Portal:Hotels
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The Hotels Portal
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a refrigerator, and other kitchen facilities, upholstered chairs, a flat-screen television, and en-suite bathrooms. Small, lower-priced hotels may offer only the most basic guest services and facilities. Larger, higher-priced hotels may provide additional guest facilities such as a swimming pool, a business center with computers, printers, and other office equipment, childcare, conference and event facilities, tennis or basketball courts, gymnasium, restaurants, day spa, and social function services. Hotel rooms are usually numbered (or named in some smaller hotels and B&Bs) to allow guests to identify their room. Some boutique, high-end hotels have custom decorated rooms. Some hotels offer meals as part of a room and board arrangement. In Japan, capsule hotels provide a tiny room suitable only for sleeping and shared bathroom facilities.
Hotel operations vary in size, function, complexity, and cost. Most hotels and major hospitality companies have set industry standards to classify hotel types. An upscale full-service hotel facility offers luxury amenities, full-service accommodations, an on-site restaurant, and the highest level of personalized service, such as a concierge, room service, and clothes-ironing staff. Full-service hotels often contain upscale full-service facilities with many full-service accommodations, an on-site full-service restaurant, and a variety of on-site amenities. Boutique hotels are smaller independent, non-branded hotels that often contain upscale facilities. Small to medium-sized hotel establishments offer a limited amount of on-site amenities. Economy hotels are small to medium-sized hotel establishments that offer basic accommodations with little to no services. Extended stay hotels are small to medium-sized hotels that offer longer-term full-service accommodations compared to a traditional hotel. (Full article...)
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The Palace Hotel in Perth, Western Australia, is a landmark three-storey heritage listed building located in the city's central business district. Originally built in 1897 as a hotel during the gold rush period of Western Australia's history, it was converted to banking chambers and offices in the 1980s and now accommodates the Perth headquarters of Woods Bagot, Adapptor and Hatchd. The building is located on the most prominent intersection in the financial district of the city, at the corner of St Georges Terrace and William Street.
When the hotel opened for business on 18 March 1897 it was, although slightly smaller than some of its contemporary buildings in other capital cities in Australasia, described as "... one of the most beautiful and elegant hotels in Australasia". Other praise included: "... redolent of the bourgeois luxury and splendour of the Paris of Napoleon III" and later "... in its day, as sumptuous a hostelry as any in Melbourne or Sydney." It operated as licensed premises from 1897 until 1981. (Full article...) -
Image 2Hotelito Desconocido (Spanish: [oteˈlito ðeskonoˈsiðo], "Little Unknown Hotel") was a Mexican boutique hotel and ecotourism resort in the municipality of Tomatlán, Jalisco. Formed in 1995 by an Italian architect, Hotelito Desconocido used an architectural style of that combined both rustic and luxurious designs. It was built on an UNESCO-designated natural reserve that was home to a number of endangered bird and turtle species. The hotel won international and domestic awards for its unique architecture and sustainable energy model, and it was a famous getaway spot for international tourists and celebrities. Its construction, however, created tensions with a local group of fishermen that protested against the alleged ecological violations caused by Hotelito Desconocido's construction and expansions.
In 2007, Hotelito Desconocido was acquired by W&G Arquitectos, a company headed by Wendy Dalaithy Amaral Arévalo. She is the wife of Gerardo González Valencia, a former suspected drug lord of Los Cuinis and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, two allied criminal groups based in Jalisco. After years of resistance from the local fishermen, three members of their group went missing in Guadalajara, Jalisco in 2011 after attending an ecological preservation meeting. They had reportedly previously received death threats from the hotel's management and local farmers who were also opposed to their protests. (Full article...) -
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The Desert Inn, also known as the D.I., was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, which operated from April 24, 1950, to August 28, 2000. Designed by architect Hugh Taylor and interior design by Jac Lessman, it was the fifth resort to open on the Strip, the first four being El Rancho Vegas, The New Frontier, Flamingo, and the El Rancho (then known as the Thunderbird). It was situated between Desert Inn Road and Sands Avenue.
