Hilton Richmond Downtown has completed a multimillion-dollar renovation project, which included the creation of a new bar and lounge called Gather & Hem. (Photos courtesy of Hilton Richmond Downtown)
A downtown Richmond hotel has wrapped up a round of renovations shortly after its cross-street rival finished up its own upgrade.
Hilton Richmond Downtown, which occupies the former Miller & Rhoads department store building at 501 E. Broad St., announced in late March that it had completed renovations that included a new bar concept and meeting space.
The hotel declined to specify the overall investment in the project, except to say it was a “multimillion-dollar” renovation.
The new bar concept, Gather & Hem, has replaced Thirst and Fifth at the hotel. The bar and lounge features 20 beer taps, up from the previous concept’s six taps.
“We really target the local craft ales with our taps,” hotel manager John Cario said. “The travelers want to try something new, and with Richmond having a lot of top craft beer, we wanted to tap into that as well — no pun intended.”
The lounge also offers food service. Starters are priced $12 to $19 and include things like charcuterie, barbecue sliders, nachos and a seafood basket. Entrees at Gather & Hem run $18 to $38. The menu also features sandwiches priced $15 to $18.
“Gather & Hem is going more toward the small plates, the more-local craft knowledge and creative cocktails,” Cario said. The bar’s signature cocktails run $14 to $18.
Gather & Hem has seating for 80 people and was fully opened by November. The hotel is also home to restaurant La Grotta and breakfast spot 1885 Cafe and Market.
The renovation project also created a 1,400-square-foot, so-called “hybrid” meeting room dubbed Ensemble that features a designated kitchen and a private breakout space.
“It’s a great room for a law group coming in or perhaps a longer-term meeting or event that wants its own room,” Cario said. “A lot of the larger groups are looking for breakout rooms, higher-end hospitality rooms.”
The space was once a Liberty Mutual office but more recently was used by hotel staff as a meeting room, Cario said. The hotel has more than 10,000 square feet of meeting space overall.
The renovation replaced many of the bathtubs in its 250 rooms with showers.
The project included renovations for all 250 guest rooms at the hotel, with the work primarily focused on the rooms’ bathrooms. Eighty percent of the rooms had their bathtubs replaced with showers, Cario said.
A 2015 renovation focused on the rooms’ sleeping areas, he said. The rooms portion of the project was completed in June 2021.
The more recent upgrades also included renovations to the hotel’s indoor pool and gym.
Building permits on file with the city put the cost of the bar and meeting space renovations and bathroom upgrades at roughly $1.3 million combined.
Baskervill handled interior design on the project. The general contractor was Florida-based Land-Ron Inc.
The hotel is owned by Ohio-based Rockbridge. HRI Lodging manages the property.
Hilton’s announcement comes a few months after Richmond Marriott, across the street at 500 E. Broad St., polished off its own multimillion-dollar renovation that revamped its former sports bar into a higher-end restaurant called Fall Line Kitchen & Bar.
In other downtown hotel news, Retro Hospitality has taken on management duties for Quirk Hotel’s Richmond and Charlottesville locations, which were formerly managed by Hyatt Hotels.
Hilton Richmond Downtown has completed a multimillion-dollar renovation project, which included the creation of a new bar and lounge called Gather & Hem. (Photos courtesy of Hilton Richmond Downtown)
A downtown Richmond hotel has wrapped up a round of renovations shortly after its cross-street rival finished up its own upgrade.
Hilton Richmond Downtown, which occupies the former Miller & Rhoads department store building at 501 E. Broad St., announced in late March that it had completed renovations that included a new bar concept and meeting space.
The hotel declined to specify the overall investment in the project, except to say it was a “multimillion-dollar” renovation.
The new bar concept, Gather & Hem, has replaced Thirst and Fifth at the hotel. The bar and lounge features 20 beer taps, up from the previous concept’s six taps.
“We really target the local craft ales with our taps,” hotel manager John Cario said. “The travelers want to try something new, and with Richmond having a lot of top craft beer, we wanted to tap into that as well — no pun intended.”
The lounge also offers food service. Starters are priced $12 to $19 and include things like charcuterie, barbecue sliders, nachos and a seafood basket. Entrees at Gather & Hem run $18 to $38. The menu also features sandwiches priced $15 to $18.
“Gather & Hem is going more toward the small plates, the more-local craft knowledge and creative cocktails,” Cario said. The bar’s signature cocktails run $14 to $18.
Gather & Hem has seating for 80 people and was fully opened by November. The hotel is also home to restaurant La Grotta and breakfast spot 1885 Cafe and Market.
The renovation project also created a 1,400-square-foot, so-called “hybrid” meeting room dubbed Ensemble that features a designated kitchen and a private breakout space.
“It’s a great room for a law group coming in or perhaps a longer-term meeting or event that wants its own room,” Cario said. “A lot of the larger groups are looking for breakout rooms, higher-end hospitality rooms.”
The space was once a Liberty Mutual office but more recently was used by hotel staff as a meeting room, Cario said. The hotel has more than 10,000 square feet of meeting space overall.
The renovation replaced many of the bathtubs in its 250 rooms with showers.
The project included renovations for all 250 guest rooms at the hotel, with the work primarily focused on the rooms’ bathrooms. Eighty percent of the rooms had their bathtubs replaced with showers, Cario said.
A 2015 renovation focused on the rooms’ sleeping areas, he said. The rooms portion of the project was completed in June 2021.
The more recent upgrades also included renovations to the hotel’s indoor pool and gym.
Building permits on file with the city put the cost of the bar and meeting space renovations and bathroom upgrades at roughly $1.3 million combined.
Baskervill handled interior design on the project. The general contractor was Florida-based Land-Ron Inc.
The hotel is owned by Ohio-based Rockbridge. HRI Lodging manages the property.
Hilton’s announcement comes a few months after Richmond Marriott, across the street at 500 E. Broad St., polished off its own multimillion-dollar renovation that revamped its former sports bar into a higher-end restaurant called Fall Line Kitchen & Bar.
In other downtown hotel news, Retro Hospitality has taken on management duties for Quirk Hotel’s Richmond and Charlottesville locations, which were formerly managed by Hyatt Hotels.