The 1892 Windsor Hotel…Georgia’s Victorian Secret

Contact: Christiane Grune

229-924-1555, Ext 109

windsor@bellsouth.net

            In 1892, twenty-four years after the War Between the States, an architect of vision designed a building that would become the centerpiece of Americus, Georgia, downtown historic district. The architect was S.L. Normann of Atlanta. The building was the Windsor Hotel. The design was an eclectic Victorian-era with towers and turrets and balconies on the building that took up an entire city block.

            At that time, the sixty year old Sumter County, Georgia, was a railroad center for the shipping of cotton. The automobile was still unknown; Coca-Cola was only six years old and confederate veterans were not yet all old men. In 1882 it cost $100,000 to build the magnificent Windsor Hotel. When the hotel was restored in 1991, it cost $6 million. 

            The Windsor was originally built to attract northern hunters trying to escape the cold winters of the north. Today the restored Windsor Hotel sits in the center of the Americus national register historic district. A few blocks away begins the town’s residential section of antebellum, classical and Victoria-era homes. The city of Americus has preserved many of its original downtown buildings.

            Stepping into the Windsor old lobby takes one back to the days when Queen Victoria sat on the throne of England, and Americans emulated the British style and custom. One is transported to a time of petticoats, smoking jackets and corsets; when gentlemen retired to the bar and the ladies went to the parlor.

            The Windsor lobby is a three-tier atrium of polished golden oak and marble. The Grand Dining Room offers the splendor of the olden times and serves the new southern gourmet cuisine along with the time-loved southern favorites. Floyd’s Pub and the adjacent verandah offer an opportunity to sit in wicker rockers and remember a time long past.

            The Windsor has 53 period rooms and suites, each of them different in style and layout, authentically restored with period wall paper, colors and fabrics. All guestrooms are equipped with high speed internet service, and so are the banquet rooms and Floyd’s Pub.

            Visitors to the Windsor over the years have included Franklin Roosevelt, then Governor of New York, a mysterious prince Morocco, and the infamous John Dillinger who stationed body guards at the bottom of the stairs to the tower where he slept.

            In recent years the Windsor has hosted many receptions attended by native son, Jimmy Carter, who lives 9 miles down the road in Plains, Georgia. Ten miles to the north is the Andersonville Historic Site and Civil War town, and the National Prisoner of War Museum.  

            The Windsor has just started its second restoration process under the management of the Patel Family; the first one took place in 1999-2000. Under this process, the turret’s roof will be restored, all the windows will be sealed and painted, and all of the awning covers will be replaced. In addition, both the exterior and interior of the hotel’s brick walls will be sealed to avoid water damage. Once the exterior of the hotel is finished, the restoration of the interior will be started. All of the hallways, public areas and doors will be restored. Guestrooms will have their ceilings and walls painted. The verandah facing downtown Americus will also be painted. Moreover, the Windsor Americus-Sumter room has recently been renovated, and is ready to host receptions of up to 120 people.