The Pool Club at Kimpton Cottonwood Hotel has transformed into a haunted 1930s grand hotel for the season, with crimson draping, vintage portraits, bellhops and flickering lights setting the scene for a pop-up bar called Hotel Immortale. The concept is designed to resemble a glamorous hotel frozen in time, populated by guests who may never have checked out, and it's running Thursdays through Saturdays from 5 to 11 p.m. through Halloween near South 36th and Farnam Streets in Omaha.
According to KETV, the pop-up serves cocktails inspired by 1930s hotel bars with seasonal twists alongside late-night snacks like charcuterie, deviled eggs and chili. Nicholas Daeppen, general manager of Kimpton Cottonwood, told the station he simply wants people to come and have fun. The 2026 edition of Hotel Immortale was produced in partnership with Omaha-based event production company 402 Events and local design vendors, according to the Kimpton Cottonwood Hotel.
A Pool Deck With a Storied Past
The haunted bar's home base, the Pool Club, isn't just any hotel amenity. Per HOTELSMag.com, it operates as Omaha's first private hotel resort pool membership program alongside regular hotel guest access.
The building itself carries plenty of history worth haunting. Before reopening in November 2020 following a $75 million restoration, the property operated for decades as the landmark Blackstone Hotel before being converted into office space in the 1980s, according to LEO A DALY. Built in 1916 in the Second Renaissance Revival style, the building was designated an official Omaha Landmark in 1983 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, as reported by Travel Agent Central.
From Presidential Visits to the Birth of the Reuben
During its mid-century heyday, the hotel hosted notable political figures, including John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy, who celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary there, and Richard Nixon, who announced his 1968 presidential campaign from its ballroom in 1967, the Kimpton Cottonwood Hotel notes. The hotel sits along Farnam Street, which originally served as part of the Lincoln Highway, America's first transcontinental automobile highway stretching from New York to San Francisco, according to Real Food Traveler.
The hotel is also historically recognized as the birthplace of the Reuben sandwich; its origin story traces the creation to a 1920s poker game on the hotel's eighth floor. Beyond the sandwich, the hotel claims Butter Brickle ice cream was first introduced to the public there.
Omaha's Crowded Halloween Pop-Up Scene
Hotel Immortale isn't operating in a vacuum. The haunted pop-up bar is part of a broader 2026 local nightlife trend in Omaha, where venues such as Nite Owl, Fizzy's and Edge of the Universe also host immersive October Halloween concepts, according to Visit Omaha. That competition is unfolding against a backdrop of record national spending: the National Retail Federation projects U.S. consumer spending on Halloween will reach $13.5 billion in 2026, with individual spending averaging $115.14 per person.
For a hotel sitting on this much Omaha history, turning its pool deck into a haunted 1930s hideaway each fall doubles as a way to keep locals walking through the doors long after summer swim season ends. Whether guests come for the cocktails, the deviled eggs, or the chance to wander a hotel that never quite let its past go, Hotel Immortale is open through Halloween.
