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Bank turned historical- chic beacon for the in-crowd
In 1918, one of Sioux Falls’s first landmark buildings, the nine-story Sioux Falls National Bank, was built on the corner of Phillips Avenue. and Ninth Street. In those early aughts, it was the tallest building in South Dakota. A hundred years later, it began its rebirth as South Dakota’s premiere lifestyle hotel, keeping its monied roots close at hand. The hotel lobby has retained every bit and feel of a grand, early-20th-century bank with high ceilings, terrazzo floors and grand columns throughout. You can gaze up at the dentil tray ceilings and Greek key designs, then look straight ahead into the one-time bank vault, its door now unlocked to reveal the hotel’s lavish cocktail bar, The Treasury.
The guest room floors have been converted from old bank offices with nods to the city’s financial history evident throughout. U.S. Mail drop slots sit in the hallways,; though we wouldn’t advise sending your “Greetings from Mt. Rushmore!” postcards through them. They’re an education in how big offices used to work.
Hotel on Phillips is the lone hotel that’s become a nightlife spot for locals as well as guests. Both flock to The Treasury, where the town’s top mixologists will shake up whatever you’re feeling or pour you one of its impressive selection of local craft beers. Sioux Falls has become a regional party destination for those living in the Great Plains. Here, you can find upscale bachelorette parties enjoying drinks next to banking executives and local creatives on a night out. If you’re looking for something chic in Sioux Falls, your journey begins at the Hotel on Phillips.
Location
Smack in the middle of downtown Sioux Falls along the Big Sioux River
As the name might tell you, the Hotel on Phillips sits right on the south end of Sioux Falls’ main drag, North. Phillips Avenue, and is a quick 10-minute drive from Sioux Falls Regional Airport. Just catty-corner from the hotel, people sit outside and enjoy fresh beer at WoodGrain Brewing. Across the street, people jog along the Sioux Falls Greenway into the city’s landmark Falls Park. Quite simply, there is no better location to stay in Sioux Falls, both for outdoor recreation and to experience the energy of one of America’s coolest small cities. See our Best Things to Do in Sioux Falls guide for all the notable and quintessential experience in the city.
Here are some nearby destinations to check out during your stay:
- Start Sioux Falls’ famous Sculpture Walk right in front of the hotel and check out works from local artists all over downtown.
- Take a jog along the Sioux Falls Greenway into Falls Park, where you’ll find the quartz rock waterfalls that gave the city its name.
- Reflect on the calm banks of the Big Sioux River right outside the hotel.
- Walk a couple blocks to downtown Sioux Falls, home to local favorite restaurants like Minerva’s and Mama’s Ladas.
- Catch a hockey game at the Denny Sanford Premier Center or a baseball game at The Birdcage, both two miles away.
- See a show at the Orpheum Theater or Sioux Empire Community Theatre, both two blocks away.
- Learn about the city at the Old Courthouse Museum, less than a mile away.
Rooms
Modern design and the city’s best views
The Hotel on Phillips’s 90 guest rooms are broken down into three categories: Elegant Essential, Elegant Deluxe and Stylish Superior. Each room boasts a view of either the Big Sioux River or dDowntown Sioux Falls and is done up with sharp, modern furniture, Alexa Echo systems, high-definition speakers and LED televisions. Prices begin at $179 per night.
- The Elegant Essential rooms are about 260 square feet, split into either Blarney Stone orand Purple Reign designs. The tight confines still have ample work space, strong stereos, wet bars and wine openers, as well as plush beds in both queen and king sizes.
- The Elegant Deluxe Rooms are a step up from the Essential class, with lush bathrobes and full desk spaces ideal for getting work done in complete comfort. The designs are also the most eye-catching in the hotel, with red- velvet couches in the Swanky Red QQ rooms, green marble velour in the Dazzling Green and bank-inspired steel grays in the Silver King.
- At the high end of the room offerings are the Stylish Superior rooms, the most unique of which are the Chimney Kings. Each built around the building’s original chimney with stunning views of the Big Sioux, no rooms at the Hotel on Phillips invoke the hotel’s history like them. The Stylish Superior rooms also include the Pretty in Pink suites, 302-square-foot spaces with gold and acrylic queen-sized beds.
AMENITIES
A 24-hour gym and a cozy library with a view
The Hotel on Phillips has a 24-hour gym with slight views of downtown Sioux Falls. Inside, you’ll find free weights, cable weights, yoga mats and standard cardio equipment. It is rarely crowded.
There is also Josiah’s Library, named for Josiah L. Phillips, who along with his wife, Hattie, comprised one of Sioux Falls’ founding families. It’s an ideal place to relax with a book or your laptop that’s not as isolated as your room but still away from the busyness of the lobby. And the second-story view of the city doesn’t hurt.
Inside the hotel, you’ll also find:
- The Bankers Board Room, a corporate meeting space for up to 12
- Hattie’s Parlour, a 560-person event space with checkered floors and epic columns
- A business center open 24 hours a day
- A sundries market in the lobby
- Free shuttles to and from FSD Regional Airport
- Free daily newspapers
Food options
Though nearly everything about the Hotel on Phillips is cool, its crown jewel is The Treasury, a cocktail bar set inside the bank’s old vault. The strangely inviting 16-ton vault door stands open in the lobby, beckoning anyone who walks by. It really wouldn’t matter if the drinks were any good; the setting inside this Vanadium-steel vault, where even more safes line the wall, makes it one of the more unique drinking venues in America. But when you belly up to the bar and see what the bartenders can do, you’ll see The Treasury could hold its own with any cocktail bar.
If you’re hungry, The Treasury is happy to oblige, with some of the more inventive food in Sioux Falls. The menu’s constantly changing, but expect items like lamb tacos with peppers and cilantro, and oxtail egg rolls stuffed with oyster mushrooms, plum sauce and bison. Remember, this is still South Dakota.
Some of Sioux Falls’s best coffee right downstairs
Walk in the lobby and you’ll smell the aroma of fresh-brewing coffee. That same smell most certainly permeated this space 100 years ago when it was the city’s biggest bank, and now it emanates from Coffea Roasterie. The local coffee roasters have all your gourmet coffee favorites, alongside fresh pastries and fruit. Just make sure to get there early; it closes at 10 a.m. during the week and noon on weekends.
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