Tutwiler Hotel, Birmingham AL

I spent my 24 hours in Bham at various places around town but late at night, after my visit to Dreamland for pork ribs (nom!), I went home to The Tutwiler Hotel. It was Oscars Night so I hit the bar for a reassuringly expensive Sauvignon and a drunken chuckle at Sandra Bullock as she blubbed her way through her acceptance speech.

As a travel journalist, I’m lucky enough to be hosted in various types of accommodation and while to me, on the whole, hotels are hotels, The Tutwiler stands out in my memory for one thing.

The bed – OMG.

I have only ever felt the soft floaty loveliness of such a bed at one other hotel and I’m writing about that one next.

The mattress, bedsheets and pillows were delicious to sink into, particularly after a night on the Greyhound and a day on the Amtrak. And this wasn’t the wine talking. I’d had a little kip on arrival at 11am and it was genuinely glorious to fall back on to that Goldilocks bed - not too firm, not too soft, but absolutely just right.

I love it when a hotel gets the bed right - after all, it’s the main reason you need a hotel; somewhere to rest your head for the night.

The Tutwiler’s blurb explains why its beds are so good:

“Your eyes will be drawn to the luxurious bed. It’s tall, fluffy and looks like a white cloud piled with high pillows. That is Hampton Inn and Suites’ plush Cloud Nine bedding, which ensures that your bed is clean and comfortable to provide an amazing night’s rest. The luxurious mattress topper, soft duvet, high thread count sheets and assortment of soft and firm pillows will make you think are sleeping on a cloud.”

It was like sleeping on a cloud. Here is the bed. Looks pretty normal, right? But do not be deceived: a marvellous sleep lies within and upon:

It’s just a shame there weren’t enough hours in the night before I had to get up and squidge back into my Amtrak recliner seat.

As for The Tutwiler - I liked that it obviously had a history, from the drawing rooms on the ground floor to the historic photographs on the walls. This is even a hotel with an audio tour that tells the story of Birmingham through 42 historic photographs on the lobby level.

The current incarnation of the hotel lives on 2021 Park Place. But it was formerly The Ridgely Apartment building, which opened in 1914 as “one of the grandest apartment buildings in the south”. Converted to The Tutwiler Hotel in 1986, it underwent major renovation in 2006-7 when it was pretty much gutted with only the exterior, the polished marble floors and the vaulted ceilings remaining the same.

I can’t speak for Birmingham’s other luxury hotels but The Tutwiler was certainly a very pleasant and friendly place to stay - and I am also eternally grateful for the good service of theor ‘ambassadors’ at reception. If not for them, I wouldn’t have got to see Sloss Furnaces - read that post here.

Note: I stayed at the Tutwiler as guest of Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau. You can find more information about rates and reservations on the hotel website.

Hotel Du Vin, Birmingham UK

Also slap-bang in the city centre is Brum’s main historic hotel, which looks not unlike The Tutwiler. We used to have The Grand Hotel but since that closed its doors, the Hotel Du Vin Birmingham on Church Street is the main contender for ‘hotel with a history’.

The grand, old, early Victorian building formerly housed the Birmingham and Midland Eye Hospital, founded in 1823. There are 66 bedrooms and suites set around a central courtyard and original features include the sweeping staircase and granite pillars.

Hotel du Vin is a boutique hotel chain (featuring an extensive wine list, natch) that takes over old buildings and gives them the HDV makeover. I haven’t stayed at HDV Birmingham – I would give you a review but the HDV’s PR didn’t respond to my email request, grrr! – but I have stayed at HDV Brighton and it was there that I first fell back on to a bed whose name was heaven.

Handsprung mattresses and fine Egyptian linen are hallmarks of the brand. In fact, the mattress is apparently the most expensive item in the room - which often also contains such luxuries as twin rolltop bathtubs.

So if you want luxury in your overnight accommodation In B’ham UK, then there are a few options, but this one lives in the most stylish building of them all.

For more info about HDV Birmingham, here’s the website. Photo: Tony Hisgett/Flickr.