Today’s building, off an Interstate in Tifton, Georgia, isn’t the sort of building you’d expect to have any history at all:

It’s a typical Hampton Inn, with the typical brand-prototype styling. What could possibly be interesting about this?

Well, does it look slightly long and low for a Hampton Inn or similar hotel? Here it is from the air:

Now if this had simply been a different brand of hotel, with a building a little different from your purpose-built Hampton Inn, I wouldn’t be bothering with it. The answer is actually much more interesting.

Here is the very same Hampton Inn in the late 2000s:

This was one of the last two motel-style (i.e. low-slung, exterior corridor) Hampton Inn properties left by the late 2010s. Even many Marriott properties were once exterior-corridor buildings. But these brands increased their status over the years, and Hampton, by then a Hilton brand, no longer wanted any motel-style properties in its lineup.

That’s an interesting bit of commercial history. But what’s interesting about the building is, yes, it is the same building. How is that possible?

From Lodging Magazine:

The previous exterior corridor property underwent a complete renovation, leaving only the building’s cement structure. He [hotel owner] created new interior corridors, larger guest rooms, additional suites with two king size beds per room and additional parking; updated public spaces; and installed new HVAC and plumbing. The hotel now includes 96 rooms total, up from 83, Turton says.

The second remaining motel-style property was profiled here as well, and renovated in the same manner:

“We left nothing but the concrete cubicle,” he says. “The important thing to realize is that everything must come out of that room. You’ll save 30-40 percent over building a new building, and you’ll come back with the same perception like it’s a new property.”

You could argue, perhaps, that leaving nothing but the concrete skeleton really doesn’t count as the “same building.” But it is not a teardown and rebuild, either. This is one of the most dramatic remodels of an existing structure I’ve seen.

Have you ever seen this before? Are you aware of similar projects that stretch the limit of “same building”? Leave a comment!

Related Reading:

What Do You Think You’re Looking At? #4

What Do You Think You’re Looking At? #28

Glass Blocks, Glass Blocks, Glass Blocks

Thanks for reading! Please consider upgrading to a paid subscription to help support this newsletter. You’ll get a weekend subscribers-only post, plus full access to the archive of over 300 posts and growing—more than one full year! And you’ll help ensure more material like this!

Share