Sir Walter Hotel Lobby
The Sir Walter Hotel is the last remaining grand hotel of the early 20th century in Raleigh.
The Only Hotel in Raleigh . . .
with radio and circulating ice water in every room–air conditioned restaurant–HOTEL SIR WALTER Garage adjacent–own laundry and valet plant–drug store–two fine restaurants, with orchestral music–Delightful tavern.
400 Rooms with Bath : Rates $2.50 upward
Raleigh’s Largest and Finest Hotel
Built in 1923, the Sir Walter Hotel was referred to as the “third house of government” for decades, as it served as a meeting place for state political activity. This postcard dates to after 1938, as it was that date when it underwent a massive renovation and saw an expansion to 400 rooms, as mentioned in the caption above.
The hotel went in to decline in the 1960s when the new Legislative Building was constructed and political activity moved out, along with a general postwar trend of hotels moving away from city centers and out toward the suburbs.
Unlike the Hotel Raleigh or Hotel Carolina, The Sir Walter still stands today on Fayetteville Street. The lobby shown in the first image is still largely intact. It was converted to senior housing in the 1970s.
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03/02/2012
Love this image!
Somewhere at home, there’s a photograph of me, my mom and my sister having a “ladies’ luncheon” (complete with white gloves) there, probably about 1966.
03/02/2012
It was, indeed, a grand hotel! I worked there in the mid 1960s as one of the night auditors. The Ball Room was absolutely beautiful with its huge crystal chandeliers. The elegant City Club occupied the entire top floor and served Raleigh’s elite — luncheons and lavish dinners. There was nothing like it anywhere else in Raleigh or its environs.
03/02/2012
I have a couple of pieces of furniture from one of their rooms that my dad bought back in the 60′s.
03/03/2012
The Sir Walter Coffee Shop, in spite of its casual-sounding name, was actually a pretty classy restaurant…this was in the 1950′s when the downtown Balentine’s and S&W cafeteria were the main dining options. Occasionally as a special treat, my grandparents would take me to the Coffee Shop to eat and I’d feel very grown-up. It was definitely not a family-style restaurant. While my grandfather was never an elected official, he was a lobbyist of sorts and Sir Walter residents/politicians would often stop by our table to speak with him. I believe the late Coffee Shop is now a Chick-Fil-A. How times have changed….
03/07/2012
There was a restaurant in the ballroom as recently as the late ’80′s/early 90′s, because I remember eating there for work lunches when I first moved here and starting working downtown. You walked through the lobby (which looked nothing like the pic above) and up a stairs if I recall and the resturant was huge. I remember sitting by the tall windows looking out onto F. Street and the chandeliers. The food was nothing to write home about at that point. I always wondered why, if they allowed a public restaurant then, why no one has moved back into that spot now.
03/07/2012
I wasn’t aware that there was a regularly operating restaurant in the ballroom. You’re correct about accessing it via stairs from the lobby. I’m not sure if they had regular Sunday buffets there, but I do recall going there at least once for something like an Easter or Mother’s Day buffet. This would have been about the same time frame you mentioned. Also attended a wedding reception there…maybe ’90-’91…and I’m almost positive the place had ceased operating as a hotel with guests by that time.
03/07/2012
I wrote above: “and I’m almost positive the place had ceased operating as a hotel with guests by that time (early ’90′s)”
My bad….I just reread the intro to this thread where it states that the hotel was converted to senior housing in the 1970′s. But as I said in my previous post, the ballroom was still available to rent for private events. I have no idea who was running the restaurant/food service at that time.
03/28/2012
I was on Ancestry.com today and found my grandfathers registration for the draft in 1940. It lists his place of employment as Sir Walter Hotel. It was awesome for me to google and find the above picture. (DMB)
03/29/2012
Mrs. Barber, What was your grandfather’s name? I may have known him…I’m 74 years old and worked there in the mid 1960s as one of the Night Auditors.
03/29/2012
Mrs. Barber, please ignor my comment. You said he worked there when he registered for the military in 1940. I was just 2 years old.