As part of the renovation, the front desk was moved back to its original location after it had been moved some time ago. The marble used was sourced from the same quarry that the original front desk was sourced from.

The lobby ceiling was one of many original parts of the building that required careful decision-making to determine whether it was possible to match the blueprints exactly or if it was more realistic to use modern touches in the renovation.

Though not original to the hotel, a hidden speakeasy that recently opened in the basement gives the feel of the 1920s. An original crystal doorknob was saved to use for the door to go down the stairs. The basement “was a storage room, had a sewage rejection pit, had broken windows and door frames that they would just keep here in case they ever needed parts,” Patel said. “It was really rough. And I walked down here and I was like ‘Wow, this has to be a bar. This has to be a hidden bar like you see in other cities.’” It can be accessed through the Hobnob Coffee and Wine Bar in the hotel.

A look inside the bridal suite on the second floor of the hotel, which is wheelchair accessible. The suite and other rooms in the hall were called “stateside rooms” because they were right next to the convention rooms and the ballroom. Now the rooms are often booked by wedding parties so they can have access to their rooms just seconds from the Grand Ballroom.

Careful decisions were made on the details inside the guest rooms, including 3D-printed wallpaper that gives the illusion of a thin rope being on the wall and light switches that match the historic feel of the building.

Another nod to the history of the building, the carpeting includes a historic timeline of the hotel

Raj Patel, owner, Hotel Fort Des Moines

If you look closely at the ceiling in Proudfoot and Bird, you can see imperfections in the spacing of the intricate design, which is an indicator that it was completed by hand. The room was always the dining room of the hotel, and was at one time called the “Ivory Room,” which is why they chose to make ivory stand out in the renovation. Among the restaurant’s features, there is an open wood-fire kitchen setup, which allows for different cooking techniques as well as an old-time smell that permeates throughout the entire building.

The restaurant Proudfoot and Bird at the Hotel Fort Des Moines is named after the architects who originally designed the building. “As you can see with my names and different things throughout the building, a lot of it was just a nod,” Patel said. “I wanted to nod back to the history as much as I possibly could without making it too cliche.”