Historic Kansas City hotel has new owners. They promise ‘a complete transformation’
Kansas City’s most historic hotel has a new owner.
As of Thursday, the 21c Museum Hotel Kansas City is The Hotel Savoy, A Tapestry Collection Hotel by Hilton.
The hotel “has undergone a complete transformation to update its design and amenities to provide our guests with what they desire to have a true Kansas City experience,” said Robert Burg with Avion Hospitality, which will be managing the property, in a release.
Hilton did not respond to questions about the specific changes the company intends to make at the hotel at 219 W. Ninth St., known to many simply as The Savoy. The Oread in Lawrence is also a Tapestry Collection hotel.
According to the release, the acclaimed Savoy Grill “remains an integral part of the newly rebranded hotel.” As with the hotel, it is open as usual.
Most of the art that 21c Museum Hotels injected into the space is gone, though. As in other cities where it operates hotels, 21c’s Kansas City property emphasized contemporary art, with rotating art exhibitions in the lobby, city-specific installations, and a gallery space on the hotel’s second floor.
The installations have been removed, and the walls of the upstairs gallery are blank. “The Future is Female,” an exhibit that was originally planned to stay up through March, has been sent back to 21c’s Louisville headquarters, a front-desk employee said. “Linear Sky,” a neon LED light sculpture that greets guests along the walkway ramp into the lobby, remains up.
“As 21c Museum Hotels prepares to move on to its next chapter, we want to express our heartfelt gratitude for being a part of our Kansas City story,” the company posted on Facebook on Wednesday.
Burg told The Star that Hotel Savoy won’t be a “museum hotel” any longer but “will continue to share appropriate art.”
Founded in 1888, the Savoy Hotel and Grill was the oldest continuously operating hotel west of the Mississippi River until 21c purchased the property in 2016, reopening two years later after $50 million in renovations.
This story was originally published January 16, 2025 at 5:10 PM.
