Boone Tavern Hotel of Berea College
Berea, Kentucky
Boone Tavern Hotel of Berea College
100 Main Street North, Berea, Kentucky 40403 Original Property Opened in 1909 Historic Hotels of America member since 1994
After hosting several hundred guests in her home, Nellie Frost, Berea College First Lady, built a comfortable guest home for visitors to the college. Boone Tavern Hotel of Berea College was completed in 1909. Today, guests of Boone Tavern Hotel of Berea College can explore the vibrant galleries, shops, and studios of Berea, The Arts and Crafts capital of Kentucky. After an $11.3 million renovation in 2009, Boone Tavern became LEED Gold certified. Guestrooms feature Berea College student-handcrafted furniture, baskets, and artwork along with modern conveniences. For the first time in history, Boone Tavern is now serving fine wines, craft beers, and famous Kentucky Bourbons in the award-winning legendary restaurant.
Discover
- Discover the fascinating history of Boone Tavern Hotel of Berea College, which was built as a guesthouse in 1909 at the behest of then-Berea College First Lady Nellie Frost after she and her husband graciously opened their home to an astounding 300 guests over the course of one summer.
- Admire the distinctive beauty of the hotel's elegant Colonial Revival-style building, which houses 63 guestrooms brimming with Southern charm, including early American-inspired furniture that was constructed by hand in the college's woodcraft shop by Berea students.
- Enjoy the congenial Southern hospitality that has impressed travelers passing through Berea, Kentucky for generations, including such famous guests as President Calvin Coolidge and his wife, First Lady Grace Goodhue Coolidge, former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, the Dalai Lama, Henry Ford, Maya Angelou, and Robert Frost.
Explore
- Explore the Berea College campus with a student tour guide for an overview of historic campus buildings and student craft industries, which produce traditional broom craft, pottery, and ironwork. These items and the student-produced weavings and furniture that fill the hotel's guest accommodations are also available for purchase at the Visitors Center.
- Admire Berea College's historic commitment to quality education for all. Founded by abolitionists in 1855, the college was the first in the South to be both racially integrated and coeducational, opening its doors to 96 African American students and 91 White students for its first full year of classes following the Civil War.
- Appreciate the can-do spirit of Berea College students. Berea students are the college's lifeblood, with each required to work 10 hours minimum per week somewhere on campus, earning them room, board, and books. Despite the employment aspect of Berea College, students pay no annual tuition due to contributions from generous donors.
- Visit the Appalachian art gallery on campus, which showcases regional arts and culture. The college also is the site of the Dimitrie Berea Art Gallery, containing a collection of artworks by the acclaimed Romanian-born painter.
- Take a drive along the Kentucky Scenic Byways and explore the beauty of bluegrass country. Berea is also the starting terminus of the Kentucky Country Music Highway.
Experience
- Experience the beauty of the woodlands that surround Berea College on the hiking trails that wind through 7,700 acres of forest.
- Attend one of Berea College's concerts, plays, recitals, art exhibitions, carillon performances, and convocations that are open to the public, most at no charge.
- Visit Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, about an hour's drive from the hotel, and learn the story of the Shakers through self-guided and staff-led tours, talks, demonstrations, and hands-on activities. Learn new crafts in The Historic Centre, pet farm animals and sow seeds at The Farm, or take a hike to the water features, meadows, and woodlands of The Preserve.
Taste
- Taste traditional Southern or creative New American cuisine in the historic, internationally acclaimed Boone Tavern dining room, which has been a hallmark of fine dining for nearly a century, even earning the Duncan Hines Excellence in Hospitality Award for its longtime commitment to fantastic food.
- Savor some of the Boone Tavern Restaurant's spoonbread, a cornmeal-based dish so beloved that it helped to inspire the city's annual Spoonbread Festival.
- Try a mint julep, the classic mixture of bourbon and mint that has long been the Kentucky Derby's signature drink.
- Enjoy another local favorite—the Kentucky hot brown sandwich, a layered dish of bread, turkey, tomato, and bacon, topped with a cheese sauce, best eaten with a knife and fork.
FEATURED ACCOMMODATIONS
Featured Offers
Friends of Historic Hotels of America receive up to 10% off the Best Available Rate using the code NHP.
Book the Best Available Rate at this property on HistoricHotels.org and receive a complimentary one-year family membership (a $30 value) to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Book a guestroom with a Bourbon Tasting Package and enjoy breakfast for two and a Bourbon tasting of choice for two, both at the historic hotel’s southern-dining restaurant, Crafted at Boone Tavern.
Take in the beauty of Kentucky from the curated trails surrounding the Berea area.
Book a one-night stay in one of Boone Tavern’s luxury rooms and enjoy a bottle of sparkling cider or house wine, chocolate covered strawberries, and dinner for two with a local menu.
Enjoy dinner for two at Boone Tavern Restaurant with a $75.00 credit and a one night stay in one of Boone Tavern Hotel of Berea College’s luxury rooms.
Enjoy an overnight stay with a $200.00 voucher towards a couples massage at The Massage Studio, a local partner of Boone Tavern Hotel of Berea College.
Enjoy an overnight stay and a $75.00 voucher to The Massage Studio, a local partner of Boone Tavern Hotel of Berea College.
