When Municipal Grand swung its doors on July 11, the hotel’s eponymous lobby bar quickly packed with patrons thirsty for a taste of its much-anticipated beverage program — and the people it attracts.
The debut came within two years after Midnight Auteur, a new hospitality group from the founders of Death & Co. and Denver’s the Ramble Hotel, announced plans to reimagine the six-story, 1960s landmark into a cocktail-driven, 44-room destination.
Municipal Grand’s name is a clever nod to the past: the First Federal Savings and Loan Association, which operated from 1961 to 1989, later served as a City of Savannah workplace at 45 Abercorn Street. The preserved architecture, from terrazzo tiles to the bank vault, sets the tone for the midcentury modern-inspired interiors by AAmp Studio — the same firm behind Death & Co.’s bars in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. — in collaboration with Savannah-based Lynch Associates Architects and Ward Architecture + Preservation.
By design, Municipal Bar is the city’s best new spot to see and be seen, both in person and on Instagram. Anchoring the lobby is a curved, 14-seat bar surrounded by serpentine banquettes and low lounge seating. Although at street level, the entire floor feels like one big sunken conversation pit, thanks to an upper mezzanine level encasing the perimeter…