The Desert Inn opened with 300 rooms and the Sky Room restaurant, headed by a chef formerly of the Ritz Paris, which once had the highest vantage point on the Las Vegas Strip. The casino, at 2,400 square feet (220 m2), was one of the largest in Nevada at the time. The nine-story St. Andrews Tower was completed during the first renovation in 1963, and the 14-story Augusta Tower became the Desert Inn's main tower when it was completed in 1978 along with the seven-story Wimbledon Tower. The Palms Tower was completed in 1997 with the second and final renovation. The Desert Inn was the first hotel in Las Vegas to feature a fountain at the entrance. In 1997, the Desert Inn underwent a $200 million renovation and expansion, but after it was purchased for $270 million by Steve Wynn in 2000, he decided to demolish it and build the Wynn Las Vegas resort and casino where the Desert Inn once stood, and later, Encore. The remaining towers of the Desert Inn were imploded in 2004. (Full article...) -
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The Trump International Hotel and Tower, originally the Gulf and Western Building, is a high-rise building at 15 Columbus Circle and 1 Central Park West on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. It was originally designed by Thomas E. Stanley as an office building and completed in 1970 as the headquarters of Gulf and Western Industries. In the mid-1990s, a joint venture composed of the General Electric Pension Fund, Galbreath Company, and developer Donald Trump renovated the building into a hotel and residential tower. The renovation was designed by Philip Johnson and Costas Kondylis.
The Trump International Hotel and Tower is 583 ft (178 m) tall and has contained 44 physical stories since it was built. The building originally had an aluminum-and-marble facade and was surrounded by a public plaza on Broadway and Central Park West. There was a theater and shops in the basement as well as a restaurant on the top floor. After the building was renovated, a glass facade was installed. The lower portion of the tower is used as a hotel, while the upper floor is a residential condominium. (Full article...) -
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Watson's Hotel (actually Watson's Esplanade Hotel), now known as the Esplanade Mansion, located in the Kala Ghoda area of Mumbai (Bombay), is India's oldest surviving cast iron building. It is probably the oldest surviving multi-level fully cast-iron framed building in the world, being three years earlier than the Menier Chocolate Factory in Noisiel, France, which are both amongst the few ever built. Named after its original owner, John Watson, the cast and wrought iron structure of the building was prefabricated in England, and it was constructed between 1867 and 1869.
The hotel was leased on 26 August 1867 for the terms of 999 years at yearly rent of Rupees 92 and 12 annas to Abdul Haq. It was closed in the 1960s and was later subdivided and partitioned into smaller cubicles that were let out on rent as homes and offices. Neglect of the building has resulted in decay and, despite its listing as a Grade II–A heritage structure, the building is now in a dilapidated state. A documentary film about the building was made in 2019 called The Watson's Hotel. (Full article...) -
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The Brinks Hotel in Saigon, also known as the Brink Bachelor Officers Quarters (BOQ), was bombed by the Viet Cong on the evening of December 24, 1964, during the Vietnam War. Two Viet Cong operatives detonated a car bomb underneath the hotel, which housed United States Army officers. The explosion killed two Americans, an officer and an NCO, and injured approximately 60, including military personnel and Vietnamese civilians.
The Viet Cong commanders had planned the venture with two objectives in mind. Firstly, by attacking an American installation in the center of the heavily guarded capital, the Viet Cong intended to demonstrate their ability to strike in South Vietnam should the United States decide to launch air raids against North Vietnam. Secondly, the bombing would demonstrate to the South Vietnamese that the Americans were vulnerable and could not be relied upon for protection. (Full article...) -
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Sauganash Hotel (originally Eagle Exchange Tavern) is a former hotel; regarded as the first hotel in Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1831, it was located at Wolf Point in the present day Loop community area at the intersection of the north, south and main branches of the Chicago River. The location at West Lake Street and North Wacker Drive (formerly Market Street) was designated a Chicago Landmark on November 6, 2002. The hotel changed proprietors often in its twenty-year existence and briefly served as Chicago's first theater. It was named after Sauganash, an interpreter in the British Indian Department. (Full article...) -
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The Waldorf-Astoria originated as two hotels, built side by side by feuding relatives, on Fifth Avenue in New York, New York, United States. Built in 1893 and expanded in 1897, the hotels were razed in 1929 to make way for construction of the Empire State Building. Their successor, the current Waldorf Astoria New York, was built on Park Avenue in 1931.
