The St. James Hotel Reopens in Selma
The St. James Hotel in Selma, Alabama, has reopened and joined the Marriott Bonvoy programme under the Series by Marriott collection. Spire Hospitality manages the property. The operator’s announcement to the trade is dated 6 October 2026. Local coverage places the reopening itself on Tuesday 15 September 2026, about three weeks earlier. The Selma Times-Journal and Black Belt News Network both carried the reopening on 16 September 2026, and WSFA reported it on 15 September 2026. Those reports also record the hotel as closed and fenced off from 23 August 2025 until the reopening.
A Riverfront Building From 1837
The restored landmark overlooks the Alabama River and dates to 1837. Spire describes it as the only remaining riverfront antebellum hotel in the country. The scope of that claim varies by publisher. WSFA in 2021 called it the only pre-Civil War hotel remaining on the riverfront in the country. The Woodforest CEI-Boulos Opportunity Fund and al.com both place it as the last pre-Civil War riverfront hotel in the Southeast.
Fifty-Five Rooms and the Ground-Floor Programme
The St. James is a 55-room boutique hotel. Guest rooms carry plush bedding, complimentary high-speed Wi-Fi, HDTVs and workspaces, and many offer river views. On site guests find a restaurant, a fitness center, flexible meeting space, breakfast and parking, along with the benefits of Marriott Bonvoy. Marriott’s own listing for the hotel records the address as 1200 Water Avenue. Independent coverage corroborates the 55 keys three ways: Spire’s release, WSFA in 2021 and the fund one-pager that names the St. James as a 55-key full-service conversion.
Series by Marriott and the Ordinal Claim
Spire’s release states that the St. James is only the ninth Series by Marriott property in the world. Marriott’s own 2025 year-in-review release reports that the collection opened 37 properties, approximately 2,600 rooms, across 23 Indian cities by year-end 2025. The same release states that Marriott signed 13 agreements in 2025 to bring Series by Marriott to markets in the United States and Canada and opened two of those hotels in the fourth quarter. Hawkins Way Capital described FOUND Hotels in Chicago as the fourth Series by Marriott hotel in the United States in July 2026. Hotel Dive records Marriott launching the collection in May 2025 and expanding it to Miami Beach, Florida and Santa Monica, California. The ordinal is Spire’s, and the scope the release gives it has no published support.
Benjamin Sterling Turner and the Hotel’s Early Years
The release states that Benjamin Sterling Turner, an enslaved man who managed the hotel, kept it running through the Civil War and later became the first African American U.S. Representative from Alabama. The U.S. House History, Art and Archives record places him in the 42nd Congress, 1871 to 1873. It records his birth into slavery in 1825 in Halifax County, North Carolina, and his arrival in Selma in 1830. The Encyclopedia of Alabama states that he was employed as manager of the St. James Hotel and places that management under his enslaver, James T. Gee. The release’s Civil War timing carries no confirmation in the records read.
The Jesse James Story Stays a Legend
The release tells of outlaws passing through in the decades that followed, with Jesse James among them by legend. al.com gives the same account as legend, reporting that the hotel hosted Frank and Jesse James in 1881.
The Two General Managers
Mike Hogan, area general manager for Spire Hospitality, said the St. James adds a one-of-a-kind property to the company’s portfolio. He said Spire specialises in operating properties where disciplined management and respect for a building’s history work together. He said the owners are native Alabamians committed to Selma and its rebirth. Cymethia Rudolph, general manager of the St. James Hotel, said the hotel has anchored downtown Selma since 1837. She said guests step straight into the city, with the National Voting Rights Museum, the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the Old Town Historic District and sites on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail within walking distance.
Spire Hospitality’s Third Alabama Property
The reopening marks Spire’s third property in Alabama and its newest addition to a national portfolio spanning branded, soft-branded and independent hotels and resorts. Spire Hospitality describes itself as a nationally recognized owner-centric hotel management company based in Irving, Texas, part of the AWH Partners family, which also includes AWH Development. The company states more than 35 years of hotel operating experience.
The Financing Line and One Unverified Name
The release credits financing from Sarah Feinberg and continued investment by the Woodforest CEI-Boulos Opportunity Fund. No source read for this article links a Sarah Feinberg to the hotel or to Selma, so the name stands as the operator’s. The fund element is documented. The Woodforest CEI-Boulos Opportunity Fund announced a $2 million equity investment in the redevelopment in January 2021, and its own one-pager names the St. James as a 55-key conversion.