Less than a mile from the Amtrak train station at the northern edge of Lancaster’s core, I strolled into the lobby of the Lancaster Arts Hotel and checked into one of the 63 rooms and suites on five floors.

My room provided clear indications of the building’s original use—a tobacco warehouse from about 1881 to 1945, after which it housed a wholesale paper and twine business and, lastly, an electronics business. The brick walls, formidable beams and posts, and wood plank floors harken back to the days when it stored this valuable cash crop, but that doesn’t mean the hotel is stuck in the past. Operating since 2006, the Lancaster Arts provides all the modern conveniences you need: a charging station, mini-fridge, flat-screen TV, complimentary WiFi and water bottles, and Turkish bathrobes. French doors open to the bathroom, stocked with fragrant Sicilian blood orange toiletries.

On the desk I found a sketch pad and pencil, inviting me to explore my inner artist and perhaps to add to the hotel’s inventory—over 260 original pieces of art, from sculptures to sketches, furniture to paintings, valued at more than $300,000. Even the Do Not Disturb sign summons your creativity: “Artist at Work.”

After my first night here, I headed downstairs for breakfast, where a standard hotel buffet awaited me in a brick-walled room that leads out to a trellis-covered terrace. A selection of coffee and tea, a trio of juices, scrambled eggs, bacon and turkey sausage, cheese cubes and cured meats, muffins and blueberry scones, fresh fruits, bagels and make-them-yourself pancakes, and yogurts and cereals provide enough variety to vary your morning meal every day for a while.

At night, you can head into the on-site restaurant for farm-to-table cuisine. Or, if you’re returning from a workout at the YMCA across the street (the hotel provides guest passes), dinner in town (with an unexpectedly diverse food scene, from Nepalese to Belgian, Uruguayan to Thai), or a live show at the historic Fulton Theatre, you can relax in the comfortable lobby next to the hanging staircase and play a game of chess, or just take a seat in one of the specially made chairs with six-foot-tall backs in the shape and texture of tobacco leaves.

When you finally return to your room for a solid night’s sleep, you may very well find a long-stem red rose on your bed: Originally called Hickory Town, Lancaster was renamed after the English city of Lancaster, whose symbol is the red rose.

I’d Love to Hear From You!

Have you been here? Have I inspired you to go? Let me know!