic Places in Clay County, Missouri Sheraton hotels