By Tom Adkinson
June 26, 2026
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| The GunRunner Hotel has plenty of North Alabama stories to tell, but its exterior is understated and unassuming. Image by Tom Adkinson |
FLORENCE, Ala. – Some of the GunRunner Hotel’s repeat guests play a parlor game – they want to see how long it takes to stay overnight in all of the boutique property’s highly themed suites.
The challenge is availability. Will the Muscle Shoals Suite, named for the region’s famous music, be available on the dates they want? How about the Billy Reid Suite, named for the fashion designer who calls Florence home? Or the Devil’s Backbone Suite, named for a notorious criminal from the 1860s buried nearby under a city street?
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| What once was an automobile dealership’s showroom is now a communal space for the 10-room boutique hotel. Image by Tom Adkinson |
There are 10 suites to explore in this property, which is a textbook example of adaptive-use restoration. Existence as a hotel is the third incarnation of the building at the corner of East Tennessee Street and Wood Avenue in downtown Florence, the biggest of the four cities that make up the Shoals area of northwest Alabama, known around the world for the thousands of hits laid down at its recording studios by artists including Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, the Rolling Stones, Linda Ronstadt and Paul Simon.
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| The Muscle Shoals Suite, one of 10 themed guestrooms, is decorated with gold records and other memorabilia from the area’s recording industry. Image by Tom Adkinson |
Foote Auto Co., an Oldsmobile dealership, was the original occupant of the substantial two-story brick building. It then became a fixture in town as the GunRunner Pawn Shop until that business faded. After a period of vacancy, local businessman Billy Ray Casteel decided to resurrect the building as a boutique hotel.
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| The GunRunner’s bar is the transformation of an oversized freight elevator that once moved cars to a second-floor showroom. Image by Tom Adkinson |
Casteel saved touches of the building’s previous lives. Foremost was maintaining the GunRunner name. Second was preserving the freight elevator that once lifted Oldsmobiles from street level to a second-floor showroom. The elevator machinery remains in place, but the elevator has become a well-stocked bar that never leaves the hotel’s second floor.
“We’re kind of a speakeasy hotel. We’re very hands-off if you want that,” said general manager Chris McMeans, adding that he’s always present to offer any assistance needed.
The GunRunner’s website explains it this way: “A visit (here) affords travelers the amenities of a luxury hotel experience, with the convenience and privacy that comes from a rented apartment. All guests are provided with an email confirmation of their four-digit code, allowing them to enter the hotel and their room privately.”
Nine of the hotel’s suites ring a 3,200-square-foot common area arranged with couches for lounging, conversation areas, and a variety of artwork. The elevator bar is the focal point. Seven of the suites have private balconies, and all have walk-in tiled showers, 55-inch televisions, refrigerators, and wet bars. The tenth suite is an accessible unit on the street level, and a rooftop bar adds extra public space.
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The GunRunner Hotel opened in 2017 and in 2024, won accolades from USA Today at the top boutique hotel in America. Image by Tom Adkinson |
Developers scoured the area’s history and attributes to theme the suites. For instance, gold records hang in the Muscle Shoals Sound Suite, while the Frank Lloyd Wright Suite pays homage to the famed architect’s only Alabama project, a home located just a few blocks away.
Of course, there is a suite dedicated to Florence’s University of North Alabama (that’s the Lion’s Den), and the Lumber One Suite recognizes hotel developer Casteel’s original business, Lumber One, a wood packaging and products business.
And what about the Devil’s Backbone Suite? It acknowledges the outlaw Tom Clark, one of North Alabama’s most fearsome criminals, who confessed to at least 19 murders. When he was caught and executed in 1872, locals recalled he had said, “No man will ever run over Tom Clark.” Their solution was to bury him in the middle of East Tennessee Street in a spot people drive over every day.
Trip Planning Resources:
GunRunnerHotel.com,
VisitFlorenceAL.com and
NashvillesBigBackYard.org
(Travel writer Tom Adkinson’s book, 100 Things To Do in Nashville Before You Die, is available at Amazon.com.
