Madison Hotel

The firm of Price and Walton was the architect of the Madison Hotel, built for local hotelmen Eugene Fetter and John Hollinger. The 14-story Georgian Revival style building is steel frame covered in brick and the roof is 150 feet tall. While the building was a highrise in its era, it is not even in the top 20 tallest buildings in Atlantic City now (the tallest is the 53-story Ocean Resort building at over 700 feet). Three arches along the main facade lead to the entrance doors, leading to a vestibule. The lobby, across the full width of the building, was decorated with pink and cream marble floors, decorated plaster ceilings, fancy chandeliers, and a grand staircase of pink marble resembling one at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Formal dining was offered to the elegantly-dressed middle and upper class guests at the indoor restaurant; sidewalk cafe tables were available, too. The ground floor also contained the kitchen and the building's mechanical systems; being a half block from the ocean, creating a functional basement wasn't a good idea. The penthouse features a large Palladian style opening and gabled roof; it is surrounded by a sun deck. The name Madison came from the owners' existing hotels being named the Jefferson and the Monticello, so they kept with their early presidents from Virginia/ colonial revival theme. Two Stuart portraits of James and Dolley Madison (yes, she spelled her name with an e) were reproduced and were hung in the lobby.

Many older hotels in Atlantic City were demolished in the 1970s and 1980s to make room for casinos. Madison Hotel was one of the hotels in the crosshairs of the wrecking ball, when a Las Vegas company, Pinnacle Entertainment, hoped to build a $1.5 billion resort; luckily for the hotel, their plans didn't come true. For a time, the Madison Hotel was converted into a nursing home, and the rooms and lobby were subdivided into smaller spaces; that was reversed in the early 1980s. A major renovation was conducted from 2002 to 2004 to convert the hotel into a companion hotel for gamblers of the Sands Casino Hotel across the street. The $7 million project by the Sands created all-suites lodging in the "Madison House." When the Sands Hotel shut down in 2006, the Madison Hotel closed, too. The Madison Hotel was used briefly as lodging for foreign, seasonal workers as a youth hostel, but mainly was vacant after the 2006 closure.

After a failed auction sale of the Madison Hotel, rumor had it that a potential buyer was very interested if he could get a hotel chain involved. George Levin finally sold the hotel property in the fall of 2013. The building only needed cosmetic renovations before the January 2014 reopening; an historic red neon sign atop the 14-story brick building reading "Madison Hotel" was relit after being converted to LED lights. The Baymont Inn & Suites kept Madison Hotel as part of the new hotel's name, and retained some of the original chandeliers and the grand staircase in the impressive lobby. The hotel chain offered moderate prices in its 126 suites, so was no longer luxury accommodations.

Emporis. Madison House Hotel, Buildings, Atlantic City. Accessed February 8th 2021. https://www.emporis.com/buildings/133043/madison-house-hotel-atlantic-city-nj-usa.

Thomas, George E. NRHP nomination of Madison Hotel, Atlantic City. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1984.

Wittkowski, Donald . "Historic Atlantic City hotel, Madison House up for sale, again." Press of Atlantic City (Atlantic City, NJ) October 12th 2013.

Wittkowski, Donald . "Brighter days ahead for historic Madison House Hotel." Press of Atlantic City (Atlantic City, NJ) February 1st 2014.