Hotel Phillips

Established in 1931 by Mr. Charles E. Phillips, a long-time Kansas City hotel and apartment builder, this historic hotell was once the tallest building in town, standing 20 stories high. This was the first hotel in Kansas City to have radios in each guest room. This location had previously been home to the Glennon Hotel which for a short time housed a haberdashery operated by President Harry S. Truman. Today, the hotel honors that history with the historically-themed Truman Suite on the top floor. Full of European-influenced Art Deco opulence, this hotel was the place to see and be seen in the 1930s and helped to propel Kansas City's image. Throughout the years, Hotel Phillips housed many dignitaries and celebrities, from Dwight D. Eisenhower and Tina Turner to The Foo Fighters, Paul McCartney, and LeBron James.

The process of building the hotel started in 1929 when Charles E. Phillips, president of the hotel company, commissioned the architectural firm of Boillot & Lauck to design the hotel to replace the Glennon Hotel. Hotel Phillips had several modern and elegant features, such as having a radio receiver in every room, which could broadcast music from any of Kansas City's four stations in operation in 1931. Meanwhile, sculptures, paintings, and other artwork could be found in the lobby and dining rooms, and black glass ceilings adorned the lobby to give an impression of space. Several dining rooms operated within the hotel, with the Pioneer Room as its largest. Indeed, the hotel used the Pioneer Room for large dinners and meetings as it could seat 300 people. The dining halls speak to the goal of the hotel's builders, who hoped to attract visitors from the city's successful convention business. 

Phillips did not own the hotel; he leased it from Louis Oppenstein of the Oppenstein Brothers Firm. The unusually long ninety-nine-year lease ran from January 22, 1929, to January 31, 2021. After Phillips died in 1955, the lease transferred to his three sons, Charles Jr., Robert L., and Richard, followed years later by Robert's two sons. But, the Philips Hotel finally closed in 1971. After the hotel ceased operating, the Oppenstein Firm decided to spend more than a year and a half and $500,000 renovating and remodeling the hotel. In 1976, the Oppenstein Brothers Charitable Foundation gifted the hotel to Rockhurst College. The college continued to provide guest facilities in the hotel and used the facility to host evening courses and seminars. Still, low attendance and occupancy forced the college to sell the property in the fall of 1977. From the 1980s until the present, the hotel has been renovated twice and operated under the umbrella of multiple national hotel chains such as Radisson, Marcus, Wyndham, and, most recently, Hilton.

Michalak, Joan L. "Nomination Form: Hotel Phillips." National Register of Historic Places. mostateparks.com. 1979. https://mostateparks.com/sites/mostateparks/files/Hotel%20Phillips.pdf. 

"Hotel Phillips." Kansas City Public Library. kchistory.org. Accessed September 7, 2022. https://kchistory.org/image/hotel-phillips.

"Hotel Phillips." Rosin Preservation. Accessed September 7, 2022. https://rosinpreservation.com/portfolio_page/hotel-phillips/.

"A Rich History and Culture." Historic Kansas City. historickansascity.org. Accessed September 6, 2022. https://www.historickansascity.org/kansas-city/.

Roe, Jason. "Thomas Joseph Pendergast." Kansas City Public Library: Pendergast Years. pendergastkc.org. Accessed September 7, 2022. https://pendergastkc.org/article/biography/pendergast-thomas-joseph.