This is an old newspaper article posted when the building went on auction. This image was found on nkyviews.com.

The Altamont Hotel is something not a lot of Fort Thomas locals know about. This hotel was announced in February of 1905, and was first called “The Grand View Hotel.” It was set to be open at the beginning of August with a layout plan of four stories tall, with one hundred and fifty rooms open to be occupied for families as a “getaway.”

“It had modest success for a few years as a summer resort, but did not draw guests during the winter months,” said the Director of the Fort Thomas Military and Community History Museum, Deanna Beineke. 

In 1918, the hotel was then leased and turned into a military hospital for soldiers. It was used to house and care for WW1 army servicemen, both wooded and disabled. This lease would only last several years though it kept its’ label as a hospital, housing many patients and had over two hundred beds. 

“By the time the United States entered WWI in 1917, the US Government had leased the Altamont hotel, and by fall of 1918, it was filled with soldiers suffering from the influenza pandemic,” said Beineke.

After the final lease was up, and it could no longer be ruined, the hotel was sold at a public auction to a real estate broker named Adam Haas, based in Newport, in 1928. That same year, the hotel was torn down by W.S. Gubser Wrecking & Construction. 

This was originally the largest-ever hotel built in Fort Thomas. While it stood, news articles and posters were published, advertising it to the public. It was a focal point where families could have getaways and a united experience, spending quality time with one another.

Most locals and long-time residents of Highlands to this day, have never heard of this historical landmark Fort Thomas used to be known.