The original Waldorf Hotel opened on March 13, 1893, at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 33rd Street, on the site where millionaire developer William Waldorf Astor had previously built his mansion. Constructed in the German Renaissance style by Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, it stood 225 feet (69 m) high, with fifteen public rooms and 450 guest rooms, and a further 100 rooms allocated to servants, with laundry facilities on the upper floors. It was heavily furnished with antiques purchased by founding manager and president George Boldt and his wife during an 1892 visit to Europe. The Empire Room was the largest and most lavishly adorned room in the Waldorf, and soon after opening it became one of the best restaurants in New York, rivaling Delmonico's and Sherry's. (Full article...) -
Image 9Pikes Hotel, now known as Pikes Ibiza, is a luxury hotel in Ibiza, in the Balearic Islands of Spain. It is located in the countryside, 1.6 miles (2.6 km) to the northeast of the town of Sant Antoni de Portmany, and 10.2 miles (16.4 km) to the northwest of Ibiza Town. A 15th-century stone mansion which was a finca (farm estate), it was converted into a hotel in 1978 by British-born Australian Anthony Pike.
The hotel, cited as one of the most famous or infamous hotels on the island, developed a notorious reputation for hedonism in the 1980s, and is associated with being a playground for the rich and famous. It is best known for being the location of filming for Wham!'s 1983 hit "Club Tropicana" and for Freddie Mercury's 41st birthday bash in 1987, cited as one of the most lavish parties ever to be held on Ibiza. (Full article...) -
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The Millennium Times Square New York (formerly the Hotel Macklowe and the Millennium Broadway) is a hotel at 133 and 145 West 44th Street, between Times Square and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Operated by Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, the hotel has 750 guest units, as well as a conference center with 33 conference rooms. The hotel incorporates a Broadway theater called the Hudson Theatre into its base.
The hotel is composed of two guestroom towers flanking the Hudson Theatre. The original 48-story tower west of the theater was designed by William Derman and Perkins & Will, while the 22-story annex east of the theater was designed by Stonehill & Taylor. The original hotel tower contains a lobby with a passageway connecting two entrances on 44th and 45th Streets. In addition, there is a bar, restaurant, and fitness center in the original tower. The conference center in the lower stories extended into the Hudson Theatre, which in 2017 became a Broadway theater. The 22-story annex is branded as the Millennium Premier New York Times Square. (Full article...) -
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The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story 625 ft (191 m) Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultze and Weaver and completed in 1931. The building was the world's tallest hotel until 1957, when it was surpassed by Moscow's Hotel Ukraina. An icon of glamor and luxury, the Waldorf Astoria is one of the world's most prestigious and best-known hotels. Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts was a division of Hilton Hotels, and a portfolio of high-end properties around the world operates under the name, including in New York City. Both the exterior and the interior of the Waldorf Astoria are designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission as official landmarks.
The original Waldorf-Astoria was built in two stages along Fifth Avenue and opened in 1893; it was demolished in 1929 to make way for the construction of the Empire State Building. Conrad Hilton acquired management rights to the hotel on October 12, 1949, and the Hilton Hotels Corporation finally bought the hotel outright in 1972. It underwent a $150 million renovation ($555 million in 2023 dollars ) by Lee Jablin in the 1980s and early 1990s. The Anbang Insurance Group of China purchased the Waldorf Astoria New York for US$1.95 billion in 2014, making it the most expensive hotel ever sold. The Waldorf Astoria closed in 2017 for renovations; the upper stories were converted into 375 condominiums, while the lowest 18 floors will retain 375 hotel rooms. Dajia Insurance Group took over the Waldorf Astoria when Anbang went bankrupt in 2020, and, after several delays, the hotel is not expected to reopen until 2025 at the earliest. (Full article...) -
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Lotte New York Palace Hotel is a luxury hotel in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, at the corner of 50th Street and Madison Avenue. It was originally developed between 1977 and 1980 by Harry Helmsley. The hotel consists of a portion of the Villard Houses, built in the 1880s by McKim, Mead & White, which are New York City designated landmarks and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It also includes a 51-story skyscraper designed by Emery Roth & Sons and completed in 1980.
The Villard Houses, arranged in a U-shaped plan, consist of three wings surrounding a central courtyard on the east side of Madison Avenue. The houses' center wing serves as a lobby, while the south wing serves as an event space. Behind the Villard Houses to the east is the modern skyscraper addition. , the hotel has 909 rooms and suites. The top floors of the skyscraper are known as the Towers, which consist of 176 luxury units. Among the units in the Towers are four ornate triplex suites, each with their own decorations, as well as four other specialty suites. (Full article...) -
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Hotel Valley Ho is a historic hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona. Also called the Valley Ho and, for 28 years, the Ramada Valley Ho, the hotel was originally designed by Edward L. Varney. It first opened in 1956 with a forward-looking and futuristic design. Movie stars and famous baseball players stayed, and the building quickly became known for its trendsetting guests and its fashionable atmosphere. The success of the venture resulted in expansion in 1958, with two additional two-story wings of guest rooms extending to the north. Though initially proposed by Varney, a central tower of guest rooms, rising over the lobby, was not built.
