Hotel Julien – Setting the Standard for Hospitality

When you travel by motorcycle you are exposed to all kinds of meteorological nastiness. This was especially true for my wife and I this Fall as we rode the Great River Road from Lake Itasca, MN to Venice, LA.

What a pleasant change of pace for us as we pulled up to the Hotel Julien in
Dubuque, Iowa. In the previous 48 hours we had ridden in 40 some degree weather, got soaked by a relentless rain and just before our arrival in Dubuque had the bajeebers scared out of us by lightning and thunderstorms. It was a very welcome surprise when the sun broke out as we rode into Dubuque.

The staff at the front desk could not have been friendlier or more welcoming as we dragged our gear across the impressive lobby. We were still wet from the thunderstorms an hour earlier so I am sure we were quite a sight. Our appearance did not matter to the staff, even the General Manager, Dwight Hopfauf came out to greet us.

Spectacular lobby.

Grand Stairway in the lobby.

After a quick checkin we were off to the elevator to find our room. One thing you will notice as you stroll through the Hotel Julien is that this is no chain. Great care has been taken to use unique and one of kind items to decorate the halls and rooms. Many of these items have been collected over the years by the owners themselves. I especially appreciated this as I spent most of my adult life on the road flying for a major airline spending a lot of time in franchise hotels.

We even had a welcome basket upon our arrival.

Our room was beautiful with a view of the mighty Mississippi. We unpacked our gear and had a little down time. We had ridden several hundred miles on our adventure already and the bumps, the weather and the noise had taken a toll on us. Harley Grandma and I were tired. We took some quiet time to read the rich history of the hotel.

Our room, we couldn’t have asked for more.

We had no idea that President Lincoln, Buffalo Bill Cody and Mark Twain had once stayed here. The hotel even has an Al Capone Suite. It is rumored that Mr. Capone not only stayed here when he had to get out of Chicago, but that he was an owner for a period of time.