Built in 1965, the Governor’s House Hotel & Convention Center was once a premier landmark in Alabama’s capital city of Montgomery. The hotel featured 197 guest rooms, 6 meeting rooms, and a large banquet hall totaling over 19,500 square feet of meeting and convention space. The Governor’s House had all of the luxuries of a private country club with outdoor activities including swimming, golf at a 9-hole golf course and horseback riding. The hotel even had a restaurant and lounge, The Rotunda Restaurant and Filibuster Lounge. One fascinating feature of the hotel was the custom outdoor swimming pool built in the shape of Alabama.
During the 1960s, the Governor’s House Hotel quickly became one of the top convention centers in Montgomery. The hotel hosted all sorts of famous people and events. Former Alabama Governors George Wallace and Fob James both held their campaign election parties in the Alabama Room. Politicians were frequent guests in the Rotunda Restaurant. However, the guest list was not limited to only government officials. Many famous actresses and actors were also known to patronize the hotel. In 1990, Whoopi Goldberg was a guest at the Governor’s House Hotel while she filmed the movie The Long Walk Home.
By the 1990s, the Governor’s House Hotel was showing its age. Amenities like the horse stables and golf course were long gone. The area around the property was in a steady decline and the property went through a rebranding period as an economy-class hotel. Visitors complained of mold in the rooms and unsanitary conditions. The Governor’s House had passed its heyday and was a mere shadow of its once glorious self. Before permanently closing, only a third of the building was in use.
According to news reports, city officials were confident the area may regenerate itself and would entertain the idea of abating some property tax to get a developer to renovate the old hotel. In April 2019, Montgomery firefighters responded to reports of a two-alarm fire at the property. There’s no power to the building, ruling out electrical issues that could lead to fires. Due to its secluded design, the site is a magnet for homeless and vandals. Several rooms appeared to be occupied with makeshift doors in place. Numerous fires have been reported since the building first went up for auction in 2010.
In 2018, a sale was pending on the property but never materialized. A decade after closing, the Governor’s House Hotel remains for sale. The site now belongs to the State of Alabama through a tax lien. The Department of Revenue attempted to sell the famous Montgomery landmark for a mere $166,000, however, there were no buyers.
In February 2025, the City of Montgomery announced the former Governor’s House Hotel & Convention Center is slated for demolition as part of a larger project by the city to clean up blighted properties. The demolition marks the first step in a $6 million commercial demolition plan across the city. The property sprawls across 65,608 square feet. Demolition costs for the project are estimated to be $279,000. Bargainer Davis and Williams Architects Associated (BDW) is the architect overseeing the project, while TOA LLC has been contracted to carry out the demolition work.
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You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. For more amazing, abandoned locations from across Alabama, check out my books Abandoned Birmingham and Abandoned Alabama: Exploring the Heart of Dixie.
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Great post! Try to find some more abandoned motels!
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Thank you. I am always on the lookout!
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Hey have you explored the abandoned super 8 behind the former motel 6 governor’s house?
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Bremen Lakeview Resort in Bremen Al. Which is in Cullman County
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Another well done article with exquisite research. Thank you for what you do. Very much enjoyed.
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Thanks Laura! I appreciate you taking the time to read my blog.
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Wow, I have fond memories of this place. My uncle owned this property for a couple years and really put forth an effort to bring it back to life. It’s sad to see it like this! I have many photos of this place in action and looking sharp! I’ll share if I can locate them!
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I would love to see them if you find them.
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I’ll be sure to share!
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There is speculation that there was a bar under the Rotunda Room. Do you know if this actually existed?
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We as teenage children we had heard the same and spent many hours searching to no avail. I’m still searching for my stash of photos, I will come across them eventually!
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My grandfather, Reavis Allen, was the property manager here in the 1960s. My father grew up here – they lived in the manager’s suite. Emailing you photos soon!
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Love these kinds of articles about abandoned structures. Thank you for doing this. I know it’s very time-consuming.
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Check out Swannanoa in Afton va…
Crazy storyline!
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Great article. I was researching the Old Home Motel in Adamsville TN so see if it was still standing after this past tornado and came upon your article.
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I remember riding by this place as a kid in the early 1990s and being told it was a ‘rich’ hotel. I watched that part of the boulevard decline over the 90s and it was sad. This isn’t far from what used to be a fun putt-putt golf place & the Montgomery Mall.
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Great informative article. Have you done one on the Ben Moore Motel & Majestic cafe downtown Montgomery?
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Thank you, Jess. I have not been by the Ben Moore Motel but I read an article about it back a few years ago. Next time I am around that area, I will stop by if it is not too late.
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Amusingly, I was right next to this place earlier this year filming the Whelen 4004 siren (seen in your last photo) standing behind it for a monthly test. I felt it was some kind of hotel/motel, but didn’t know exactly what it was. Never realized it was such a famous landmark!
As a side note, the siren behind it was one of the few that were installed in 1993 as an addition to the city’s old Civil Defense-era siren system, though at least one was a replacement for the original CD siren that stood on the roof of the old GW Carver High School building until it was torn down. When the rest of the system was upgraded in the late-90s (IIRC), these Whelens were retained, presumably due to their age at the time and the fact that they were just simply an slightly older version of the new sirens that Montgomery chose to install at the time. The Whelens from 1993 all originally came with old analogue controllers, it appears, though most have since been replaced with newer digital ones. Interestingly, the one behind this abandoned motel still retains its original controller, which I believe is the last one in the county.
Although most of Montgomery’s old civil defense sirens were sold off to neighboring communities after the upgrade (with the neighboring Autauga and Elmore Counties getting a few each), half a dozen or so were left behind well into the 2010s. Two of them had their replacement sirens in slightly different spots from the original locations for better coverage, though these two have since been removed. One was located behind the Waffle House near the I-85/US 231 interchange, and its head was getting pretty overgrown prior to being removed completely in 2023. The other was located behind the now-former Floyd Elementary School on Augusta Avenue, and had the head removed from its pole sometime between 2016 and 2019. Interestingly, its pole still exists with the original controls still on it, and the power disconnect left in the “on” position. The other four remaining CD-era sirens still stand abandoned across the city, with their replacements standing tall right next to them. One of them can be found right next to Exit 3 on I-85, while the second is on Furnace Street near CSX’s S&N Yard. The third ain’t too far away, and can be found next to the Highland Gardens Elementary School. The fourth and final siren, and the last example of Federal Signal’s famous-ish Thunderbolt siren series within the city, is located on the west side of Montgomery at the intersection of Rice and Schley Streets.
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Not sure if you’ve heard, but this place is now scheduled to be demolished, as the first of many buildings in the city’s plan to clear-out blighted properties across the city.
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I worked there back in the 90’s. Loved getting to help decorate it for Christmas. It was struggling then with new owners. They did what they could but it was going down too fast. I loved the people there. Fantastic group of people.
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Was that while Bill Hardy and Shawn Brandenburg were giving it a go?
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