Kansas City ยท Library District
Hotel Savoy
Built by the Arbuckle Coffee owners, it took the Savoy name in 1894; the Savoy Grill fills its 1903 wing.
- Built
- c. 1890Built 1888 and opened 1889 as the Hotel Thorne (Wikipedia); west wing with the Savoy Grill added 1903. The 1974 nomination dates the original Ninth Street building to the early 1890s.
- Architect
- Van Brunt & Howe
- Type
- Boutique hotel
- Area
- Library District
- Credentials
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The story
The owners of the Arbuckle Coffee Company built the hotel, which opened in 1889 as the Hotel Thorne and was renamed the Savoy in 1894. A 1903 west wing added the Savoy Grill, long Kansas City’s oldest continuously operating restaurant. The Savoy was the first hotel travelers saw arriving from the old Union Depot and was long called the oldest continuously operating hotel west of the Mississippi until it closed for renovation in 2016. It reopened as a 21c Museum Hotel and now operates as Hotel Savoy, Tapestry Collection by Hilton.
The ghost story
Guests and staff report the ghost of Betsy Ward, whose late-1800s death in Room 505 is said to be the source of doors that open and close and taps that turn on by themselves; workers reportedly found an antique .32-caliber gun sealed in that room's wall.
Source: missourilife.com
Good to know
- Address: 219 W. 9th Street, Kansas City, MO
Sources (4)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoy_Hotel_and_Grill
- https://mostateparks.com/sites/g/files/zuston361/files/media/pdf/2025/02/savoy-hotel-and-grill.pdf
- https://guide.michelin.com/ca/fr/hotels-stays/kansas-city/hotel-savoy-kansas-city-8929
- https://missourilife.com/a-room-with-a-boo-stay-at-these-haunted-hotels/
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.