The Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday celebrated the ribbon cutting for a historic Dan River Inc. property that has been transformed into a boutique hotel.
Although The Laurel Hotel started welcoming guests in February, Tuesday’s event officially heralded the project.
Built in 1903 as the executive offices of Dan River Mills, it’s now a 36-room boutique hotel overlooking Caesars Virginia resort in the former Schoolfield Village.
The name itself is a throwback to the laurel emblem that was featured in the logo for Dan River Mills, a sprawling textile giant that operated from 1882 to 2006.
It’s in Schoolfield, which was once an independent mill village.
The refreshed building joins the Danville Hotel Collection, which also includes The Bee Hotel and The Holbrook Hotel. All three buildings have a link to Danville’s past.
Downtown, The Bee used to be the offices of Danville’s two newspapers, the morning Danville Register and The Bee in the afternoon. The Holbrook was built as medical offices along Main Street in Danville in the 1950s.
Bob McDonald, managing director of Murphy Asset Management, called the latest project a “labor of love.”
“You have to have a passion to make these things happen,” he said at Tuesday’s event. “It really takes a village to make a project like this come out as it has.”
McDonald said it wouldn’t have happened without the collective partnerships and credited Danville as being the “most business-friendly” and “collaborative effort” of any municipality to which he’d worked.
He was also amazed that it happened within the timeline that it did.
“You don’t know a building until you crack it open,” he said, explaining that it often leads to what he called “oh my” moments.
There were those along the way.
In the end, the hotel mixes modern touches — like deep soaking tubs in the bathroom — with the nostalgia of the offices that served the top leaders of Danville’s textile giant.
When strolling down the hallway, there are non-functioning doors left in place, a nod to the original offices in the building. In some areas, the interior glass remains, although it now has a privacy film applied.
The third floor was a technical attic space, but now is a host to rooms with exposed original bricks and beams. There’s also the original elevator mechanism on view in its own enclosed room.
There are four rooms that span two floors, creating a loft-style bedroom. Walking in, there’s a living room space and bathroom before a staircase leads to a bedroom that overlooks the space and the casino next door.
The hotel grounds also offer something that goes beyond the historic nature. With the iconic smokestacks — original to Schoolfield Mill — the sunsets hit different there across the expansive landscape.
“What an incredible space,” Danville Mayor Alonzo Jones said after touring the building on Tuesday.
“We sincerely appreciate all of the partners and everything that you all have done to make this possible today,” he continued. “It’s exciting in Danville.”