29-Nov-2023 Savannah Riverfront - JW Marriott Powerplant Hotel

Today we discovered an interesting place – it's a power plant from the early 1900s that was active until 2005, decommissioned in 2008 and then renovated from 2012–2020 to be a beautiful new Marriott hotel. Below is a picture of it from the Internet so that you can get a feel for the scope and size:

The interior is a massive multi story lobby that contains a life-size scale model of a dinosaur made of chrome. There are lots of other artifacts and fossils making the lobby feel a bit like a museum. I noticed there was a sign for their restaurant that said "Stone and Webster steakhouse" and I couldn't help but wonder if it was at all related to the Stone and Webster company I worked for many years ago. I asked the concierge and found out that indeed it was Stone and Webster that did the design and build of this powerplant in the early 1900s. It operated first as a fossil fuel plant, then switched to coal and eventually switched to natural gas.

Some of the really interesting features are that they retained are the original smokestacks which have been turned into small private dining rooms that fit 3 tables. If you look at the video below you'll see that I panned up to show how the smokestack still continue all the way up through the building. It's interesting on certain floors in front of the elevator bays you also see the large round smoke stack structure. The design is brilliant how an incorporates so many of the original structures features into a new high-end facility.

On the rooftop they have a huge bar complete with a slide down to the level below. We had fun with the slide and the rolling chairs and enjoyed cocktails with light up ice cubes overlooking the river. What a clever way to reuse an old power plant!

If anyone ever finds themselves in Savannah I would highly recommend this as a very unique place to stay!

Here is the smokestack dining room: