A Tribute Portfolio Hotel in Cleveland, Mississippi

Story by Lyda Kay Ferree, The Southern Lifestyles Lady. Photography by VRX Studios.

One year ago in August, Cotton House, Cleveland’s first boutique hotel, opened its doors. It has all the charm and hospitality you would expect in “the most Southern place on earth”—on the Highway 61 corridor, where cultures are rooted in celebrating with friends and family, food and drink, a good story, and music for the soul.

The décor is decidedly Delta: artwork depicts the rich landscape, and the lobby beckons with comfortable chairs and books about the Mississippi Delta. The food served at the hotel is overseen by the James Beard Award semifinalist chef Cole Ellis, who formerly owned Delta Meat Market across the street from the hotel.
The thriving city of Cleveland, Mississippi (pop: 11,501) is an easy drive from Jackson, Tennessee. It is a 3 1/2 hour drive from Jackson and 133 miles from Memphis. Yet Cleveland is a world apart from West Tennessee. Typically when I get past Memphis traffic, my heart rate slows, and I settle back for a relaxing drive to the Delta. Sometimes, if the mood strikes me, I play Mississippi blues music to prepare me for what lies ahead.
Cleveland is a quintessential Mississippi Delta town. It is vibrant, entertaining and distinctive among other cities its size.

History of Cotton House

Cotton House’s namesake was inspired by the property’s location on the historic Cotton Row in downtown Cleveland, Mississippi. The Cotton House name evokes the celebratory spirit and the welcoming, communal nature of the hardworking, hard-playing people and heritage of the area.

Cotton House pays homage to the days of unmistakable Southern hospitality, touting tradition and manners with a modern, energetic twist. It is part of the “Southern Living Hotel Collection” and one of the newest hotels in the Marriott Tribute Portfolio.

Cotton House is a one-of-a-kind destination as authentic to the region as catfish and cotton. Casual, but always curated, 95 beautifully designed guest rooms including six suites, top-notch amenities, an outstanding restaurant, unique event spaces and plenty of welcoming celebrations await a melting pot of travelers looking for a great time in the land of the blues.

Cotton House is proud to call Cleveland, Mississippi home. Established in 1869, the town found its place on the map as a product of the Louisville, New Orleans, and Texas railway system. The midway point between Memphis and Vicksburg, Cleveland served as a strategic location to pick up supplies and refuel trains. The clearing of the state’s dense forest coupled with river overflow on the Alluvial Plain resulted in an extremely rich top soil perfect for agriculture, thus making cotton king in Mississippi.

Today, the tagline of Cleveland is “Small Town. Big Vibe.” You know you’re in the South when you read Welcome Y’all! on a downtown Cleveland theater marquee.

Cotton House is in a partially converted old building, and the rest of the building is new. The Donelson Room, a restored event space, is named for a co-owner of a Memphis-based cotton company, and the Fairbanks Board Room is named for Thaddeus Fairbanks, inventor of the large scale on which cotton bales are still weighed today.

Upon arrival at the Cotton House, I enjoyed exploring the spacious lobby, sometimes described as “the living room of Cleveland.” Friends, families and visitors convene in the lobby to share memories and create new ones. On Saturday of my visit to Cleveland, I enjoyed meeting a local couple who had been on an early morning run. They stopped by the hotel where they warmly greeted me and welcomed me to Cleveland. They even gave me their address and invited me to their home! The lobby has a good feel with Mississippi Delta books and art. The art gallery changes every three months. Some of the art may be purchased.

My guest room faced a row of attractive shops and a walking trail which once was a railroad track. In 2000 the former railroad tracks were removed and replaced with a well-used walking trail, and an authentic 1941 Illinois Central caboose provides a prominent landmark for capturing fun photos from your visit.

In my guest room was artwork of nearby Dockery Farms and Mississippi musicians. The manager had thoughtfully placed a pink Victrola (record player) in my room with vintage LPs of B.B. King; Robert Johnson, “King of the Delta blues”; Muddy Waters; and Mississippi John Hurt.

After relaxing a short while in my guest room it was fun to drive around Cleveland where I discovered lovely homes with well-manicured lawns and flower gardens and the City of Cleveland Railroad Heritage Museum with its thousands of artifacts and photos that document how the railroad transformed the Delta.

A friend and I enjoyed dinner at Delta Meat Market, which moved its location across the street to be the anchor restaurant in Cotton House. Chef Cole Ellis was recently named one of the South’s Best Chefs by “Southern Living Magazine.”

