It
wasn't the whim of an architect that made Hilton's Inn
at Quaker Square in Akron, Ohio, look like grain silos.
It really used to be a cluster of 36 silos, part of the complex
of mills, train depot, and railyard built in the late nineteenth
century by the Quaker Oats Company.
Creating
guest rooms in the circular towers required sawing through
six-inch concrete to form the balconies, windows and doors.
Many other creative engineering solutions were required to
translate the silo complex into a luxury hotel, and the entire
process took over seven years. The resulting guest rooms are,
not surprisingly, round.
Reliefs
and murals created by Akron artist Don Drumm decorate
the hotel's common areas. The one pictured here features celestial
bodies. Others incorporate components of machinery and trains
from Quaker Oats days.
In
addition to the unique hotel, Quaker Square has restaurants
and shops. We dined with our friends, David & Joan
Shaner and Marjorie & Bob Miller, at the Depot Restaurant,
which is surrounded by real railroad cars and locomotives.
Akron
Hilton Inn at Quaker Square
135 S. Broadway
Akron, Ohio 44308
(330) 253-5970
The
Hotel That Oats Built
