Meet The Suites: The Roosevelt & The Churchill
Throughout the years, we have had thousands upon thousands of guests visit with us. Guests who have traveled from around the world to stay at The Willcox and guests who have come from as close as just down the street. We have hosted guests just traveling through town, ones that are staying with us to celebrate momentous occasions in their lives, those that are with us for the week of The Masters, couples on romantic getaways, and everyone in between. While every guest has made a lasting memory at our hotel, there are a few from our past whose visits made a mark on history. We’ve honored these past guests with their own named suites, and have pulled together their stories to share with you.
Roosevelt Suite
While both President Theodore Roosevelt and President Franklin Roosevelt vacationed in Aiken, staying at The Willcox, it is FDR’s visits that are most whispered and written about. Before Roosevelt became president, he began an affair with a woman by the name of Lucy Mercer, who later moved from Washington to Aiken. The Willcox, a prominent hotel for dignitaries to visit, became a place for Roosevelt to conduct not just global affairs, but those more “domestic,” too. He met here with world leaders, including Winston Churchill, to confer on matters of state. Other times, it is rumored that he visited Lucy, leaving his railcar on the historic cut that runs directly behind the hotel to slip quietly through a back door.
The Roosevelt Suite evokes romance and exudes an aura of stories not fully told, and perhaps those yet to be discovered.
Churchill Suite
Winston Churchill, regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century, was an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist. He was even awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature, and was the first honorary citizen of the United States. Churchill was also a friend of President Franklin Roosevelt. It began as a wartime relationship during the Second World War and it grew into a friendship over the years. The two famously met at The Willcox where they talked strategy in our lobby, warmed by hot toddies and a crackling fire in the fireplace.
The Churchill Suite pays homage to the role of Aiken in the conduct of world affairs.
