Hill Hall has opened in Fayetteville, West Virginia, transforming the town’s former high school and middle school into a 40-room boutique hotel near New River Gorge National Park.
The hotel welcomed its first guests on 28 August 2026 after an extensive restoration of the two-building campus. Located at 135 High Street, around a two-minute walk from Main Street, it offers a design-led base for exploring Fayetteville and the surrounding gorge.
Hill Hall is a member of Design Hotels, part of Marriott Bonvoy, with rates starting at $225 per night. The property includes guest rooms, spacious lounges, Patsy’s restaurant and a 24-hour provisions pantry.
A school campus restored for a new purpose
Hill Hall occupies Fayetteville’s original limestone high school, built in 1923, and its neighbouring mid-century middle school. The buildings served local students for more than 75 years before the high school closed following a 1999 consolidation plan. The campus was closed to foot traffic in 2014 while its future was considered.
Mountain Shore Properties has retained the school’s scale and defining architectural details while acknowledging its former use. The principal’s office now serves as reception, while the old chemistry laboratory has become the hotel bar. Wide corridors and former common areas have been furnished as reading rooms and relaxed gathering spaces.
Mae Pate, head of design at Mountain Shore Properties, led the interiors across both buildings. In an interview with Travel + Leisure, Pate said the design sought to bring “visual order to a school that you absorb almost without realizing it.”
Stained-wood wainscoting, picture rails and long corridor panels recall the original interiors. Some middle-school guest rooms also have trim incorporating a clock, a restrained reference to the schedules that once governed daily life here.
“I was always more interested in preserving the memory of the school than in making the hotel feel themed around one,” Pate said.
The resulting spaces feel residential rather than institutional. Deep greens, muted blues, clay reds, soft neutrals and natural wood take their cues from the New River Gorge countryside. Pate described the atmosphere as “warm, relaxed, individual, and unpretentious.”
West Virginia artist Nichole Westfall created the large-scale regional artwork in the Mural Room, a central lounge intended for morning coffee, reading and conversation. Elsewhere, the collection incorporates books, vintage photographs, handmade ceramics and pieces gathered specifically for the property.
A custom-illustrated map by Pat “Patsy” Phillips Wendell, the grandmother of developer Stephen Wendell, adds another family connection. West Virginia designer Jordana Bungard produced the hand-painted signage, while Kevin Barry Art Advisory assisted with the wider art collection.
Former classrooms become 40 individual rooms
The original layouts shaped Hill Hall’s 40 guest rooms, meaning dimensions and configurations vary between the two buildings. Former classrooms now have high ceilings and large windows, with warm colours and layered materials softening their institutional proportions.
The room categories include:
- Standard and Premium Kings of approximately 330 square feet, sleeping two
- King Suites of approximately 460 square feet, with more room for longer stays
- A 660-square-foot Double King Suite with two private bedrooms, a living area, wet bar, sink and refrigerator, sleeping up to four
- Standard Queen rooms of approximately 240 square feet, sleeping two
Amenities include Bluetooth speakers, coffee and tea facilities, flat-screen televisions and walk-in showers with Salt & Stone toiletries. Tandem Coffee from Portland, Maine, is supplied in the guest rooms.
Two accessible King Suites are available. One is in the former middle school, while the other is on the second floor of the high-school building and can be reached by ramp.
Patsy’s brings family cooking into the hotel
Patsy’s, Hill Hall’s signature restaurant, is named after Pat “Patsy” Phillips Wendell. Her recipes and reputation for generous hospitality provided the starting point for a menu rooted in Appalachian cooking and familiar West Virginia dishes.
Patsy’s handwritten and illustrated recipe book helped shape the restaurant’s identity. Her influence also extends beyond the kitchen: her advocacy contributed to Fayetteville establishing its Historic District in 1990.
Executive chef Jeffrey Toth interprets those family traditions with a polished, recognisable approach. Toth has three decades of culinary experience and opened Wood Iron Eatery in Fayetteville in 2018, operating it until 2023. Wood Iron’s current owners, Katie and Tennyson Winters, assisted with Patsy’s menu development and culinary operations. Toth now runs the kitchen with sous chef Paul Almond.
Opening dishes include Patsy’s Chex Mix seasoned with Worcestershire sauce and meatloaf glazed with apple molasses, served with potato, green bean and bacon. Clear Water trout comes with mustard greens, a jalapeño cheddar hush puppy and lemon beurre blanc.
Other choices include spinach-artichoke-asiago dip, dinner rolls served with house-made jam and whipped honey butter, plus vanilla pound cake with Chantilly cream and blackberry-lemon curd. Speaking about the cake, Wendell told Travel + Leisure, “If you came to mamaw’s house, there was always a fresh pound cake.”
The bar’s setting in the former chemistry lab gives the school conversion one of its clearest visual references. Its drinks include Old School Ale, an English-style pale ale made for Hill Hall by Fayetteville-based Bridge Brew Works. Cocktails range from the gin-based Mae-tini to The Dogwood, which combines tequila, hibiscus, grapefruit, ginger and lime. The Peeved Bee mixes bourbon with Amaro Nonino, honey and lemon.
Patsy’s serves dinner Wednesday to Sunday from 4pm until 9pm. Weekend brunch runs from 8am until 2pm on Saturday and Sunday. Reservations are not required, although parties of six or more are encouraged to call ahead.
Outside those hours, Patsy’s Provisions gives hotel guests 24-hour access to snacks, drinks, grab-and-go food and everyday essentials. The pantry operates on an honour system, with purchases charged to the room. Its shelves include Yumbel Cookies, while coffee comes from West Virginia-based Cherry River Coffee Roasters.
An outdoor patio with seating and a firepit provides another informal gathering place, with s’mores available for guests.
A base for New River Gorge National Park
Fayetteville sits on the rim of New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, which covers more than 70,000 acres along the New River. The area is known for rock climbing, whitewater rafting, mountain biking, fly fishing and paddleboarding.
The New River Gorge Bridge lies just north of town on U.S. Route 19. The 3,030-foot steel arch rises 876 feet above the river and reduced the journey across the gorge from about 40 minutes to less than one minute when it opened in 1977.
Guests can see the bridge from the overlooks at Canyon Rim Visitor Center or from the Long Point trail. Walking across its highway deck is prohibited outside the annual Bridge Day event, although Bridge Walk runs scheduled tours along the maintenance catwalk underneath.
Hill Hall has arranged local partnerships for climbing instruction, bicycle hire, fitness access and stand-up paddleboarding. Participating businesses include New River Mountain Guides, New River Bikes, Gripped Fitness and Mountain Surf Paddle Sports. Coworking is available through Ascend WV in the former elementary school on the same campus.
Hill Hall booking details
Hill Hall offers complimentary guest parking, with check-in from 4pm and check-out by 11am. Dogs are welcome for $50 per dog, per night, with a limit of two dogs weighing no more than 50 pounds each.
Rooms start at $225 per night and can be reserved through the Hill Hall website. Fayetteville Pocket Guides are available at reception for guests planning time in town or the national park.