The property was bought by the Ramada hotel chain in 1973, and was redecorated to cover the 1950s design, seen at the time as outdated. No longer in vogue, but centrally located, the hotel remained prominent for years, and hosted conferences, business meetings, and vacationers. Under Ramada management, however, the property began to show a lack of maintenance, and its popularity declined. It closed in 2001 and its demolition was considered when no purchase offers were received. Admirers of the hotel's exemplary architecture and its local history rallied to save it, and it was placed on the Scottsdale Historic Register. (Full article...) -
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The Virgin Hotels Chicago (formerly Old Dearborn Bank Building or 203 North Wabash Avenue) is a historic building in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, that has been converted from use as an office building to use as a hotel run via a mobile app-based business model. The 250-room hotel is the first of Richard Branson's Virgin Hotels brand boutique hotels geared toward the female business traveller. (Full article...) -
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The Ritz London is a 5-star luxury hotel at 150 Piccadilly in London, England. A symbol of high society and luxury, the hotel is one of the world's most prestigious and best known. The Ritz has become so associated with luxury and elegance that the word "ritzy" has entered the English language to denote something that is ostentatiously stylish, fancy, or fashionable.
The hotel was opened by Swiss hotelier César Ritz in 1906, eight years after he established the Hôtel Ritz Paris. It began to gain popularity towards the end of World War I, with politicians, socialites, writers and actors in particular. David Lloyd George held a number of secret meetings at the Ritz during the latter half of the war, and it was at the Ritz that he made the decision to intervene on behalf of Greece against Turkey. Noël Coward was a notable diner at the Ritz in the 1920s and 1930s. (Full article...)
General images - show new batch
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Image 1Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden (from Hotel)
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Image 2The Peninsula New York hotel, located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street in Midtown Manhattan (from Hotel)
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Image 4Sign on Chicago motel (from Motel)
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Image 5Holiday Inn's "Great Sign", used until 1982. Some remain in museums. (from Motel)
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Image 10Abandoned Grand West Courts in Chicago, demolished in September 2013 (from Motel)
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Image 12The Waldorf Astoria New York, the most expensive hotel ever sold, cost US$1.95 billion in 2014. (from Hotel)
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Image 13On top of the cliff, the Riosol Hotel in Mogán (from Hotel)
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Image 16A typical hotel room with a bed, desk, and television (from Hotel)
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Image 17An apartment hotel in Hammond, Indiana (from Apartment hotel)
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Image 18The Harrison Hotel, an SRO hotel in Oakland, California. (from Apartment hotel)
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Image 23The 4 Seasons Motel sign in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin is an excellent example of googie architecture. (from Motel)
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Image 24The Star Lite Motel in Dilworth, Minnesota is a typical American 1950s L-shaped motel. (from Motel)
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Image 25Motels frequently have large pools, such as the Thunderbird Motel on the Columbia River in Portland, Oregon (1973). (from Motel)
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Image 27Burj Al Arab stands on an artificial island from Jumeirah Beach and is connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge (from Hotel)
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Image 28Wigwam Motel No. 6, a unique motel/motor court on historic Route 66 in Holbrook, Arizona (from Motel)
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Image 33Tremont House in Boston, United States, a luxury hotel, the first to provide indoor plumbing (from Hotel)
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Image 34Ithaa, the first undersea restaurant at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island resort (from Hotel)
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Image 36The Boody House Hotel in Toledo, Ohio (from Hotel)
Selected articles - load new batch
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The National Hotel epidemic was a mysterious sickness that began to afflict persons who stayed at the National Hotel in Washington, DC, in early January 1857. At the time, the hotel was the largest in the city. By some accounts, as many as 400 people became sick, and nearly three dozen died.
Although there was speculation of an attempt to poison hotel guests, that theory was not proven. The outbreak affected mostly patrons of the hotel's dining room but not those who frequented the bar. It began to spread more noticeably by mid-January 1857. New cases of the illness began to decrease in number by the end of January 1857 and continued to abate until mid-February. When the numbers of guests increased for the presidential inauguration of March 4, 1857, the sickness returned again forcefully.
In the 21st century, medical experts attribute the outbreak to "dysentery because of the hotel’s primitive sewage system." (Full article...) -
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Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel, Oslo, formerly Radisson SAS Plaza Hotel, Oslo, known locally as Oslo Plaza, is situated in Oslo city centre. At 117 metres (384 ft) tall, it is Norway's second tallest building.
