Hotel Alex Johnson is Rapid City's classic downtown hotel, a 1920s landmark with enough carved detail and lobby atmosphere to merit a look even if you sleep elsewhere. It gives the city a touch of old railway-era confidence.
The hotel also trades on ghost lore, which you can take or leave. The better reason to stop is architectural: it is one of the few downtown buildings that feels like it was designed to impress travellers arriving at the edge of the Black Hills.