Live like a local at Hotel Indigo® Memphis Downtown, an urban home base surrounded by the pulsating beat of the blues. Once a cutting-edge hotel developed by Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson in 1963, Hotel Indigo Memphis Downtown brings the city's heritage and history to light and life. The building at 22 North B.B. King Boulevard pops with color, local art and memorabilia from regional blues, rock and soul legends. Ideally located between the Memphis Cook Convention Center and Beale Street, the hotel offers a sterling guest experience, with 119 rooms featuring hardwood floors, spa-inspired showers, Aveda bath amenities and Frette linens. The boutique hotel's signature restaurant spotlights local chef Ryan Trimm and his modern American menu of seasonal, locally sourced dishes. Relax by our rooftop pool and soak in the culture of soulful Memphis.
Work up a sweat in the Hotel Indigo 24 hour on-site fitness center. The on-site center has cardio equipment - treadmill, elliptical, stationary bike - as well as yoga mats and balls and plenty of room for stretching.
On-Site Fitness Center Available
Barbecue and Beale Street, the King and B.B. King, Sun and Stax. Memphis is often called the birthplace of rock 'n' roll, and its influence on the American music lexicon is mighty. This historically gritty town overlooking the Mississippi River at the western end of Tennessee fueled the dazzling rise of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and a slew of iconic hit makers. You know you're walkin' in Memphis when you have barbecue sauce on your face, smoke in your eyes and a groove in your soul.
Tour this living music shrine, where Sam Phillips first recorded Elvis in the early 1950s. Bask in the King's first audition tape and ogle dozens of gold records in the vintage studio, still in use today. You can even take a selfie with Elvis' microphone and slurp a milkshake from the studio lobby soda fountain.
Elvis is at the heart of this music city and Graceland is it's most visited attraction. The $45 million “Elvis Presley's Memphis" opened in the spring of 2017, and is a 200,000 sq. ft. entertainment complex that curates the King's collection of cars, costumes and other memorabilia into separate museums with plenty of elbow room.
Constructed on the site of the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, the National Civil Rights Museum is the nation's first dedicated to documenting the American civil rights movement. Travel through five centuries of history at the newly expanded museum, from the days of slavery and the culture of resistance it created, the Civil War and Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow and the modern day movement.
The Lewis Ranch is still a part-time abode for the 82-year-old Jerry Lee Lewis, a.k.a. "The Killer," the original bad boy of rock 'n' roll. During the family-led tours, you can spy plenty of personal mementos, from photos and sparkly gold shoes to crushed velvet jackets and a serious gun and knife collection.
One of the most iconic music streets in America, Beale Street features three blocks of nightclubs, restaurants and shops in the heart of downtown Memphis. The Beale Street Entertainment District is a melting pot of Delta blues, jazz, rock 'n' roll, R&B and gospel, a moveable street party that is happening every night of the week.
Get off the beaten track with American Dream Safari tour guide Tad Pierson. Travel beyond Beale Street to local clubs like Ernestine & Hazel's and Wild Bill's, where you can hear the true Memphis sound.
Situated in the middle of downtown Memphis, Levitt Shell is an open-air amphitheater that hosts more than 50 free concerts and events each year. Like almost everything else in Memphis, this place was touched by the King — Elvis Presley gave his first paid concert here on July 30, 1954.
In 2013, the legendary Lafayette's Music Room returned after a nearly four-decades long absence and the music hasn't stopped since. The old Lafayette's featured nationally known musical acts like Barry Manilow and Billy Joel, as well as Memphis' own Big Star. The new Lafayette serves up helpings of Southern comfort cuisine and live music seven nights a week.
Follow your nose down an alley to the striped awning that marks The Rendezvous, the restaurant locals take visitors for down-home pit barbecue. Using its signature dry-rub of secret spices, the Rendezvous is known for its huge slabs of ribs, juicy pulled pork sandwiches and welcoming atmosphere.
Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken has been a food lover's destination in Memphis since 1984. But the family recipe actually dates to 1953 — it's a secret formula that produces perfectly spiced and crispy fried chicken. Get the baked beans and fried pickles on the side, with pecan pie for dessert.
Housed in the Chisca Building, the former site of WHBQ, the first station to play Elvis Presley's breakout hit, “That's All Right," Catherine & Mary's serves Tuscan and Sicilian cuisine from James Beard-nominated chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman. Don't miss the red gravy glory of rigatoni with "maw maw's" gravy and Sunday meatballs.
Award-winning chef Kelly English is behind New Orleans-themed Second Line. Savor elevated riffs on Cajun-Creole classics, from the fried oyster salad to Mississippi catfish sauce piquant and chicken and andouille gumbo with cornbread. All of the po-boys are worth sampling, but the pasture beef with gravy is a three-napkin wonder.