Horton Hotel & Rooftop Lounge Celebrates its First Birthday in Downtown Boone

Owner Denise Lovin (left) and director of hotel operations Andrea Morton with the Horton birthday cake, celebrates the first year of business at the Horton Hotel and Rooftop Lounge.

By Nathan Ham

Time flies when you’re having fun. The Horton Hotel & Rooftop Lounge celebrated its first birthday on Thursday night with a crowd of visitors and loyal customers have had had nothing but glowing reviews for the boutique hotel.

Denise Lovin, who owns the Horton Hotel along with her husband Fulton, said it is hard to believe it has already been a whole year of business in the books for the Horton Hotel.

“We’re so happy that we made it to our birthday. We have met our occupancy goals and created a space for customers to enjoy. We are very proud of our customer service and we have guests that return again and again, which feels really good,” said Denise.

Rooms have been steadily booked and people have been enjoying the lobby bar and rooftop lounge whether they are hotel guests or not. Denise says that this year they will be focusing more on featuring the rooftop bar as temperatures warm up during the spring and summer.

“People love the rooftop bar because it offers a whole new perspective,” she said.

Some of the ideas include designing a unique drink menu for the rooftop with frozen drinks and special drafts and cocktails.

The Horton Hotel has quickly become a community place for people to hang out, meet new friends and even a place for businesses to meet potential new clients.

“We’ve enjoyed partnerships with other businesses, whether it’s having a store come in here and do a pop-up shop or working with local fundraisers, we’re just being creative and making ourselves available for different events,” said Denise.

The popularity of the Horton Hotel continued to skyrocket after they were featured in both the New York Times and Our State magazine in 2019.

“We were excited and really pleased. It has helped garner attention not just for us but I think it brought people to the area that wouldn’t have come here otherwise, so we’re really thrilled to see that,” Denise said. “I think people like coming to a space that feels special but at the same time we want this to be a place where people hang out on any evening and just have a different place to go that offers a cozy atmosphere.”

Photos from the birthday celebration on Thursday night