Leeds Hampton Inn takes decorating cues from Barber Motorsports Park

February 16, 2010

By Michael Tomberlin -- The Birmingham News

The new $11 million Leeds Hampton Inn, like most hotels, was built for relaxing. But it was also built for speed, sort of.

Racing red colors were used throughout the hotel and a rotating display of a motorcycle on loan from nearby Barber Motorsports Park sets the hotel apart.

Photograph by Joe Songer A vintage motorcycle from the Barber Motorsports Museum greets guests at the new Leeds Hampton Inn. Bikes from the museum will be rotated through the display at the hotel, which will serve guests visiting the Barber facility and the Bass Pro Shops store nearby.

"I don't like to do generic hotels. I like to have something with a little personality, a little pizzazz to it," said Cory Jackson Jr., president of Birmingham's Jackson Hospitality Services Inc., which developed and manages the hotel.

The new hotel at 310 Rex Lake Road was designed for visitors to Barber Motorsports Park, Bass Pro Shops and a new outlet mall being built in the area as well as any other travelers along Interstate 20 looking for a place to stop.

Jackson said the company had to get special permission from the president of the Hampton chain in order to have the rotating motorcycle display. He also said Linda Blackwell of Birmingham's Interior Consultants was the interior designer who gave "extra love and attention" to this project.

Shelby County's Johnson Kreis Construction built the hotel and Homewood's RLS Design Group was architect. The 150-room hotel has one suite, a 50-person meeting room and an exercise facility. It opened Feb. 11.