Riverside Hotel — Hotel in Clarksdale

Rat (Frank Ratliff, the owner) is the best, plain and simple. Honest as the day is long. The hotel is plain and simple too. I am giving it four stars because perhaps you'll be wanting room service or valet parking or such truck and that would require the fifth star. But if you are looking for a place full of history and steeped in tradition, a place you can return to ten years later and still call home, this is it. My wife and our son stayed here during the blues festival a few years back. We slept in the room John F. Kennedy, Jr. slept in. We heard about Bessie Smith being brought here when it was the colored hospital. We heard about Frank's mom that ran the place before he did. We experienced a dose of Rat's hospitality and that was precious. If you need matching towels or a big neon sign, there is a Motel 6 out on the highway. If you need a place to...

This review will be a work in progress. I just called to see if I would need a reservation. The owner answered and said that indeed I would need one. I asked if he needed my credit card information and he said that it was cash only, all he needed from me was my name and where I was from.

He also said he would have me a juke joint map ready for my visit. Nice...

I stayed there do to the history of the place, but op top I was met with the greatest and warmest hospitality I ever have met. The hotel was nice and absolutely clean. My favor blues artist is Muddy Waters and I slept in his room. Great experience. Go there, take your time and you will never regret it. I will come back again...