The building was designed by the architectural firm White.se and completed in 1989. The hotel was officially opened on 14 March 1990, by King Olav V of Norway. In 1992, a footbridge was built between the hotel and the Oslo Spektrum arena. The hotel was remodeled in 2012.
The hotel has 37 floors and 678 rooms. There are a total of 1,500 beds, 140 business rooms and 20 suites. The tower's foundations are concrete, and it has reflective glass facades. The uppermost floors are tapered with a steep diagonal roof on one side, leading to a sharp ridge. It also has an external glass elevator, which travels up to the bar/restaurant at the top. A lower block, three floors tall, contains the entrance, a lobby, restaurants and conference rooms. (Full article...) -
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Mandalay Bay is a 43-story luxury resort and casino at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International. It was developed by Circus Circus Enterprises and completed at a cost of $950 million. It opened on March 2, 1999, on the former site of the Hacienda hotel-casino. MGM acquired Mandalay Bay in 2005, and The Blackstone Group became a co-owner in 2020. Vici acquired MGM's ownership stake in 2022.
Mandalay Bay has a tropical South Seas theme and covers 120 acres (49 ha). It includes a 147,992 sq ft (13,748.9 m2) casino and 3,209 rooms. The 43-story tower includes a Four Seasons hotel, which has rooms on floors 35 through 39. It is managed separately from the Mandalay Bay hotel. In 1999, the Four Seasons became the first Las Vegas hotel to win the AAA Five Diamond Award.
Several additions opened in 2003, including the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, and a second hotel tower, THEhotel at Mandalay Bay. It has 1,117 rooms, and was renamed Delano Las Vegas in 2014. A shopping mall, Mandalay Place, was also added in 2003. Other features include a House of Blues club, the Shark Reef aquatic attraction, and an events center known as Michelob Ultra Arena. The resort also has an 1,800-seat theater, which has hosted several Broadway shows, including Chicago (1999–2000), Mamma Mia! (2003–2009), and The Lion King (2009–2011). Since 2013, the theater has hosted Michael Jackson: One. (Full article...) -
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Ira Glenn Goodart (August 5, 1885 – November 8, 1948) was an American railroad conductor, hotel manager, county commissioner and county treasurer. Goodart was raised in Friendsville, Illinois, a small community outside of Mount Carmel, Illinois, in a German Catholic family. After trying a variety of menial jobs Goodart took a position on the New York Central Railroad as a conductor. He held the position with the New York Central until he lost his right leg during a violent train crash in the early 1920s.
After a period of joblessness and a period of time as an alcoholic, Goodart found employment as a hotel manager at the Grand Rapids Hotel and during his tenure he increased the hotel's notability. He stayed five years and much of the time the hotel was in severe debt due to unsuccessful events planned by Goodart and flooding. In 1929, Goodart burned down the hotel under suspicious circumstances. Earlier that year the United States Senate Committee on Commerce had decided to remove the dam at Grand Rapids, which attracted many tourists to the hotel.
Following the hotel fire, Goodart entered politics and won seats in Wabash County's local government. Goodart served as an elected official for 19 consecutive years in various positions with the county and city of Mount Carmel. During his political career Goodart was a member of the Democratic Party and served as county treasurer, county commissioner, county assessor and ran multiple times, but was never elected, for constable and sheriff. Goodart died in November 1948, one year after reelection as county finance commissioner. (Full article...) -
Image 5The Concord Resort Hotel (pronounced KAHN-cord, (/ˈkɒŋkərd/)) was a resort in the Borscht Belt of the Catskills, known for its large resort industry in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Located in Kiamesha Lake, New York, United States, the Concord was the largest resort in the region and was also one of the last to finally close in 1998, long after the others closed. (A primary competitor, Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel, closed in 1986.) At the Concord, there were over 1,500 guest rooms and a dining room that sat 3,000; the resort encompassed some 2,000 acres (8.1 km2). The resort was a kosher establishment, catering primarily to Jewish vacationers from the New York City area, and it was more lavish in decor and activities than comparable large Catskill resorts. (Full article...)
