Tiger & Peacock Wins 10 Best Hotel Bars in USA Today

Pull up a stool and peruse our winners for Best Hotel Bar. These 10 bars were voted as the best in the country by our readers for their great atmospheres and stellar mixologists, and at most of them, you don't have even to be a hotel guest to enjoy the experience.

No. 8: Tiger & Peacock at The Memphian - Memphis, Tennessee

Tiger & Peacock is a rooftop bar and upscale lounge located at The Memphian in Overton Square. The space has a mysterious, celestial vibe, perfect for flights of fancy. With great city views, Tiger & Peacock is the place to go for craft cocktails and a globally inspired menu of shared snacks and small plates.

Read more in the USA Today

The Memphian's Tiger & Peacock Up For USA Today's Best Hotel Bars Award

The elegant Tiger & Peacock hotel bar in The Memphian Hotel at Overton Square has been nominated for USA Today’s 10 Best Hotel Bars in the United States.

The Tiger & Peacock is a rooftop bar and upscale lounge located at The Memphian in Overton Square. The space has a mysterious, celestial vibe, perfect for flights of fancy. With great city views, Tiger & Peacock is the place to go for craft cocktails and a globally inspired menu of shared snacks and small plates.

Vote for The Tiger & Peacock as the USA Today’s 10 Best Hotel Bars in the US

The Complicated Pilgrim has a new menu. Here's a taste of what to expect.

If you haven’t been to The Complicated Pilgrim recently, now is the time to stop by. The restaurant at The Memphian hotel in Overton Square has a new menu that debuted last week. The menu reflects the significance of the restaurant’s name.

“The name Complicated Pilgrim is in reference to a world traveler, with the complicated part being that at some point, every trip comes to an end,” said Evan Potts, The Memphian's food and beverage director. “We've taken that idea and applied it to our menu. Every dish is inspired by a different culture or cuisine, but shown through the lens of Memphis and its local ingredients and produce.”

Read more in The Commercial Appeal

How To Take The Ultimate Vacation In Memphis, Tennessee

What drew you to Memphis as a place to visit or explore?

I first had the chance to experience the magic of Memphis in 2011 when I visited a friend who went to college there and absolutely loved it. The strong sense of community, amazing food and vibrant music scene were among the many qualities that made me excited to return. I’ve recently had the opportunity to spend even more consistent time in Memphis as my partner started a one-year job in the city last August while I was still working remotely.

What are the best times of year to visit?

Fall is beautiful in Memphis, but I’m partial to spring, especially during “Memphis in May” ― a historic monthlong international festival that features tons of cultural events.

What’s your best tip for getting there? How can you make the travel as stress-free as possible?

The newly renovated Memphis airport is still fairly small, but you can fly directly from most major hubs. (And you’ll get a good look at the massive fleet of FedEx planes as you drive away from the airport.)

Where do you recommend staying when you go?

The Peabody of course has the famous “duck march,” but I recommend staying in one of the boutique hotels in the downtown and midtown area for more relaxing vibes.

Arrive Memphis, The Memphian and Hu. Hotel all have cozy eateries and bars (the latter boasts beautiful views of the Mississippi River and Hernando de Soto Bridge light show.). I also like the atmosphere at The Central Station, which brings a vibrant, modern energy to a historic transportation hub. The lobby bar, Eight & Sand, has great cocktails.

If you’re looking for a unique experience, however, consider Big Cypress Lodge ― the wilderness-themed hotel inside the famous Bass Pro Shops pyramid. Think treehouse rooms, balconies overlooking an outdoor sporting goods store, and a lot of taxidermy.

Read more in HuffPost

Building Memphis finalists: Burkle/Main, Google, IMC, Memphian Hotel

The continuing revival of the Overton Square theater and entertainment district got a major boost with the arrival of a new, $25 million hotel.

The Memphian — with 106 guest rooms — opened in May 2021. The 75,000-square-foot boutique hotel, which is part of the Tribute by Marriott portfolio, has added to the allure of Overton Square.

The Memphian is owned by LPI Memphis, while MMI Hotel Group manages the hotel. The property is the culmination and centerpiece of the revitalization of Overton Square. LPI purchased much of the properties in the area in 2012, after years of decline.

The district was saved from possible demolition, and a massive, square-wide renovation began, including public art installations, expanded infrastructure, and safety improvements that resulted in new tenants.

The Memphian’s interior gives a nod to the culture of Midtown, while the exterior invokes Old Europe combined with Southern style.

Its 2,000-square-foot lobby and lounge features a unique, oversized fishing-bobber chandelier, a grand piano, and vintage photo art.

The hotel also offers visitors multiple dining options, including the first floor’s Complicated Pilgrim and the rooftop Tiger and Peacock.

Read more in the Memphis Business Journal

LPI Memphis to turn 22 Cooper into ‘Gateway to Overton Square’

Standing across from the Memphian Hotel, a “For Lease” sign stares sits along the facade that once read: B-A-R-I R-I-S-T-O-R-A-N-T-E.

