Hotel Fort Des Moines opened in 1919 at 1000 Walnut Street and reopened in 2021 as part of Hilton's Curio Collection after a renovation of about $50 million, a figure that some trade reports raise to $60 million. It has 290 rooms and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The hotel says at least 13 presidents have stayed, from Woodrow Wilson to Barack Obama.
Downtown Des Moines, at 1000 Walnut Street: the hotel stands near the Civic Center and the Iowa Events Center with its arena. A skywalk added in 2002 links it to the events center, so a visitor to a concert or a convention can reach the arena without going outside.
The concept
The building was designed by Proudfoot, Bird & Rawson, the Des Moines firm, and cost $1.5 million in 1918, the most expensive hotel project in Iowa at that time. The hotel describes itself as the first hotel built by the city for the city. It is 11 storeys of reinforced concrete.
The list of dates the hotel gives is concrete: air conditioning in many rooms in 1938, the Hob Nob restaurant in 1946, television sets in 100 rooms in 1953, a listing on the National Register in 1982. It claims the first private bathrooms west of the Mississippi and a car lift to the second floor.
The guest list is the hotel's best-known asset. Khrushchev stayed in the Presidential Suite in 1959. Kennedy, Johnson and Humphrey dined and held a farm policy meeting there in 1960. Nixon greeted supporters in the lobby in 1971 and Reagan attended the 50th anniversary of WHO Radio in 1974. Bill Clinton often stayed in the Penthouse Suite, and Obama and Hillary Clinton stayed during the 2008 caucuses. Helen Keller, Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart appear among earlier visitors. Sources differ on the presidential count, with 12 to 15 cited.
The restoration kept retro light fixtures and ornate furnishings, and the Presidential Suite uses materials original to the 1918 construction. Rooms include king and two-queen rooms, corner rooms with downtown views, a king room with a brick writer's nook, studio suites and a one-bedroom Presidential Suite with a kitchenette, dining area and fireplace.
Dining & wellness
Proudfoot & Bird is the main restaurant, named after the architects. It serves handmade pastas, poultry, waterfowl, beef, seafood and local produce, with regional beers and wines.
Hobnob Coffee and Wine Bar takes the name of the 1946 restaurant, with locally roasted coffee, wine and small plates in a casual European-countryside setting. In Confidence is a bar in the style of Prohibition, with a wine list and cocktails.
