During my time traveling around the world, I’ve noticed how important it is for hotel rooms—or accommodation in general—to have a personality. In this era of AirBnB, hostels, hotels and design hotels, sometimes it’s hard to differentiate one place from another and you then miss out on special places while staying in cookie-cutter rooms. During my road trip around the Washington D.C./Virginia area, I ended up in a historical hotel in Richmond, the famous Linden Row Inn. A hotel where it was easy to feel lost in time.
The first thing you see when you enter the hotel is a sort of living room with old computers and vintage furniture, an introduction that reflects the whole design of the suites, most of them decorated with original, historical furniture. Once you go up the stairs tucked away behind reception, you encounter rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows and a spacious atmosphere. My hotel suite included fireplaces, an old wooden desk, chandeliers and a huge bed.
But more than the style of the suite and the beautiful architecture, the Linden Row Inn is famous because of its historical role in Richmond. First, the hotel today is the very same house where Edgar Allan Poe used to play as a child, under the linden trees.
The same trees and the garden with roses was the place where Poe began his romance with his first love, Elmira Royster. And maybe that’s why I found the temptation to cozy up in the room during a small rainstorm, sitting in the bay window at the small desk, writing my own stories.
On a mission to discover Richmond, however, I did get out to explore the city. The Linden Row Inn is located between 1st Street and Franklin Street, walking distance to Broad Street where a lot of restaurants, bars and clubs, and coffee shops are located. You can walk around the hotel and discover some of the street art that covers many of the walls in Richmond, part of the Richmond Mural Project.
The brick courtyard and the balconies of the Lindon Row Inn are a reminder of the historical past of the city. It’s easy to imagine people living here during the Civil War or the little girls who attended school there. Architectural historian Mary Wingfield Scott was the woman who saved the Linden Row Inn, preserving not only the Linden Row but many other historical buildings across Virginia.
The hotel, even when it looks ‘old,’ offers all that you might need for a great stay: space, comfortable beds, a mini-fridge for your drinks, wireless internet, parking, desks and good heating (always a necessity in historical homes!). While I visited, the rain made the whole experience more interesting, enhancing the nostalgia and the inspiration.
Linden Row Inn is a classic-yet-modern hotel that invites you to reflect about the past, the people who have come and gone, and the historical events that these walls have witnessed. Just like Richmond itself, a city that has a history but is continuously transforming into a more modern place. The hotel felt a lot like my Grandmother’s house—cozy, comfortable, familiar and friendly.
For more about Richmond, visit the official tourism website.
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In 2009, Adam Groffman quit his job as a graphic designer in Boston and went on a 15+ month trip around the world. The life-changing journey took him to places like North Africa, the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia. Since 2011 Adam has been living in Berlin—Europe’s most hipster city.
Travels of Adam is a hipster travel & lifestyle blog for sharing his personal experiences and alternative & indie travel tips from around the world. He also is the editor of My Gay Travel Guide—a gay travel website written by gay travelers for gay travelers.
