Draft:Campbell House (Lexington, Kentucky)




 * For other uses, see Campbell House (disambiguation).

The Campbell House in Lexington, Kentucky, also known as The Campbell House Curio and historically as the Campbell House Inn, is a hotel dating from 1951.

It opened in 1951 as a two-story 99 guestroom motor inn.

Per a contemporary postcard, it was a "resort hotel" with "supper dancing for your pleasure" as well as swimming, golf, tours of horse farms, etc.

Lexington Kentucky Campbell House Inn Multiview Vintage Postcard K38287

By 1986 it had been expanded to 229 rooms with a pool and dining room and more, and was presented as a "glamorous destination". In 1986 it was damaged by a fire; in 2009 it was damaged by a wind storm. It became part of the Crowne Plaza chain in the early 2000's and in 2015 became part of the Curio, A Collection by Hilton brand.

In 2020 it was a member of the Historic Hotels of America, but in 2021 it appears not to be.

It was built as a fireproof, H-shaped hotel, during a local hotel boom.

It has been the location of numerous conventions, from that of the Kentucky arborists (2014), to that of the Kentucky Oil & Gas Association Annual Meeting, scheduled for 28 - 29 Jun 2023. (try Kentucky Oil & Gas Association)

According to William Ellison Project: Black People in Lexington Oral History Project Interview Summary: "A World War II veteran, William Ellison graduated from Dunbar High School and was drafted by the United States Navy where he served as a steward. The discrimination he faced while in the Armed Forces is discussed, as well as that which he encountered at home in Lexington after the war. Mr. Ellison worked at the Lafayette Hotel, the Campbell House, and the Continental, and he talks about working conditions at all three as well as job opportunities available and discrimination faced by African Americans employed at these businesses. He briefly discusses the 1960s civil right movement."

It is named as one of 300 haunted places in Kentucky and Indiana by the Louisville Courier Journal.