Noel Hotel (Noelle Nashville Hotel)

Constructed from 1928 to 1929, this Neo-classic style high-rise hotel cost $1.25 million and opened in 1930. Despite the challenges of operating a new luxury hotel during the Great Depression, the hotel became a central hub of Nashville and operated until the early 1970s. The building was constructed with a steel frame and concrete exterior along with limestone details. After four decades as a hotel, the building was renovated to serve as a banking and financial center called Noel Place. Noel Hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 as part of a themed nomination of Marr and Holman buildings in downtown Nashville. The building has become a hotel once again with a slightly changed name, the Noelle Nashville Hotel.

Noel Hotel borders 4th Ave., Church St., and Printer's Alley to the rear; the hotel building also is part of the Printer's Alley Historic District. The hotel was built on the spot where a spring supplied water to early settlers at Fort Nashboro.

Noel Hotel was designed by local architects Marr and Holman for lot owner O.F. Noel. It is one of the firm's last Neo-Classic designs. Above the ground floor windows are a second row of smaller windows with egg and dart molding and a Greek fret band. At the roofline, a concrete stepped parapet has circular and vertical inset decorations.

It took over a year to build the twelve-story hotel. Soon after the hotel opened in 1930, a postcard proclaimed that Noel Hotel was Nashville's newest and finest, offering a tub and shower in every room, circulating ice water, a ceiling fan, and a radio. The dining room and coffee shop were air-cooled; a garage was directly connected. A hotel brochure claimed the 400-car garage was fire-proof and "modern in every aspect;" customers could access the rear of the hotel from the front of the garage, with elevators that reached the lobby or room levels.

O. Russell Nichol was an early manager of the Noel Hotel. Patrons could stay at the Noel in the early 1930s for rates ranging from $2.50 to $4.00 for a single room; $3.50 to $6.00 for a double; and $6 to $8 for suites. The lobby sported columns of Italian marble imported from Rome and walls of Roman Travertine, all trimmed with Vermont green marble. Banisters and railings were solid bronze. The mezzanine level was meant for those who didn't want to "receive callers in their own suites." The Crystal Ball Room had a seating capacity of 300.

The former hotel was renovated into banking and office spaces in the 1970s. Noel Place lasted nearly fifty years before the building was repurposed to its original use. In 2017, the renovated building became a hotel once more and currently operates as the Noelle Nashville Hotel. The boutique hotel has teamed with local artists to give the hotel a uniquely Nashville look and feel. The name "NOELLE" is displayed in a vertical sign hung on the exterior street corner at the second-floor level.

Curt Teich & Co. Inc.. Noel Hotel, Nashville. Post Card, University of Memphis Digital Commons. January 1st, 2021. Accessed September 24th, 2022. https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-mss-verticalfiles7/54/.

Noel Hotel. Noel Hotel, Nashville, brochure, ca. 1930, University of Memphis Digital Commons. January 1st, 2021. Accessed September 24th, 2022. https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-mss-verticalfiles7/53/.

Noelle Nashville Hotel. Noelle Hotel, Noelle Hotel. January 1st, 2022. Accessed September 24th, 2022. https://www.noelle-nashville.com/.

Thomason, Philip. NRHP Nomination of Noel Hotel, Nashville, Tennessee. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1984.