Opening this December in downtown Knoxville, Hotel Cleo is proof positive that what’s old is new again.

With a prime address on Gay Street, the 16-room boutique property occupies the storied 1898 Hope Brothers Building that was previously home to a shoe store, Fidelity Trust Bank, a jewelry business, and most recently, Sapphire, one of Knoxville’s most beloved cocktail destinations. “Hotel Cleo is located in a very historic building in downtown Knoxville, and we wanted to honor its history through our very meticulous and sensitive renovation of the space,” comments Cleo’s owner and developer HD Patel of Ephant Group, who identified an opportunity to introduce a new type of hotel to the city when the building went up for sale last year. He continues, “I always wanted to do something new in Knoxville that impacts its hospitality scene, and raise the bar in terms of all the prior projects Ephant Group had undertaken.”

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