On our three week road trip, we decided to drive through Iowa on our way to Michigan. Devin travels a lot for his job so he was given a free hotel voucher for Marriot and he asked me this question: “what do you think about going to a four star hotel for free?” Uhhh, sign me up! From the moment we entered Hotel Blackhawk in Davenport, Iowa I was amazed at the history here, but also just how much the employees obviously loved the hotel.
For example, when I went downstairs to take these photos a hotel employee asked if he could turn on more lights for me to appreciate the windows. Another employee began telling me history about the location. The hotel was built in 1915 and was actually where the famous film actor Cary Grant had a heart attack before passing. The bowling alley used to host regulars like Al Capone as well which only adds to the allure of the hotel. When we went to the elevator we began noticing fun details like an old mail chute that had been kept for historical value.
We didn’t have a lot of time to spend in Iowa because we deviated from our schedule a little bit, but the downtown looked charming and the view from our hotel was excellent! We stopped at the hotel restaurant for a breakfast before we left and I had some delicious biscuits and gravy! I would love to come back the next time we are in Iowa and spend some more time in town as well as see more of the hotel.