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A spirit that is not afraid

Collegiate Hotel at Auburn invites Auburn community to step into history

“We love the history of it. We’ve restored a lot of historic buildings before. It had kind of run its life as a dorm, and we were excited to turn it into a boutique hotel," Kim Wirth said.

<p>The sign for The Collegiate Hotel at Auburn from the rooftop garden Friday, June 15, 2018 in Auburn, Ala.&nbsp;</p>

The sign for The Collegiate Hotel at Auburn from the rooftop garden Friday, June 15, 2018 in Auburn, Ala. 

Community members filled the refurbished lobby of the new Collegiate Hotel at Auburn, previously Wittel Dormitory, Friday night for a grand opening celebration.

Owners Kim and Brian Wirth ushered guests into the lobby and invited them to look into the open rooms on each floor. Hotel staff members checked in guests for their stay at the hotel.

As the hotel began to fill and conversations grew louder, community members stopped their conversations mid-sentence to admire different aspects of the hotel.

“I think that’s [the history] the classiest part of it,” Jay Skipworth said. “To give it the update and that boutique feel, but also to maintain the things that made it the dormitory and a part of Auburn.”

The historical value of the property and how it was combined with the modern look of the hotel was a big hit among attendees.

“I think it is a fantastic addition to the Auburn community,” Skipworth said. “I’m glad to see it here. I think it’s going to be a very welcome spot for families and visitors, but also just for folks locally.”

Brian and Kim spent the last year refurbishing the Wittel Dorm and designing the 40-room boutique hotel.

“We saw that the Wittel property was for sale, and it’s a great location,” Kim said. “We love the history of it. We’ve restored a lot of historic buildings before. It had kind of run its life as a dorm, and we we’re excited to turn it into a boutique hotel.”

Brian and Kim wanted to incorporate the history of the property while keeping true to its location.

“When you walk in, you really get a sense of history because the floors are actually 78 years old,” Kim said. “We were able to keep the original marble fireplace. When we added the front desk, we also added Gloms, starting in the 1930s all the way up to recently.”


From the navy blue couches that sit next to burnt orange stools in the lobby to the burnt orange doors on each room, there are orange and blue touches and breathtaking views of Auburn’s campus in each room.

“There’s a lot of touches of our history and Auburn,” Brian said. “And the vision of turning the Wittel Dorm into the hotel.”

Orange and blue aren't the only touches of Auburn in the hotel. Kim and Brian commissioned several works of art to pay homage to the Wittel Dorm and Auburn.

“This is an art piece an artist from Memphis did,” Kim said as she gestured toward the large sequence eagle that fills the wall above the front desk. “It’s called ‘A Spirit that is not Afraid.’ We actually did it, obviously, to honor the ‘War Eagle’ tradition, but really the work at the Raptor Center.”

Several local artists made a collection of pieces to be displayed throughout the hotel, including in the guest rooms.

“I have several pieces that are scripture inspired and are abstract pieces,” said Lauren Duncan, one of the local artists featured in the hotel. “I know one piece is in the suite on the second floor.”

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The one-of-a-kind pieces of art are not the only reason each of the rooms are unique. Kim and Brain worked together to make each room its own masterpiece.

“With my background in hotels, we’ve always been trained that you can’t do individuality in the rooms,” Brain said. “Kim, the way she did it, by taking a lot of similar things but making certain tweaks to them really allowed it to have that uniqueness that you don’t see in a lot of hotels.”

The hotel has four floors of rooms, including the ground floor with the 334 suite. The top floor is a rooftop garden with views of Samford Hall, the Haley Center and Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The rooftop garden is adorned with large couches and is complete with two large TVs that are just waiting for the first kickoff of the 2018 football season.

“I think all the Auburn students and community need to go up to the roof and check out the view,” Brain said. “It is a view like no other in Auburn.”

The hotel also includes a lobby bar and wrap-around porch on the first level that is open to community members.

“It’s for the community to enjoy,” Kim said. “I want to invite everyone to come out and see it [the hotel] for themelves. We want to be a part of the community. It has a great history, and we want it to have a great future.”

It is important to both Kim and Brian that the community gets just as much use out of the hotel as visitors do. They want the hotel to become a part of the Auburn Family just like they are.

“We tell everybody you spend five years going to school here and trying to get out and 20 years trying to figure out how to get back,” Brain said. “So that’s why we decided to come back.”

The Collegiate Hotel at Auburn is now accepting reservations for stays beginning June 24. 


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