The week before Hurricane Isaias hit Northwest Florida, I sat down with Graham Guirl and Raf Simpson, the owners of Hotel Margot, downtown Pensacola’s newest hotel. They shared that rooms were being booked the moment they opened early this month.
- The partners spent about nine months transforming the 1950s motel on North Palafox. It began as the Pensacola Motor Lodge and later became the Sole Inn under previous owner Alan Williams. Simpson acknowledged the building isn’t what most people picture as historic Pensacola, but it has the deco touches and vintage feel of the mid-century motels they admire in Palm Springs and Palm Beach. They vowed to renovate it without killing its soul.
They could have bulldozed it. Guirl said one bank asked why he wouldn’t build a luxury high-rise instead. He wanted something he would be proud to pull up to. Rather than a big construction loan, he said, the project was funded with careful spending and personal guarantees.
- Nearly everything inside is custom, from furniture to fabrics. Simpson credited his wife, Lauren, with leading the design, including the hotel’s badge logo. Rooms run $200 to $300 a night, and family suites connect a double room to a king.
The owners want locals to claim the place too. The coffee shop is open to anyone, the pool area now includes a bar, and a shaded Coral Bar with light cold bites is on the way.
Watch the full conversation below.
