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Were her twenty-six winding steps David O. Selznick’s inspiration for the mythical staircase in Gone with the Wind? Did alligators once lounge lazily in the fountain?

Well, yes and no.  However, Old Pompey was The Jefferson’s very last alligator and he remained at the Hotel until he died in 1948.

Amidst the seventy-foot ceilings, massive columns and an authentic Tiffany skylight above the life-sized statue of Thomas Jefferson carved in Italian marble, it is impossible not to believe the stories whispered in the Palm Court at Afternoon Tea.

United States Presidents Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt as well as Ronald Reagan loved the grand hotel, but they weren’t the only famous faces to grace her lobby. Charlie Chaplin, Sarah Bernhardt, Nelson Eddy, Robert Mitchum, Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra were there along with Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.  The Vanderbilts and the Barrymores stayed at The Jefferson, but they didn’t ride their motorcycle through the lobby as Elvis Presley did.  Rachmaninoff played in The Grand Ballroom and Mr. Bojangles was "discovered" as he waited tables in the dining room.

More ways to ho-ho-ho it up at

The Jefferson than ever.

There is a full schedule of activities for the Christmas season beginning right after thanksgiving on November 29 with the annual spectacular Grand Illumination. Music will

begin at 5:30p.m. Followed at 6:00 p.m. by a stunning display of lights, a parade of beloved holiday characters, and complimentary refreshments in The Empire Room.

The Jefferson is a great place to for fine holiday dining and short getaway packages; and, for the first time ever, you can have your own private lunch function in the renowned Lemaire restaurant.

Details of all the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year activities are available by downloading the Holiday Newsletter here.

The rooms at The Jefferson Hotel are perfectly appointed

and the service is impeccable, as their five stars

and five-diamond rating will attest.

The Jefferson Hotel

101 West Franklin Street
Richmond, Virginia

(804) 788-8000

Click here for redirection to the Reservation Desk