Salt Lake City’s newest hotel — blending history and luxury — will open soon

Salt Lake County's visitor economy has rebounded strongly from the COVID-19 pandemic and now those staying at the heart of it will soon have a new option to stay while visiting the area.

But customers will have to wait just a little while longer.

Autograph Collection, Mariott Bonvoy's upscale hotel brand, now plans to open the Asher Adams — a play on the names of John R. Asher and George H. Adams, a pair of cartographers who were the first to put railroad routes on a map — next week.

It was initially scheduled to open on Thursday but ran into some last-minute delays, according to a spokesperson for the company. The restaurants will now open on Nov. 7, while rooms will be available beginning on Nov. 14.

The 225-room hotel at the historic Union Pacific Depot will be the brand's first in Salt Lake City and third in Utah, following locations in Park City and St. George.

The project rehabilitated the 116-year-old former train station, where 13 suites were constructed. Most of the rooms are within an eight-story guestroom tower expansion constructed behind the depot at the northern end of the Gateway.

Amenities include a "charcoal-inspired" New American restaurant called Rouser, as well as the "upscale whiskey-forward" bar No. 119, a cocktail bar and an artisanal coffee bar. A fitness center and five meeting/event spaces were also constructed in the project, which hotel officials refer to as "historic preservation meets contemporary luxury."

"This highly anticipated property will offer elevated dining concepts and best-in-class service, along with a stunning reintroduction of the beloved Union Pacific Depot building," said Niels Vuijsters, the hotel's general manager, in a statement. "The intentional adaptive reuse project marries original elements with modern fixtures seamlessly."

A new use for the depot The project is the latest use for the depot, which was completed in 1909 for the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad and the Oregon Short Line routes, according to a report that state historians compiled in the 1970s. Western architect Daniel J. Patterson, who designed many other Southern Pacific Company train stations at the time, including historic buildings that still exist in Seattle and San Antonio, was hired to design the building.

Ownership shifted hands many times over the years but remained a railroad station until Amtrak moved out in 1986. The building was then used for office and training space and other unique uses. It and the neighboring Devereaux House were used as the filming locations of the famous snow owl benefit scene in the 1994 comedy "Dumb & Dumber."

The Depot, a popular concert venue at the north end of the building, opened in 2006. It was untouched by the hotel project and remains open.

Plans to turn the building into a hotel emerged in 2018 when Vestar, owner of The Gateway, announced a partnership with The Athens Group, a luxury hotel development company. Construction began in 2022.

Adding hotel options Salt Lake County tourism and Utah ski industry officials said they're glad the hotel will open in time for the 2024-25 ski season, possibly bringing more snow seekers to downtown Salt Lake City. Kaitlin Eskelson, president and CEO of Visit Salt Lake, told KSL.com that she believes it will become an "anchor" for The Gateway, but it can also fill a major need for hotel rooms.

Despite cost increases, the county's largest increase in hotel rooms over the past five years and a surging number of short-term rental properties , occupancy rates rose slightly to 69% in 2023, according to University of Utah Kem G. Garnder Policy Insitute data. Last year was the county's highest occupancy rate since the pandemic and only 0.6% off its 2019 average.

Eskelson said downtown rooms have been some of the more popular options, including the Hyatt Regency that opened in 2022.

"There is certainly a demand for it," she said. "We can definitely fill the rooms so this is just going to be complementary to all of the existing inventory that we have."