The Peabody Memphis has completed its latest renovation, a $19 million makeover of the historic hotel’s 464 rooms.

The 486,839-square-foot hotel at 149 Union Ave. Downtown has undergone multiple renovations recently, including a $2.5 million elevator restoration and modernization and a cleanup of outside the building.

The renovations are a part of the $130 million, 30-year upgrade plan announced in 2021 when the Center City Revenue Finance Corp., an affiliate board of the Downtown Memphis Commission, approved a 5% sales tax surcharge.

Conaway: I’m willing to let this masterpiece slide

“Through COVID, the rooms really took a pretty good beating, and we needed to go through and do a deep renovation,” said Craig Smith, vice president of brand development for The Peabody.

“Some of the design and some of the changes that we made really brought it up to current standards for a luxury hotel,” Smith said. 

Although the hotel opened in 1869 at the corner of Monroe Avenue and South Main Street, its current location at Union Avenue and Second Street opened Sept. 1, 1925.

It closed in 1975, but Memphis-based real estate company Belz Enterprises bought and restored the building, reopening it in 1981.

“It’s a complete departure from what it once was,” Smith said of the current renovations. “Everything is just much lighter, cleaner, and it looks like a true luxury hotel you might find in a major market. So it’s a big change.”

Each room received new feather-inspired carpet, light-blue and gray furniture, white bedding, decor, curtains, lighting, paint and air-conditioning systems. Bathroom hardware, including bathtubs and toilets, was not touched. 

The Peabody held an open house Thursday, Sept. 11, allowing visitors to tour the new rooms and hallways as a violinist performed and servers offered hors d’oeuvres.

About 70 attendees filled the seventh-floor hallway to capture a glimpse of the hotel’s updated look. 

Shalonda Campbell, a senior administrative coordinator for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, walked through the open rooms of the hotel, noting the brighter and more modern look. 

“(The Peabody) always had that historical look, which was perfect for the time, but I think everything is going more for the bright, airy look,” Campbell said. “That was one of the first things that caught my eye, like, ‘Yes, they’re a little bit brighter in here.’”

Campbell said St. Jude regularly used The Peabody for events, guest and patient lodging and board visits. 

Campbell said she also spent a night in The Peabody about four years ago, but the rooms now are “very different.” 

“Peabody is really synonymous with Memphis, and vice versa,” Smith said. “It’s become over the years an icon of this destination of the city. When you think of one, you think of the other, and we will continue to keep that reputation going.”