Recognized as one of America's "cultural resources worthy of preservation," The Carolina Inn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Since it opened in1924, the Inn has been important to the life of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the community. And it has been one of the most popular sites in North Carolina for banquets, weddings, business meetings, and academic conferences.

The Inn was built by John Sprunt Hill, a UNC graduate who, in 1935, gave the Inn to the university to serve as "a cheerful inn for visitors, a town hall for the state, and a home for returning sons and daughters of alma mater." Still owned by Carolina, the Inn is managed by Doubletree Hotels.

In addition its rich cultural history, the Inn is architecturally significant, blending elements of antebellum Southern plantation houses with Georgian and neoclassical features often found in the Northeast. The building's original front was modeled after the Potomac River front of Mt. Vernon.

The Inn has been enlarged and modernized over the years. The most extensive renovation and expansion completed in 1996, added modern features and conveniences and restored much of the Inn's warmth and grandeur. A collection of antiques, along with objects original to the Inn in 1924, complements the casually elegant dÈcor.