The Bell Hotel - The 1916 downtown Athens building reborn as boutique hotel.
Following a two-year renovation, a commercial building at 183 West Clayton St. has been reborn as The Bell Hotel, an elegantly hip property being marketed as a “historic jewel” and celebration of art, architecture, and “timeless sophistication” in the heart of downtown. The project’s grand opening was held Tuesday.
The three-story building, situated about a block from University of Georgia’s campus, was constructed in 1916 to house advanced telephone equipment for the Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Co. (thus, the hotel name). The telephone company departed in 1966, and an era of private commercial use stretched across ensuing decades.
Atlanta-based developer Brad Foster, philanthropist Marie Brumley Foster, and their sons began work on the 108-year-old property in 2022. Working with preservationists, the restoration efforts discovered original design plans for the building by architect P. Thornton Marye, noted for his Moorish-style blueprints for Atlanta’s Fox Theatre, which opened 13 years after the Athens building.
Athens-based architectural firm Arcollab aimed to carefully restore the property while also transforming it, bringing the yellow-brick façade and terra-cotta detailing “to its former glory, reflecting the craftsmanship and grandeur of its era,” per project officials.
As boutique hotels go, this one’s very boutique, with just eight guest rooms (each with unique designs), plus a four-bedroom suite. One key addition was a rooftop terrace with panoramic downtown Athens views; that was possible because the century-old building’s reinforced concrete, post-and-beam structure remained robust, per officials.
Other design highlights include a parlor-style lobby, a centerpiece grand staircase, and what’s described as statement lighting, chic furnishings, and a bevy of curated art, as selected by interior design firms Simplicity: A Southern Lifestyle and Seiber Design.
