The Westin Memphis Beale Street Hotel
In the early 1900s, the corner of South Third near Beale Street was a "female boarding house."
(Yes, use your imagination.)
In three months, the doors of hospitality will open once again at that corner -- across from the FedExForum, where the National Basketball Association's Memphis Grizzlies play -- for the Westin Memphis Beale Street Hotel.
It's a $40 million, 203-room hotel, the first "Westin" in the Mid-South, this slice of the U.S. better known as Western Tennessee, Northern Mississippi and Eastern Arkansas. OK, call it Memphis.
Owned by Starwood Hotel & Resorts Worldwide Inc., it will be the first upper-upscale branded hotel to be built in the Memphis metro area in more than twenty years.
The city is abuzz. It'll be a prime spot for autograph seekers.
The hotel's upper floors are being tailored for NBA-sized bodies: people at least 6-6 and who weigh more than 240 pounds. To that end, this oasis will have "a special floor with taller ceilings and doors, shower heads mounted to accommodate NBA players and a configuration of suites to serve the special needs of an NBA team."
It will also have the nationally acclaimed and upscale Daily Grill restaurant. The hotel is eyeing conventions, business meetings and other social gatherings.
As for the corner's imaginative history, the hotel might mark that too. Discussions are still being held to have a display of artifacts that give a peek into that corner of Memphis's past.
(Photo: Commercial Appeal)