LPI Memphis isn’t sad that Bari left — after all, they only moved down the street. Rather, they’re mulling over a vacant property in what they believe can be the “gateway to Overton Square.”

“We want it to be inviting,” said Jeff Dawson of LPI. “This is the entrance to the space. It needs to be worthy of that sort of greeting.”

The real estate development company headed by patriarch Robert Loeb and his brother Louis Loeb began its construction on Overton Square in 2012. At the time, the area was dilapidated. Today, Overton Square is one of the neighborhood catalysts in Midtown.

Dawson said their team estimates more than a million visitors frequent the Square annually, making it one of the top tourist destinations in Memphis.

Read more in the Daily Memphian

What's so complicated about the Complicated Pilgrim?

The Memphian hotel in Overton Square opened May 4. It brings two new food and beverage concepts to the Memphis landscape — the hotel's restaurant the Complicated Pilgrim and its rooftop bar Tiger & Peacock.

The Memphian is owned by LPI Memphis and is managed by MMI Hotel Group under the Marriott Tribute Portfolio brand.

The Complicated Pilgrim, which opened when the hotel did, offers such dishes as braised lamb shank and shrimp and grits. The lushly decorated Tiger & Peacock opened first for hotel patrons about a month and a half ago and opened to the public two weeks ago.

Read more in the Memphis Business Journal

Renasant Bank Designs a Transparent Memphis Headquarters

Bankers have often built their buildings with materials like stone, brick and cement to symbolize the institution’s strength, stability and staying power.

Renasant Bank leaders will project more modern symbolism in their new glassy, Memphis headquarters that is to open in September in the heart of East Memphis’ Poplar Corridor.

“Retail banking has changed a lot over the years,” said project architect Jason Weeks, a senior associate at LRK. “In the old days it was ‘Your money is safe inside a fortress, a really heavy box that makes you feel safe.’

“Well, now retail banking is open, and we want to highlight that. We want to allow the glass to open that up and invite people in more,” he said of the $15 million building at 5575 Poplar. “Your money is still just as safe. But it’s an opportunity to really reach out to the community.”

Read more in the Daily Memphian

The Memphian surrounds its ‘pilgrims’ with color and art

A decade ago, after Loeb Properties bought and renovated Overton Square, brothers Bob and Louis Loeb commissioned and installed colorful and lively public art — murals, sculpture and more — in seemingly every nook and cranny of the entertainment district.

Artist Mary Seay Loeb, Bob’s wife, has now turbocharged the family’s bent for enlivening space with luminous, often whimsical artwork.

But this time the setting is inside The Memphian, the Loebs’ first hotel.

Mary created the ideas for the interior look and feel, dismissed some out-of-town design firms reluctant to work from her vision board, selected the works of 15 Memphis artists, and created some of the art herself.

“It was a real struggle,” she said of gaining acceptance from interior design firms. “Because people don’t believe that by adding that many layers, that many colors, that you get a different energy. And it feels very welcoming and homey.

Read more in the Daily Memphian

5 Star Stories: Overton Square, bustling arts district in the heart of Midtown Memphis

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Overton Square is the heart of a bustling Midtown Memphis district where arts of all kinds have turned the four corners of Memphis Cooper Street and Madison Avenue into a magnet for foodies, music lovers, and theatre enthusiasts.

The second TGIFriday’s in America opened on Madison Avenue at Cooper Street May 21, 1970, after a successful bid to sell liquor by the drink passed in the Tennessee legislature.

Soon after, Overton Square was bustling with restaurants, shops and music venues like the original Lafayette’s, helping propel the careers of some of the biggest names in music.

“Lafayette’s Music Room was hosting. I mean, you name it, we got our hands on Billy Joel, Kansas, Kiss, Barry Manilow, Henry Gross, Leon Russell, and these are all names at the time that hadn’t made it huge yet, but were on their way up,” said Lafayette’s Music Room General Manager Julien Salley, Jr.

Watch more at WREG Memphis

As the Memphian hotel opens at Overton Square, here are 4 things to know about the property

The new Memphian hotel opened Tuesday at Overton Square, bringing a 106-key hotel to the heart of Midtown.

Developers intended for the hotel to be a celebration of all things Memphis; a space for locals to revel in the lovely quirkiness of Midtown and for visitors to feel like they're getting a slice of Memphis life.

Work continued close to the original timeline despite the pandemic, Micajah Sturdivant, president of MMI Hotel Group, previously told The Commercial Appeal.

Here are four things to know about the new hotel, located at 21 Cooper St.

Read more in the Commercial Appeal

$24M Overton Square hotel slated to open in April

A $24 million Overton Square hotel is still on track for its scheduled spring opening — though the pandemic did, at times, cause developers to have second thoughts.

Micajah Sturdivant, president of Mississippi-based MMI Hotel Group, said the 106-room Memphian, which will include 10 suites, is slated to open in April at 21 S. Cooper St. The 75,000-square-foot, boutique hotel is part of the Tribute by Marriott portfolio.

