MENTONE — In August 2001, Mark Elacqua and Andy Talton were on a trip from Atlanta when they spotted a treasure in Mentone.

It was sliding off its foundation, had holes in the floor and a for sale sign in front, but the men saw potential in the old Mentone Springs Hotel, which was the first hotel built in the state of Alabama in 1884.

Two weeks later, terrorists attacked New York and Washington on Sept. 11, causing Elacqua and Talton to rethink their lives in the big city.

They bought the old hotel and headed for slower-paced lives in this tiny mountain burg.

Nearly five years later, the hotel, restored to its original beauty, is a booming business for the partners. Located on Ala. 117 in downtown Mentone, the hotel is on the route to DeSoto Falls, DeSoto State Park and Little River Canyon State Preserve.

“We’ve done very, very well,” Elacqua said. The hotel and its restaurant, Caldwell’s, were featured on “The Family Table with Naomi Judd” on the Food Network in 2003 and the star is now a regular guest.

Elacqua said weekends are booked as much as four months in advance, and about two weeks in advance during the week.

“It’s a wonderful old building,” he said. “People come to visit and stay and they become our friends.”

In Mentone, 1200 feet above sea level atop Lookout Mountain, the air is crisper and the pace slower. Beautiful mountain scenery and waterfalls are plentiful. That, as well as a wealth of mineral springs, brought people from the cities.

“The hotel was built as a retreat for people who came to drink the water,” Elacqua said, adding there are three mineral springs on the hotel’s 17-acre property, which are not currently accessible to the public. “They came and spent the whole summer. It was 10 degrees cooler than Birmingham or Atlanta.”

The hotel was built by Dr. Frank Caldwell and initially had one story and 12 rooms.

“In 1904, they added the second and third stories,” Elacqua said. “The third story is now an attic. It had cots built into the roof line. That’s where servants slept.”

The hotel boomed in the 1920s, when bootlegging was a popular occupation in mountainous areas.

“Supposedly, Al Capone and all the bootleggers were down here checking on their liquor in the 1920s and stayed at hotel,” Elacqua said.

On the street corner opposite the hotel, a building known as the Hitching Post was built to house, at various times, a post office and dance hall.

Then the Depression hit, and the hotel fell on hard times. Elacqua said the hotel was vacant for about 40 years and was in poor condition when it was purchased in the 1980s.

Talton, an interior designer who restored a family farmhouse in North Carolina and did interiors for lodges at Gorham’s Bluff, helped bring the Mentone Springs Hotel back to its initial splendor.

“It was falling down when we bought it,” Elacqua said. “There were holes in the floor with caution tape around them and the building was falling off its foundation.”

When built, the hotel had 41 rooms, but guests shared a bathroom.

The refurbished hotel features nine suites with private baths ($145-$225 per night) and three standard rooms with shared bath ($95 per night). Call (256) 634-4040 for more information.

It also includes a restaurant called Caldwell’s, named for the original builder of the hotel.

While no one comes to Mentone for bootlegged liquor these days, Elacqua said getting away from the heat of the city is still a lure.

“Most of the activities here have to do with nature — hiking, canoeing, horseback riding,” he said. “It’s not for those who are looking for Dollywood. It’s a place for people to come to stop and relax. There are no TVs and no phone here.”