While historic hotels can really elevate one’s vacation and help visitors connect to the region where they’re traveling, high maintenance costs have left more than one owner struggling to keep them open.
Back in August 2025, the Oheka Castle hotel on New York’s Long Island filed for Chapter 11 protection with debts of over $60 million, despite the fact that the 1910s-era property modeled to look like a French chateau is regularly booked not just for stays, but also film sets and wedding photo shoots.
Even more recently in October, the owner of the Breakers hotel in California’s Long Beach also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The 185-room property, under the Canadian luxury hotel chain Fairmont since 2022, had undergone an extensive renovation project that ultimately ran up significant debt when construction went off schedule.
Hotel Nauvoo was “human endeavor” whose time to close has come, owners write
While bankruptcy is not behind this particular closure, the latest property to formally shut its doors is the iconic Hotel Nauvoo in southwestern Illinois.
While the building itself was constructed as a personal residence in 1841, the hotel sprung up when local resident Elmer J. Kraus purchased the property in 1946 and restored it to its original style from that era.
Nauvoo, which was at one point in the nineteenth century the largest city in Illinois, now holds historical significance as the Midwestern headquarters of the Church of Latter Day Saints.
Over the decades that followed, Hotel Nauvoo became a well-recognized landmark alongside the Mississippi River, recalling earlier eras and a historic period in the state’s settlement.
The property complex also had a motel branch offering less expensive accommodation for those passing through the town, which now has a permanent population of just under 1,000 people. The hotel also drew in the local community with an adjacent buffet restaurant.
Related: Iconic Fairmont hotel owner files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Since the 1940s, both the inn and restaurant were owned by descendants of the original Kraus family. But after closing after a summer and early fall season (tourism to Nauvoo tends to drop off dramatically in the winter months), the current owners announced that they do not intend to reopen as they pursue retirement.
“Over the past 77+ years, each and every one of you have become friends and ‘family,'” they wrote in a Facebook post announcing the closure. “Ours has been, and remains, a human endeavor, comprised of individuals working together for the sake of all.”
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Hotel Nauvoo to also issue refunds for those with gift cards, booked stays
As Hotel Nauvoo was above all a community staple that attracted repeat visitors year after year, many booked stays months ahead of time and purchased gift cards for family members.
Hotel Nauvoo confirmed that it will issue refunds for those who are now no longer able to stay at the property.
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“We have begun the process of fully refunding all gift card balances, starting with unused cards that were purchased with a payment card so that we can issue a refund directly to the payment card that was used to purchase the gift card,” the hotel owners wrote in answer to questions about what will happen to those with gift cards and unused balances.
“[…] Regardless of how your gift card was purchased, we want you to have any remaining balance.”
Related: Another travel company to shut down and liquidate, no bankruptcy
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