Battle House Named A Historic Hotel Of The Year

Historic Hotels of America has named The Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel & Spa as one of the recipients of the group’s 2020 Awards of Excellence, according to Al.com. The hotel took honors as the Best Historic Hotel in the midsize category of 201-400 guestrooms and was one of only two winners from the Southeast. The Battle House, known as “Mobile’s living room” in its heyday, was built in 1908, replacing an earlier hotel that opened in 1852 and burned down in 1905. By the end of the 20th century, it had fallen into decline and was boarded up. Around 2000, Retirement Systems of Alabama pitched a plan to buy the hotel and make it part of a complex including a spa and an adjacent office tower. That deal was sealed in 2002, clearing the way for a full restoration of the hotel and the construction of Alabama’s tallest building, the RSA Battle House Tower.