Imagine for a second . .
That you took a deteriorated 7 story lodge from the early 20th century to renovate it into a 21st century, 41,442 square foot downtown core hotel with a bar on almost every floor, artwork about local subjects, cozy rooms for guests – and even a 700 person ballroom.
That’s what they’ve done & my hat’s off to McMinnemins for their vision and investment.
The 1915 property, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, took a decade to remodel, including financing, planning, and hiring tradesmen.
With 54 renovated locations in Washington and Oregon, they knew what they were doing and it shows in many ways, big & small.
They even aptly renamed it The Elks Temple. And it is Temple-ish.
It now houses:
- 45 hotel rooms, most with marine views
- McMenamins Pub that seats 250 with a marine view
- The Old Hangout Bar with a fire pit and a waterfall
- Doc’s Bar: a game room with shuffleboard, pool, and pinball
- The Spanish Bar with great artwork and tapas
- A bottle shop and brewery tasting room that also serves espresso
- A seven barrel brewery serving their 16-tap tasting room
- And the Spanish Ballroom, a 700-person capacity concert hall with stage & professional sound system
Seems like a full service lost weekend to me. More at the Temple site here.
Some serious work was needed
As you can see from these before images, it was a major project due to the state of the neglected lodge, but the basic bones of the structure were sound, which allowed the developers to keep most of the larger architectural elements like columns & interior windows. Funding and planning was started in 1999 and the doors finally opened with much anticipation in 2019.
The visuals are eye-popping . . .
As you can see, the color palette is amazing and well coordinated. Lots of great northwest natural woods are everywhere & the textures of wood, fabric, lighting, and even the flooring are inviting to the eye & hand.
Love the many chandeliers, like in the lobby.
Their collection seems to be from all over the world and very large. I doubt there’s a duplication anywhere.
And that artwork
It’s meant to feel like a place to roam and explore & the Staff were welcoming about eyeballers like us.
We grabbed a map and drink near the lobby and enjoyed journeying throughout the entire place.
We dropped into the many watering holes in the hotel, just hung out, played some pool, thought about dancing a bit, then just opted to walk up through the many floors to check out the amazing & numerous original Ttown inspired works of art.
Art as decor 
Moving throughout each floor I saw that there’s a lot of art involving Jimi Hendrix who grew up in Seattle, and traveled through Tacoma. He continues to inspire, even after the 70s . . .
Tacoma’s worst-kept secret
While you’re noodling around, check out The Vault behind secret panels below grade. (Ask about it in the taproom.) It’s tiny, but this secret bar boasts an unusual ceiling. Since it’s under an old sidewalk it has been reworked with grid sections of magnesium glass. Light from the outside trickles in – until a passersby’s footsteps appear and the squares momentarily go dark.
All are welcome at the secret bar – but it’s dicey to find.
The Spanish Steps
Climbing the hillside adjacent to the building is a stairway called the Spanish Steps.
Modeled after the Scalinata di Spagna in Rome, Tacoma’s Spanish Steps were originally constructed in 1916 to connect a streetcar line on Broadway Street with City Hall on Commerce Street.
The staircase fell into disrepair in the 1950s and continued to degrade until it was luckily rehabilitated by the City of Tacoma in 2011. It’s an impressive feature that adds to this new piece of downtown.
More in depth from South Sound Magazine
South Sound Magazine’s April 2019 article about the whole enterprise does a nice job of outlining the effort. I could go on & on, but the brief walk through we had convinced me that this is special & worth recommending to readers who venture up into the Great Northwest. Next time I’m up there, this might be an alternative to another Air BnB . .
Sources: McMinnemins, Wikipedia, South Sound Magazine. The images are mine; nice planning sketch by David Chamness from Urban Sketchers.
