The 21c Cincinnati and Oklaho-
ma City hotels were named 5
and 25 in the Midwest.
It's easy to see why. The 88-
room boutique hotel doubles
as a contemporary art muse-
um, as do all the hotels in the
21c chain, with 7,000 feet of
exhibition space. Its Lockbox
restaurant is one of the best
in Lexington. The rooms are
spacious, well-appointed, im-
maculately maintained, mod-
ern affairs, with huge windows
overlooking the city and fan-
tastic bathrooms.
The 21c occupies the reno-
vated space of the 100-year-
old Fayette National Bank
Building on East Main Street.
The 15-story building, built in
1918, was the city's first sky-
scraper. Built in the Beaux Arts
style, it is listed on the Nation-
al Register of Historic Places.
Andrew Carter, 21c Lex-
ington's 33-year-old general
manager, said that when the
building originally opened, the
bank took up the entire build-
ing, but over time, "it became
a multiple-use building," he
said.
The owners, Laura Lee Brown
and Steve Wilson, married con-
temporary art collectors and
preservationists, believe in
urban revitalization, and have
located most of their hotels in
