Jefferson Hotel

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The Jefferson Hotel is a luxury hotel in Richmond, Virginia. It is one of 27 American hotels with Mobil Five Star and the AAA Five Diamond Hotel ratings. It is also accompanied by Lemaire, a Five Diamond Restaurant named after Etienne Lemaire who served as Maitre d'Hotel to Thomas Jefferson from 1794 through the end of his presidency.

[edit] History

Tobacco baron Lewis Ginter built the hotel in 1892 and first opened it in 1895. It was designed by the same architecture firm that designed the New York Public Library, Carrère and Hastings. It burned in 1901 and was restored and reopened in 1907.

Patrons have included presidents, writers, The Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley. For many decades, the hotel was the home of Historic Garden Week.

Local urban legend has it that tap dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson was discovered while working as a bellhop at the hotel. However, this is most likely untrue. When the Jefferson Hotel opened in 1895, Robinson (then 16) was already touring with traveling shows on the black theater circuit.

Another urban legend states that the Grand Staircase in the lobby was featured in the classic movie Gone with the Wind, but again, this is untrue. According to the concierge, the author of the novel, Margaret Mitchell, stayed at the Jefferson during the time she was writing the book, and thus the description and portrayal of the staircase in her novel is said to be inspired by the one in the hotel.