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Hotel Greene combines indoor minigolf with a restaurant and bar in the former Hotel John Marshall.
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Hotel Greene is located at 508 E. Franklin St. downtown.
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Hotel Greene co-owner Jim Gottier
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Suitcases inside the space add to the hotel vibe.
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Velvet couches and vintage finds create a 1930s aesthetic inside Hotel Greene.
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Front check-in area of Hotel Greene, where golfers will pick up their balls and clubs
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The course kicks off in the "club room" after check-in.
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The course flows from the club room into a "bathhouse" area.
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Players work their way through the course, which navigates different areas throughout the "hotel."
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A hallway along the course
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Guests may dine on the restaurant side of Hotel Greene and at the bar. The kitchen is helmed by Citizen chef-owner Greg Johnson.
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Room 208, aka the destination guests are trying to reach when playing the minigolf course.
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An old mail chute at Hotel Greene stuffed with vintage letters
A hotel? No. A minigolf course? Not quite. Don't let the name fool you, but when Hotel Greene opens on Thursday, July 25, at 5 p.m., it will be a conceptual standout, home to a 13-hole indoor minigolf course and a restaurant helmed by Citizen chef-owner Greg Johnson.
The minds behind Greenleaf’s Pool Room, Jim Gottier and partner Andrea Ball have transformed a portion of the former Hotel John Marshall at 508 E. Franklin St. into a transcendent space dominated by a sense of “romance, mystery and unease."
“The idea is that you are sort of lost in a European hotel,” Gottier explains as he walks me through the 7,000-square-foot space, which brings to mind a mashup of the board game Clue and the Wes Anderson film "Grand Budapest Hotel."
Guests are meant to embark on a journey when they play minigolf at Hotel Greene, with the ultimate goal of locating Room 208. For $15 per person, players can navigate the winding course through the multilevel building. Elements along the way complement the fictional hotel story, adding to the ambiance and evoking a sense of curiosity.
If players spot holes in the walls with light coming through, Gottier explains, they are home to small-scale art installations, and guests are encouraged to “peep in.”
“There’s a lot of fun things for people to explore and find on their own,” he says. “We want this to be a fun date-night spot where people can come and play minigolf and chat with one another and discover things along the way.”
Miniature scenes and installations completed by artist Rick Araluce can be found throughout the space. Gottier first discovered the Guggenheim fellow’s work while visiting the Smithsonian a few years ago and reached out to him to create pieces for Hotel Greene. Video installations from director Taryn Kosviner, postcards with messages from novelist Sandra Newman and design elements executed by Richmond-based artist Leslie Herman all add to the experience.
When playing minigolf, guests are led from the lobby to the club room, followed by a bathhouse area and eventually a bank of elevators. Along the way there is a snack stop, where servers will sell libations and light fare for golfers.
Velvet sofas and marble punctuate the vintage vibe, and every element of the space shows attention to detail, particularly the funky and intriguing carpet. Gottier, nicknamed “Carpet Jimmy,” previously worked in the antique carpet business and would travel around the Midwest searching for vintage pieces during the day and playing pool at night. Many of the pieces inside the space Gottier and Ball hand-picked.
In 2014 the duo opened their first Richmond venture, Greenleaf’s Pool Room, at 100 N. Sixth St. (also in the former Hotel John Marshall space), a stylish, upscale pool lounge devoid of TVs and the typical sports bar atmosphere. The California natives were charmed by the city when their train stopped at Main Street Station as they returned from a pool championship in Norfolk. Gottier became infatuated with pool after seeing the Paul Newman film "The Hustler" and has been playing since he was a young teenager.
When the remaining space inside Hotel John Marshall became available, the couple toyed with the notion of expanding their current pool room, but decided to pursue the minigolf concept instead. Coincidentally, Gottier and Ball’s first date over 30 years ago was playing minigolf on the boardwalk in Santa Cruz, California.
While forming the idea for Hotel Greene, Gottier would frequent Citizen, the nearly decade-old downtown restaurant from chef-owner Greg Johnson. Over Gottier's classic standing order of scrambled eggs with bacon and a side of fruit, he shared his quirky ideas for the space with Johnson.
“I thought the concept was very interesting, and there’s nothing like this in Richmond,” Johnson says.
A veteran of the local dining scene since 1983, Johnson’s resume includes stints at the Country Club of Virginia, the shuttered Strawberry Street Cafe, Amuse and Chez Foushee. Johnson will not only serve as executive chef of Hotel Greene, but also of Greenleaf’s Pool Room, while maintaining his role at Citizen.
“I put some modern and metropolitan twists [on the menu] but went for that sort of old classic hotel fare,” explains Johnson, who says the focus is approachable, quick, value-driven dishes, in line with his menu at Citizen.
Hotel Greene's menu features a shrimp cocktail with piquant Singapore sauce and seaweed salad; seasonal crudités; sandwiches such as a celery root croque monsieur with asparagus and prosciutto torched tableside, a French dip, the Club Greene triple-decker and a Monte Cristo; as well as vegetarian and gluten-free options.
Johnson views Hotel Greene as a place to add to the mix of downtown restaurants and activities. "I think this is going to bring some people downtown, and not only that, but bring tourism in our area," Johnson says.
In the future, the restaurant will feature engaging elements such as meat carving stations and, for brunch, which will debut Aug. 3, an omelet station.
Greenleaf Bar Manager Phil Boyle is leading the beverage program at Hotel Greene, and, in keeping with the hotel theme, the cocktail menu includes “Lobby Classics” such as The Dapper Traveler and Between Trains. Guests can also order a crystal tray for two featuring “service to share with bits and bobs” for $25, rotating boozy slushies and a handful of nonalcoholic offerings.
Hotel Greene is not the city's first indoor minigolf course. In the late 1930s there was a course located in the basement of the Broad-Grace Arcade at Broad and Third streets. It seems Richmonders have always possessed a playful spirit.
Hotel Greene will be open Tuesday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to midnight, Friday from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m., Sunday from 9 a.m. to midnight and closed on Mondays. Hotel Greene will be a 21-and-over space during the week and after 6 p.m. on weekends.
