New boutique hotel open in downtown Raleigh

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A new boutique hotel is now open in downtown Raleigh replacing a Days Inn, adding to the growing list of hotels coming to the City of Oaks.

The Longleaf Hotel on North Dawson Street will be the first thing to welcome drivers as they head into downtown from Capital Boulevard.

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"We see its position as the gateway into downtown Raleigh as you're heading from the North-South," said Christine McDonald, Creative Director of Loden Properties, the Raleigh-based development company behind the hotel. "We see this as really something that absolutely can make Raleigh proud, can make us all feel proud, about the entry into downtown."

The mid-century modern hotel opened last week. The hotel is a nod to the Raleigh Travelodge erected in the 1960s.

The 56-room boutique hotel transformed the site of the former Raleigh Days Inn.

"It was a rundown property, certainly, when we acquired it but our team had the vision to look beyond what it currently was and what it could be," McDonald said.

The hotel is environmentally friendly, with five cisterns collecting water to be reused on the property, along with shampoo, conditioner and body wash dispensers in the showers to avoid single-use plastics.

The hotel focuses on local products, from the headboards made in Durham to snacks made throughout North Carolina.

The lounge is run by Matt Fern, who was a longtime beverage director of Ashley Christensen Restaurants.

"We'd like it to be a place where locals want to come as well and enjoy," McDonald said. "We've got an amazing wine selection."

Fern will run the deli, which will be built next to the hotel. It is set to open in the spring of 2021.

The hotel had a soft opening and will have an official grand opening event next month.

More info: Longleaf Hotel