Des Moines · Downtown
Renaissance Des Moines Savery Hotel
The 1919 Savery Hotel, where Eleanor Roosevelt stayed; some rooms are in a c.1899 annex and a 1950s west wing, so ask for the 1919 main block.
- Built
- 1919Main block completed and first occupied in 1919 (the second Savery on the site, replacing the 1888 Savery II razed in 1918); west wing added in the 1950s. An annex across the alley built about 1899 for the earlier hotel also holds guest rooms.
- Style
- Colonial Revival
- Architect
- H.L. Stevens & Company
- Type
- Grand hotel
- Area
- Downtown
- Credentials
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The story
James C. Savery opened his first small Des Moines hotel in 1853; the present 11-story building, designed by the Chicago hotel firm H.L. Stevens & Company in the Colonial Revival style, opened in 1919 on the site of the 1888 Savery II. During World War II the Savery served as induction center, barracks, mess hall and classrooms for the first Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps training center (1942–45). Eleanor Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman stayed here, and entertainer Tiny Tim lived at the hotel for nearly eight years in the 1980s. It was renovated in 1999 and again in 2016–2017.
Good to know
- Address: 401 Locust Street, Des Moines, IA
Sources (2)
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.