We met my parents in Spokane for the weekend and stayed at an incredible spot called the Historic Davenport Hotel. The hotel is in a great location—within walking distance of everything we wanted to do—has parking just across the street, and has some great amenities and history that ended up making it a destination unto itself on our itinerary.

It’s a little pricey, but I thought it was totally worth it as a small splurge on a short weekend where we had some time to actually enjoy it.

The hotel’s website offers the following overview of its history:

The Historic Davenport Hotel opened in 1914 as a destination in its own right. It was to be a place where guests could experience a singular combination of world-class service, palatial splendor, and inviting warmth. The Historic Davenport Hotel was the most modern hostelry in the United States when it opened in 1914. It was the first hotel with air conditioning, a pipe organ, a central vacuum system, housekeeping carts and accordion ballroom doors.

The Historic Davenport Hotel has served as a beacon of culture and refinement throughout the region for the better part of a century. In 2002, after the hotel narrowly escaped demolition, Walt and Karen Worthy completed a multimillion-dollar restoration. They spared no expense in restoring its priceless glamour.

When we arrived and walked into the main lobby, I didn’t know where to look first—the open, two-story great room had a wonderful fireplace and open restaurant seating to one side, a lovely fountain in its center, and additional seating and shops along the other side. The décor made it feel like we had arrived somewhere exotic and like we had stepped back in time.

We checked in and stopped by a small stand where an employee was making soft peanut brittle, which we were encouraged to sample (of course we did—yum!). After dropping off our things, we headed to the Peacock Lounge for an aperitif, recovering from our six-hour drive across the state and growing excited for the weekend ahead!

Our room was spacious and a corner unit so we had views south toward the Steam Plant and east along 1st Avenue.

Our final morning, we walked around the first and second floors of the hotel using a self-guided tour brochure from the front desk. We were able to wander through a number of ballrooms and event spaces, and we were able to check out a number of display cases full of fun artifacts and information from the hotel’s history, including some of its more prominent guests, including:

• Charles Lindbergh
• Amelia Earhart
• Clark Gable
• John Philip Sousa
• Lawrence Welk
• Bob Hope
• Bing Crosby
• Benny Goodman
• John F. Kennedy
• Babe Ruth
• and many, many more!

Bonus: Though not part of our hotel stay experience, we learned during our foodie walking tour about a mystery safe in the hotel’s parking garage on Post street! We walked down to the first level to check it out, reading the informational plaque on the side wall to learn more.

The mystery doesn’t surround the safe itself– it belonged to Louis Davenport, who kept his wealth inside it during the 1890s at the Davenport. The current location in the parking garage pays homage to where his office used to be. The mystery surrounds what happened to its door and whatever was inside– we may never know!

There is lots of history to uncover at the Historic Davenport. I recommend you stop by and experience its grandeur—either by learning more about its history through a self-guided tour or grabbing something to eat or drink in its incredible great room—the next time you’re in Spokane!