It was a lovely evening, so we decided to dine on the patio outside the restaurant where we first had creative cocktails. I enjoyed a CCBC or Cleveland’s Cold Brew Cocktail, and my dinner partner liked his Coconut Rye Tia. We shared a very good attractively arranged Charcuterie Tray of cheeses, house-cured meat with peach butter dipping sauce, Andouille sausage, chorizo-cured sausage and black olives. We were also served a crab appetizer. My entrée was a grilled skirt steak with grilled asparagus drizzled with Mississippi-made Hoover Sauce and served over herbed frites.

The Delta Meat Market is open for lunch from 11am-2pm Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and brunch is served on Saturday from 10am-2pm (reservations recommended). Dinner is served from 5-10 pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The menu changes weekly and may be viewed on Facebook.

Bar Fontaine, the rooftop bar, will be closed until COVID-19 subsides. Happy Hour will again be held there with live music. Cotton House is the tallest building in town, so guests have a great view when eating and drinking.

After dinner we strolled around downtown and planned our busy itinerary for the following day.

Early on a sunny Saturday my friend and I picked up a coffee-to-go before beginning our tour of Cleveland, which has much to offer for a town its size. In 2019 Cleveland was named one of “Southern Living’s” “Best Small Towns.” It is a vibrant community that keeps in step with the pace of modern life.

Our first stop was The Bologna Performing Arts Center located on the campus of Delta State University. It is a state-of-the-art, 1,200-seat center for arts and entertainment in Mississippi. Next stop: nearby Delta State University, home to over 4,000 students. DSU is also known for its popular unofficial mascot—The Fighting Okra! On the campus of Delta State is the Hazel and Jimmy Sanders Sculpture Garden featuring over 20 works of impressive outdoor art by sculptors from all over the world nestled between water displays. The Sculpture Garden is free and open to the public.

A not-to-be-missed destination is the Grammy Museum Mississippi (second only to the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles) located next to Delta State University. Not long ago I had a private tour of this 28,000-square-foot contemporary facility featuring permanent and traveling exhibits, content-rich interactive experiences, and films that engage, educate, celebrate and inspire music lovers of all ages. The museum covers the history of recorded music of all genres and showcases Mississippi’s impact on American music for a one-of-a- kind visitor experience.

Cleveland is a perfect hub as you explore other locales throughout the Mississippi Delta. Numerous Blues Trail markers include one at the 25,000-acre Dockery Farms within 5.5 miles east of Cleveland.

Dockery Farms was established by Will Dockery in 1895 to produce cotton. African Americans who came to Dockery to cultivate cotton created a culture that inspired the music we know as the Blues. Dockery Farms operated from 1937-1982 by Joe Rice Dockery. At one time this plantation had a post office, commissary and cotton gin. The plantation once employed Charley Patton, a legendary Blues musician who inspired such greats as Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, B.B. King and Elvis Presley.

Our morning tour of area attractions worked up an appetite, so we headed to Merigold to the world-famous McCarty Pottery and Gallery Restaurant a few miles from Dockery Farms. We had a delicious lunch including homemade hot tamales in The Gallery Restaurant (reservations recommended; open Tuesday-Saturday for lunch, cuisine served on dinnerware created by the McCarty artists). A short walk through a bamboo tunnel in the artists’ backyard reveals a flourishing maze of gardens featuring rare herbs, indigenous plants and trees. Tours of McCarty Pottery are at set times. Since we had toured McCarty Pottery previously, we opted to shop in the delightful downtown Cleveland shops and return another time to McCarty Pottery for our tour. Note: Be sure to dine at Crawdad’s in Merigold for divine steaks!

Returning to Cleveland from McCarty Pottery, we enjoyed browsing in the Moonstruck Antique Flea Market a few blocks from the heart of downtown. The proprietor was friendly and accommodating, and we purchased several items at this large store brimming with everything from furniture to vintage clothing, jewelry, retro art and décor.

Upon returning to historic downtown Cleveland, we visited the diverse shops including Abraham’s Clothing Shoppe and Cotton Row Bookstore. Our first stop was Neysa’s Fireside Shop whose ads I had seen in several Southern magazines, and I have browsed in her booth at the annual Antiques and Garden Show in Nashville. I spent more than I had planned in this lovely shop, but the decorative accessories beckoned me. It was a very hot day, so we dropped into the Delta Dairy for yogurt refreshments to take to our hotel rooms and relax.

At night, Cleveland’s vibrant restaurant scene comes alive. The Cleveland Chamber of Commerce will be happy to provide you with a list of restaurants and shops.

What to Know

Cotton House: A Tribute Portfolio Hotel
215 Cotton Row
Cleveland, MS 38732
(800) 682-8694
(662) 843-7733
www.cottonhousecleveland.com
Social Media: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Cleveland-Bolivar County, MS Chamber of Commerce
(800) 295-7473
(662) 843-2712
www.visitclevelandms.com