The Memphian is owned by LPI Memphis — formerly Loeb Properties Inc. — while MMI Hotel Group manages the hotel. Montgomery Martin Contractors LLC is the general contractor for the project

The hotel’s ground floor will feature Complicated Pilgrim, a 100-seat indoor/outdoor coffee shop and evening restaurant and bar. On the seventh floor will be the Tiger and Peacock, a 100-seat indoor/outdoor rooftop bar designed by GCD Interiors.

Read more in the Memphis Business Journal

Pilgrim, Tiger and Peacock to be part of The Memphian hotel in Overton Square

Developers unveiled more about The Memphian, including that its ground-floor restaurant will be called Complicated Pilgrim and its rooftop bar will be The Tiger and Peacock. Now that Montgomery Martin Contractors has completed the structural framework and placed the final beam, development partner MMI Hotel Group announced in a release on Monday that the 106-room hotel will open next spring.

Now that its framework is completed, The Memphian’s developers on Monday unveiled the concepts for the restaurant and bar, and the “vibe” that the boutique hotel will have. (Tom Bailey/Daily Memphian) Other partners in the seven-story building at 21 S. Cooper are Overton Square landlord Loeb Properties and boutique hotel developer LRC2 Properties. The Memphian will be part of Marriott International’s “Tribute Portfolio,” which comprises about 40 “characterful independent hotels.” The 106-room hotel’s atmosphere will be relaxed and “lived-in,” the release states. The hotel will be both “offbeat and elevated” to give guests a taste of Midtown’s unconventional personality.

Read More in the Daily Memphian

EDGE approves PILOT for Renasant Bank headquarters

The Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) for Memphis and Shelby County board unanimously approved a nine-year Jobs PILOT (payment-in-lieu-of-taxes) Wednesday, Sept. 18, for Renasant Bank’s new Memphis-market headquarters.

Renasant Bank plans to build a $15.8 million, Memphis-market headquarters at 5575 Poplar Ave.

“We’ve had a presence in Memphis since we acquired Renasant Bank in 2004,” said Jim Gray, chief revenue offer of Renasant Bank, which was called Peoples Bank & Trust Company when it acquired Renasant Bancshares of Memphis. “We’re going to be here a lot longer.”

Read more in the Daily Memphian

Mississippi bank plans $16M Memphis metro HQ

A Tupelo-based bank has plans to build a regional HQ for its Memphis metro operations at Poplar and I-240.

Renasant Bank is seeking a nine-year Jobs PILOT (payment-in-lieu-of-taxes) from the Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) for Memphis & Shelby County. The bank plans to construct a new, three-story, 45,000-square-foot office at 5575 Poplar Ave. located on a 2.7-acre lot owned by Yorkshire Properties LP/Loeb Properties.

Renasant will have a ground lease with the owners. Once the building is constructed, Renasant plans to occupy 30,000 square feet of it and lease out the extra space, which could also be used for future growth. Grinder, Taber & Grinder Inc. is the contractor on the project and LRK is the architect.

Loeb confirmed in October 2018 its plans to demolish the existing buildings at the busy East Memphis corner for new development. At the time, the company simply said it was working with a "lead candidate."

Read more in the Memphis Business Journal

City's first Blitz 45 gym to join with chiropractor

A chiropractor and a strength/conditioning coach for a high school football team are joining forces to bring both a boutique gym franchise and a chiropractor/neuropathy clinic to the same space in East Memphis.

The corner bay at 3477 Poplar in University Center shopping center, at the southwest corner of Poplar and Highland, will be co-branded as a Blitz 45 Functional Training Studio and Midsouth Wellness Center.

Dr. Starr Cheshier is moving his Midsouth Wellness Center there from 1052 Brookfield.

Johnny Jones will oversee the Blitz 45 Functional Training gym when he’s not coaching the defensive line and handling strength and conditioning for the Memphis University School football team. Jones is also an ownership partner in the franchise.

Midsouth Wellness Center should open there by Aug. 5 and Blitz 45 after Labor Day, Cheshier said.

Read more in the Daily Memphian

Overton Square hotel looks to build on solid foundation

The Overton Square hotel is moving right along.

Another building permit, this one valued at $4.75 million, was filed July 5 for 21 S. Cooper St. in Midtown.

The permit, which lists Memphis-based Loeb Properties Inc. as the owner and Overton Square Hotel as the tenant, is for "foundation and structure."

Montgomery Martin Contractors LLC is the contractor; Renaissance Group Inc. is the architect.

Read more in the Memphis Business Journal

Retail center’s demolition tied to future Poplar Viaduct project

An old strip shopping center was demolished this week to help lay the groundwork for replacing the even older Poplar Viaduct.

But don’t confuse deconstruction with construction.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) remains only in the right-of-way phase of the project to replace the bridge completed in 1928.

No bids have been let to replace the Poplar Avenue bridge that spans the spot where Union Avenue turns into Walnut Grove Road as well as the CSX, Union Pacific and Canadian National railroads, TDOT spokeswoman Nichole Lawrence said.

The project will be big, whenever it starts.

Read more in the Daily Memphian