Tag: Hotel History
View All TagsHotel History / Vintage NYC Hotels / Historic Hotels / Waldorf-Astoria Hotels / → All Tags
Before the Empire State Building, There Was a Hotel at 5th Avenue and 34th Street
Here's a fun fact for today: Did you know that the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was in the spot where the Empire State Building now stands? It's true! The first version of the ritzy hotel was a combination of the Waldorf and the Astoria Hotels at 5th Avenue and 33rd/34th Streets, which stood and welcomed the most well-heeled guests from 1893 to 1929, when it was knocked down to begin the skyscraper ESB we now know and love.
You won't hear much about that first building of some 1,300 rooms (with bidets) unless you pick a nice documentary from your Netflix queue; we recommend "Modern Marvels: The Empire State Building."
Of course, history is history and we all know that the Waldorf-Astoria found a new home further uptown, in its art deco digs at Park Avenue and 50th Street. Craving a little more NYC hotel history? Check out our category for it.
[Photo: NYC-architecture]
Hotel History / Hotel Secret Tunnels / Public Hotels / Chicago Hotels / → All Tags
What Happened to the Ambassador East's Secret Tunnel?
A few weeks ago we were chatting with a fellow hotel nerd about the new Public Hotel in Chicago, formerly known as the Ambassador East, when the topic of a secret tunnel came up. Yes, we were instantly hooked. Here's what we found out:
Way back when there was an Ambassador West which is the building across the street from Ambassador East/Public. At the turn of the new millennium, the building was still a hotel, a Wyndham Hotel, but today it's been turned into luxury condos worth well over a million bucks a piece. But back to the secret tunnel.
During the heydey of Ambassador East, the tunnel was use to spirit its rich and famous guests to safety away from the paparazzi. But the secret tunnel was initially created so that guests could go back and forth between the hotels without having to cross the busy street. Which is kind of laughable today because the Gold Coast nabe is very residential.
London Hotels / Hotel Books / Hotel History / Historical Hotels / → All Tags
Salacious WWII-Era Stories of London's West End Gems Spotlighted in New Book
London's undeniably posh West End plays home to some of the city's most impressive—and oftentimes hoity toity—hotels: The Ritz, Langham, and Dorchester all cater to an upper crust clientele who know luxury and expect its delivery in spades.
Hotel History / London Hotels / Politcal Hotels / M Gallery Hotels / Hotel Secret Tunnels / → All Tags
Bells Will Be Ringing...at St. Ermin's Hotel in London
A few weeks ago, we told you about the opening of the St. Ermin's Hotelin London that we attended and showed you what our room looked like. Apologies for the lag time, but here's a fun little piece of hotel history.
Approaching St. Ermin's, the first thing you will notice is the impressive courtyard outside the main entrance, flanked on three sides by the hotel. Restoring the courtyard to its original "grandeur" was an important element of the overall renovation.
Then upon walking into the lobby, you step onto mosaic floors, turning left to find reception in the corner. The hotel's public spaces, predominantly the lobby and ballroom, feature extensive white plasterwork, with everything from flowers to a sudden procession of wild animals (up the lobby staircase, to the right in the corner if you want to find them).
Hotel History / Vietnam Hotels / Sofitel Hotels / Hanoi Hotels / Hotel Bunkers / Hotel News / → All Tags
Metropole Hotel in Hanoi Discovers Its Vietnam War Bunker
Today's cool hotel history lesson for today involves the Metropole Hotel in Hanoi which recently discovered a Vietnam War-era secret bunker that once housed Jane Fonda, Joan Baez and a few others during the 1972 Christmas bombings by American forces.
After the bombings and the war, the bunker had been sealed and forgotten. And while the hotel always knew of the shelter, they could never find it. Until over the summer, when during renovations of their poolside bar, a worker's drill hit a piece of concrete. The seven-room, five-foot high bunker had finally been uncovered. Associated Press reports:
Since then, workers have been excavating the flooded and low-ceilinged space. Not much has been found in the seven rooms: a wine bottle, a rusty paint can and a light bulb still in a socket. But a few tales remain, some involving famous guests. “If these walls could talk, they would tell a lot of stories,” says hotel general manager Kai Speth, while giving The Associated Press an exclusive first glimpse. The bomb shelter “needs to be brought back into the life of the hotel as a reminder of what this hotel and this town went through.”
Hotel Music / Hotel Pianos / Manhattan Hotels / Historic Hotels / Hotel History / → All Tags
You Won't Be Hearing From This Algonquin Piano Anytime Soon
I spy with my little eye...
It was another midtown wander that brought us to this hidden gem—a Weber baby grand piano tucked away on the second floor of the Algonquin. Accessible via elevator or staircase (the tiny marble steps made us feel like we were in a hobbit hotel), this quaint "second" lobby is where you can find the bathrooms, a coffee station, and the conference rooms. Also a good alternative in case you're allergic to cats.
This isn't to be confused with the piano in the Oak Room, which we reverently included in our list of awesome hotel lounge acts. Barbara Carroll can't have all of the Algonquin's ivories to herself, but it's somehow fitting that the 109-year-old hotel should keep two pianos on hand (at least that we've counted). So why is this one looking so lonely?
