Best Historic Hotels in Winston-Salem

Housed in the historic R.J. Reynolds Building, Kimpton Cardinal Hotel by IHG sits four minutes' walk from the M.C. Benton Jr. Convention Center, and pairs original architecture with modern boutique amenities including spa and wellness packages. The building's conversion kept enough of the original tobacco-company detailing that the lobby reads as a genuine landmark rather than a themed reproduction of one, right down to the original elevator grilles in the entrance and the marble detailing overhead, details a newly built hotel simply cannot replicate at any price point, however high the nightly rate runs.

The Historic Brookstown Inn, Trademark Collection by Wyndham sits in a converted mill building on Brookstown Avenue, roughly nine minutes' walk from Old Salem Museums and Gardens, with a hot breakfast and evening wine and cheese included. Rooms keep original hardwood floors and exposed brick where the mill conversion allowed, a different feel from the standardized layouts at the newer Hanes Mall chains a short drive away, and pets are not accepted here, worth checking before booking with an animal along for the trip rather than after arrival at the front desk.

DoubleTree by Hilton Winston Salem - University, NC operates from an older property off University Parkway, about twelve minutes' drive from Wake Forest University, with an outdoor pool added for a more modern amenity mix. Its highway-adjacent address off Highway 52 also makes it a practical stop for anyone driving through rather than dedicating a full day to downtown sightseeing before continuing the trip the next morning toward another Piedmont city on the same longer itinerary through North Carolina's midsection, without backtracking through downtown traffic first thing in the morning.

A short walk from Old Salem, Hawthorne Inn & Conference Center downtown carries both a historic and family-friendly tag, sitting roughly fifteen minutes on foot from the entrance with over a thousand guest reviews, among the highest review counts of any property in this city. That review volume gives a clearer read on consistency than the smaller sample sizes at some of the boutique historic properties nearby on this same list, worth weighing against the shorter walk some of them offer to the Old Salem entrance itself before booking either type of stay downtown for a longer multi-night family visit to the city and its surrounding attractions.