Greenville, South Carolina's Westin-Poinsett Hotel is a AAA Four Diamond Property
With a $25 million restoration, the Westin-Poinsett Hotel reopened in 2000 after a decade and a half of neglect and empty rooms. |
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By Jack Kneece
Greenville's Westin Poinsett Hotel has regained the status it had when it was built in 1925 – a jewel of a hotel on Court Square at the center of a vibrant downtown, the anchor of the city's social and business life.
There was a 15-year period when downtown deteriorated and the old Poinsett Hotel was closed. Today there are events downtown even on week nights, and The Westin Poinsett is once again the star in the crowning achievement of downtown rehabilitation.
The 13-story, 200-room local landmark once again anchors the downtown area. Helping in this focus is the hotel's Spoonbread Restaurant and the hotel's 10,000 square feet of meeting space.
The AAA Four-diamond hotel reopened in the fall of 2000 after a decade and a half of neglect and empty rooms. Until 1990, the hotel was considered one of the eleven most endangered historical sites in South Carolina. P. Steven Dopp and Greg Lenox, owners and developers of the Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston, bought it and invested $25 million in a total restoration.
The hotel was originally constructed at a cost of $1.5 million by a number of Greenville textile men. The restoration kept as many of the old features as possible in the public area, including the decorative plaster ceiling, terrazzo floor and marble stairs. Plumbing, mechanical and other features were modernized.
Large and lavish arrangements of fresh flowers are put in the lobby and other locations each day. The lobby includes a bar and a number of large, round hardwood tables at coffee-table height. The lobby molding and paint scheme of creme and brown bespeak a 1920s look. Off of the lobby and down one flight of stairs is a shoeshine stand, which helps with the 1920s feel of the place.
Guests over the decades have included Amelia Earhardt, John Barrymore, Cornelious Vanderbilt, Bobby Kennedy and Liberace, among many notables. Its ballroom was used as "spin room" by campaign staffers after a nationally televised debate by presidential candidates in 2000.
The guest room floors were entirely recontructed, featuring large guest rooms with new marble baths.
 Like most Westin Hotels, the hotel features the king-sized "Heavenly Bed," which includes 250-thread count pillow cases, oversized European goose down and feather pillows; boudoir pillows, standard hypo-allergenic pillows, a 250-thread count cover sheet, a down blanket, mattress pads, a pillow top mattress and a large box spring. A recent visitor found the bed exceptionally comfortable, as advertised.
The hotel, named for South Carolina statesmen Joel R. Poinsett, who introduced the poinsettia flower to America, is situated in on historic Court Square. The hotel is within a short distance of shops and restaurants, the Peace Center for the Performing Arts, the Greenville County Art Museum and the Reedy River Falls Park. After valet parking, many guests choose to walk to their various destinations.
Rooms include dual telephone lines with voice mail, data port with high speed Internet access, in-room safes, marble bathrooms with brass plumbing fixtures, hair dryers, Westin's own toiletries, including a shoe-shine cloth.
One Westin feature is "Service Express," a plan in which guests can access all hotel services through a single number— advertised as "one call does it all."
A recent visitor found a spacious fourth-floor room overlooking the square outside. The room had a large mahogany armoire housing a large television set.
 There was a couch in a satin-like striped pattern, a cream and rust checked pattern wing-back chair; pale tan floral pattern wallpaper; tan and dark brown valenced drapes over a translucent pattern on the windows; mahogany side tables, two large ceramic lamps by the beds, a lamp by the couch; a desk and lamp with the electrical connections for computers; a coffee maker, iron, hair dryer, two thick Turkish cotton bathrobes; a large glass and brass-finished wrought iron coffee table; a blue and rush and white diamond patterned rug; individually adjustable heat and air in the room; an ironing board, luggage rack and safe. One minor feature, but one becoming more of a luxury these days, was that the closet had a generous number of removable wooden coat hangers. There also was a retractable laundry cord over the bathtub.
Newspapers are delivered to each guest daily. There is 24-hour room service, and a masseuse service is available.
Hotel staffers were unfailingly pleasant and friendly, attentive and thoughtful. Even the valet parking attendants made it a point to remember the names of guests.
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