Hotel Amenities / Hotel History / Hotel News / → All Tags
There Was Once a Time When Color TVs Were the Must-Have Hotel Amenity
The flat-screen TV at The Signature at MGM Grand
Every year's end we round up the best and the worst of the year that was, including the Must-Have Amenity, whatever hot item that hotels were killing themselves to place in their guestrooms.
Here's a quick rundown of the past must-have hotel amenities from the past couple of years:
2006 was the flat-screen TV, 2007 was the iPod docking station, 2008 was high-tech recreational toys, 2009 was the plug panels and 2010 was the iPad.
But have you ever wondered about the must-have amenities of years long gone by? The Washington Post has that covered in a recent article about the evolution of hotel amenities:
Celebrity Scoop / Elizabeth Taylor / Luxury Hotels / Hotel History / → All Tags
Liz Taylor's Favorite Hotels (Or, Places That Got a Whiff of White Diamonds)
Elizabeth Taylor has gone to the great presidential penthouse suite in the sky and the only proper way we know how to mourn the great actress is by looking at her favorite hotels.
A random Google search brought up this amazeballs website for us, Hotels of the Rich and Famous, which "chronicles" all the hotels that Liz Taylor had stayed at in her lifetime. This is by no means a complete list and who knows where HORAF got their info but The Beverly Hills Hotel, The Dorchester in London, and the Hotel De Crillon in Paris are well-documented hotel stays in La Liz's life, especially The Dorchester.
Liz used to stay there before the hotel was even called the Dorchester and then later brought her husband (two times over) Richard Burton with her. The Daily Mail reports:
Pitch Your Hotel / InterContinental Hotels / Chicago Hotels / Green Hotels / Hotel History / Edward Andrews / → All Tags
The InterContinental Chicago is Mixing The Old with The New
Welcome to our regular feature, Pitch Your Hotel, where we let hoteliers, general managers and other hotel execs tell us on-camera what makes their hotels so different from all the rest. And believe us, the competition is fierce these days. So sit back, relax and listen to them explain why their hotels are worthy of your hard-earned dollars or rewards points.
Yesterday we showed you around a room at the InterContinental Chicago which recently completed a multi-million dollar renovation of the guestrooms in its historic tower, featuring new furniture, new carpeting and new amenities. But the hotel has a fascinating history that still lives on throughout the hotel, especially in its meeting rooms which were once the old Medinah Athletic Club's dining and sitting rooms.
Indeed, we'd say this hotel has more old-school decor than new-fangled designs. (If you can overlook the Starbucks in the lobby, that is.) Here the hotel's general manager, Edward Andrews, tells us why his historic hotel is worth a stop in Chicago--and it's not just because the hotel was in prime location to the historic Chicago Blackhawks celebratory Stanley Cup parade.
For a hotel history lesson, keep reading!
Video / California Hotels / Hotel History / Political Hotels / Historical Hotels / → All Tags
Riverside's Mission Inn Hotel and Spa Has Its Very Own Docent
Not too long ago, we visited one of California’s iconic historical hotels (it’s even listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a California State Historic Landmark), the Mission Inn Hotel and Spa in Riverside.
Now, Riverside might seem like an unlikely place for a 239-room luxury retreat with four gourmet restaurants on-site, and a full day spa. And it’s true, the Mission Inn does stand out from its more…drab…surroundings. But the hotel has a storied past running back nearly 110 years, and has seen no fewer than ten U.S. Presidents walk its halls, not to mention Richard Nixon got married and the Reagans honeymooned there before their arrival would have been announced by a rousing refrain from “Hail to the Chief.”
Vintage NYC Hotels / 1950s Manhattan Hotels / Hotel History / → All Tags
The Barbizon Hotel for Women is Now...What?
Long before there was the cheesy Barbizon School of Modeling, there was the Barbizon Hotel for Women in New York on 63rd and Lexington which was built in 1927. This where "all nice young ladies" stayed when they came to New York, including screen legend Grace Kelly. (See this New Yorker piece on the actress.)
According to an article in the NY Times a few years ago, the building had 700 tiny hotel rooms with just enough space for a desk, bed, dresser and a window. The bathrooms were shared and men were not allowed above the second floor. There was also a swimming pool inside so ladies could work on their fitness, we presume.
Interviews / Hotel History / Leslie Danker / Singapore Hotels / No Doubt / Gwen Stefani / Celebrity Scoop / → All Tags
What's Inside The Little Black Book of The Raffles Singapore's Resident Historian?
Back in October, we received an email saying that Gwen Stefani and the boys of No Doubt had recently popped into the Raffles Hotel Singapore during the F1 Grand Prix. Celeb sightings in hotels, while very much appreciated, aren't always newsworthy. But this one was a little different.
The band had been performing at the inaugural F1 Rocks Singapore with LG concert and took time out to pose for a pic at the hotel with the resident historian, Leslie Danker. Yes, the hotel has a resident historian who we imagined was in charge of taking photo ops with all the celebs that roll through. What a gig! We had to know more.
So we pressed to do a Q&A over email with Mr. Danker and it turns out being a resident historian is much more than saying "Cheese."
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