Omaha ยท Blackstone District
Kimpton Cottonwood Hotel
Built in 1916 as the Blackstone Hotel, closed as a hotel in 1976, reopened in November 2020; home of a disputed claim to the Reuben sandwich.
- Built
- 1916Constructed 1916 as the Blackstone, a residential hotel (nomination and the hotel's history page); Charles Schimmel bought it in 1920 and ran it as a hotel. Offices from 1984; reopened as a hotel in November 2020.
- Style
- Second Renaissance Revival
- Architect
- Francis W. Fitzpatrick (Bankers Realty Investment Company)
- Type
- Grand hotel
- Area
- Blackstone District
- Credentials
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Local landmark
The story
The Bankers Realty Investment Company built the eight-story Blackstone in 1916 as a residential hotel, and Vienna-born Charles Schimmel bought it in 1920 and made it Omaha’s most prestigious hotel. The hotel says the Reuben sandwich is said to have been created at a weekly poker game held there from about 1920 to 1935; the story is disputed, and one version has it first appearing on a Blackstone menu in 1925. The hotel also says John and Jacqueline Kennedy spent their fifth wedding anniversary here and that Richard Nixon announced his candidacy from the rooftop ballroom in 1967. Radisson bought it in 1968, it became offices in 1984, and Kiewit owned it from 2007. Clarity Development and Green Slate Development restored it for $75 million and reopened it in November 2020.
Good to know
- Address: 302 S. 36th Street, Omaha, NE 68131
Sources (3)
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.