Historic Hotels & Inns in Birmingham

The neighborhoods

Where to stay, by area

Downtown & the Heaviest Corner

Downtown’s core is the grid of numbered streets and avenues around 20th Street North, where the corner at 1st Avenue North was promoted from 1911 as the ‘Heaviest Corner on Earth’ for its four early skyscrapers, built from 1902 to 1912 and a National Register district since 1985. The Elyton Hotel fills the 16-story Empire Building (1909) on that corner; the 1982 National Register nomination describes altered upper floors, so expect modern rooms. The Tutwiler Hotel (2021 Park Place, the 1914 Ridgely Apartments) and the Redmont Hotel (2101 5th Avenue North, opened May 1, 1925) sit farther north. The Magic City Connector bus runs along 20th Street toward UAB and Five Points South.

Civil Rights District

The City designated the Birmingham Civil Rights District in 1992, and on January 12, 2017 President Barack Obama proclaimed the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, run by the National Park Service with partner sites. It takes in Kelly Ingram Park, where marchers faced police dogs and fire hoses in May 1963; 16th Street Baptist Church (1530 6th Avenue North), where a Klan bomb killed Denise McNair, 11, and Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley, all 14, on September 15, 1963; the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute; and the 4th Avenue district, once the center of Black commerce in the city.

The A.G. Gaston Motel (1510 5th Avenue North), bombed on May 12, 1963, is a monument site, not lodging: its 1954 wing is closed for renovation and visitors can’t enter the former rooms, though the City-run 1968 addition is open with an exhibit and a coffee shop. The Institute (520 16th Street North) opens Tuesday–Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m., with last admission at 4 p.m. and adult tickets at $15. Church tours, booked online, run Tuesday–Saturday 10 a.m.–3 p.m. (last start) at $10 for adults, and Kelly Ingram Park is open daily 8 a.m.–8 p.m.

None of the six stays is inside the district. By address the closest is the Redmont Hotel, on the same avenue at 21st Street.

Morris Avenue & Loft District

Morris Avenue grew up in the late 1800s beside the railroad as a warehouse and produce street, and it served as Birmingham’s main food distribution center until the 1950s; offices and then loft homes moved in from the late 1990s. The stay here is The Kelly (2027 1st Avenue North), in the 14-story 1928 Protective Life tower, on the same stretch of First Avenue as the Elyton; the cobbled blocks of Morris and the Amtrak station at 1801 Morris Avenue are close by address. East along First Avenue North at 32nd Street stands Sloss Furnaces, a National Historic Landmark that made pig iron from 1882. The company used convict-leased labor in its mines, where the Encyclopedia of Alabama records 90 of 1,000 prisoners dying in 1890.

Five Points South

Five Points South began as the Town of Highland, a streetcar suburb incorporated May 14, 1887, and today it is the city’s late-dining neighborhood on the Southside beside UAB. Hotel Indigo Five Points South (1023 20th Street South) is in the 1931 Art Deco Medical Arts Building, a contributing building in the Five Points South Historic District. Alabama Tourism notes that restaurants and nightlife stay open late while shops usually close around 5 p.m. The Coston Shoe Shop site at 1026 20th Street South marks the area’s first commercial building, owned by Black shoemaker Pinkey Coston. The Magic City Connector and MAX Routes 14 and 31 link the neighborhood to downtown.

Automotive District (Southside)

The Automotive Historic District, listed in 1991, is a second commercial area south of downtown, roughly bounded by First Avenue North, 24th Street South, Fifth Avenue South and 20th Street South. The Painted Lady Hotel (2143 2nd Avenue South) has its rooms on the second and third floors of the three-story 1895 Eyer-Raiden Building, with no elevator and free off-street parking at 2121 2nd Avenue South. The hotel sells it as a walkable base and puts UAB about a mile away, though it gives no walking times.

Before you book

Planning your stay

Getting around

Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM) is about five miles northeast of downtown, and the airport says it has nonstop flights to 22 airports in 19 cities on American, Delta, Southwest, United and Breeze. Uber and Lyft operate here, and The Painted Lady Hotel puts an airport taxi or rideshare at about $25–$30. Amtrak’s Crescent stops at 1801 Morris Avenue, in the same complex as MAX Central Station, Greyhound and Megabus. The downtown stays, Morris Avenue and the Civil Rights District share one numbered street grid, and the Magic City Connector (Route 90, adult fare $0.30) runs 20th Street from the BJCC through Central Station to Five Points South. Birmingham Xpress (Route 100) is free and runs from Woodlawn through Central Station to Crossplex; regular MAX fares are $1.50 one way, and the Route 90 and 100 timetables show no Sunday service.

Parking

Hotel parking downtown is valet-led: the Elyton Hotel posts $37.60 all-in (24 hours on Fridays and Saturdays, 6:30 a.m.–11 p.m. other days), The Kelly’s valet is $40, and Hilton pages list the Redmont at both $35 and $40. We couldn’t confirm rates at the Tutwiler or Hotel Indigo, so ask. The Painted Lady Hotel is the exception, with complimentary off-street parking at 2121 2nd Avenue South. Downtown meters take coins or the ParkMobile app; we couldn’t confirm current rates or hours. For the Civil Rights District, the Institute has free parking behind the building off 15th Street North, with accessible spaces in the rear lot, and the Gaston Motel has street parking and an adjacent lot.

When to go

Visit Birmingham recommends spring (highs in the 70s and 80s) and fall for milder, less humid days; July and August average in the 90s. Plan civil rights days for Tuesday through Saturday, because the Institute is closed Sunday and Monday. The 29th Sidewalk Film Festival is August 23–29, 2027 in the Historic Theatre District, and the JLab Birmingham Bowl is December 29, 2026 at Protective Stadium. The Magic City Classic, Alabama A&M against Alabama State at Legion Field, falls in October; its 2027 date isn’t announced.

Accessibility

The Civil Rights Institute says it is fully accessible with ramps throughout and keeps a limited number of wheelchairs, and Kelly Ingram Park is paved with some uneven ground. At the A.G. Gaston Motel, the NPS lobby is reached by a metal ramp with no automatic door, the 1954 upper floor has no elevator, and the City side has a street-level entrance and ramps. The Painted Lady Hotel has no elevator, and every room is up a staircase. We couldn’t confirm details for the other five stays, so ask before you book. MAX fixed-route buses have ramps or lifts, and riders who can’t use them have ADA door-to-door paratransit ($2 one way).

Before you book

Book early for the Magic City Classic weekend and Sidewalk week. The Painted Lady Hotel takes full prepayment at booking, charges $45 per stay for pets, and checks in at 4 p.m. and out at 10 a.m.; call to confirm its refund terms. The Redmont and The Kelly don’t take pets. The Tutwiler’s DoubleTree conversion was still under way in August 2026, with the hotel open throughout, so ask what’s finished.