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The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel is a grand hotel and ski resort located in Dixville Notch in New Hampshire, United States. It has been closed since 2011. The resort grounds cover 11,000 acres (45 km2) and feature 95 km (59 mi) of cross-country ski trails, an alpine ski area with 16 trails, five glade areas and a terrain park. There is also a nine-hole golf course and an 18-hole championship course called "Panorama" which was designed by Donald Ross. (Full article...) -
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Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is an American international hotel chain owned by Marriott International. As of June 30, 2020, Sheraton operates 446 hotels with 155,617 rooms globally, including locations in North America, Africa, Asia Pacific, Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East and the Caribbean, in addition to 84 hotels with 23,092 rooms in the pipeline. (Full article...) -
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El Rancho Vegas was a hotel and casino at the north end of the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It opened in 1941, as the first resort on the Strip, known then as part of Highway 91. It was located at what is now the southwest corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue. The El Rancho Vegas was conceived by Thomas Hull, who owned several hotels in California and wanted to expand his operations to Las Vegas. He decided to build his new resort along Highway 91, on desert land located just outside of city limits. Hull intended to target motorists traveling from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, although his remote location was met with skepticism.
The El Rancho Vegas was designed by Wayne McAllister, and originally included 65 rooms, located in cottage bungalows spread across the hotel's property. The El Rancho opened on April 3, 1941, with an Old West theme. It proved to be a success, which prompted the opening of other resorts on Highway 91, eventually transforming it into the Las Vegas Strip. The El Rancho underwent several ownership changes and was leased in 1948 to a group that included Jake Katleman. When he died in 1950, his nephew, Beldon Katleman, took over ownership. The El Rancho added an all-you-can-eat buffet in the 1940s, popularizing the buffet concept in Las Vegas. The El Rancho property was also home to the KENO radio station in the 1940s, and the KSHO-TV television station in the 1950s.
On June 17, 1960, a fire destroyed the El Rancho's main building, which housed the casino, restaurants, and showroom. The cause of the fire was never determined. The El Rancho closed as a result of the incident, although the cottages were left unharmed, leaving 222 rooms intact. In the early 1960s, the Thunderbird resort, located across the street, leased 88 of the El Rancho's rooms and operated them under the name Thunderbird West. The cottages were then leased in 1964 to another company, which rebranded them as El Rancho Vegas Motor Inn. It struggled as a non-gaming motel, and Katleman put the property up for sale in the late 1960s, eventually selling it to businessman Howard Hughes in 1970. Most of the remaining buildings were demolished by the end of the decade, although some were relocated to Old Vegas, an amusement park near Henderson, Nevada. Another El Rancho cottage was moved to Pahrump, Nevada. (Full article...) -
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The New Yorker Hotel is a mixed-use hotel building at 481 Eighth Avenue in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1930, the New Yorker Hotel was designed by Sugarman and Berger in the Art Deco style and is 42 stories high, with four basement stories. The hotel building is owned by the Unification Church, which rents out the lower stories as offices and dormitories. The upper stories comprise The New Yorker, A Wyndham Hotel, which has 1,083 guestrooms and is operated by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. The 1-million-square-foot (93,000-square-meter) building also contains two restaurants and approximately 33,000 square feet (3,100 m2) of conference space.
The facade is largely made of brick and terracotta, with Indiana limestone on the lower stories. There are setbacks to comply with the 1916 Zoning Resolution, as well as a large sign with the hotel's name. The hotel contains a power plant and boiler room on its fourth basement, which was an early example of a cogeneration plant. The public rooms on the lower stories included a Manufacturers Trust bank branch, a double-height lobby, and multiple ballrooms and restaurants. Originally, the hotel had 2,503 guestrooms from the fourth story up. The modern-day hotel rooms start above the 19th story.
The New Yorker was built by Mack Kanner and was originally operated by Ralph Hitz, who died in 1940 and was succeeded by Frank L. Andrews. Hilton Hotels bought the hotel in 1954 and, after conducting extensive renovations, sold the hotel in 1956 to Massaglia Hotels. New York Towers Inc. acquired the New Yorker in 1959 but surrendered the property to Hilton in 1967 as part of a foreclosure proceeding. The hotel was closed in 1972 and sold to the French and Polyclinic Medical School and Health Center, which unsuccessfully attempted to develop a hospital there. The Unification Church purchased the building in 1976 and initially used it as a global headquarters. After the top stories of the building reopened as a hotel in 1994, the lower stories were used as offices and dormitories. The hotel rooms have undergone multiple renovations since the hotel reopened. The New Yorker joined the Ramada chain in 2000 and was transferred to the Wyndham brand in 2014. (Full article...) -
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The Broadmoor (stylized as THE BROADMOOR) is a hotel and resort in the Broadmoor neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Broadmoor is a member of Historic Hotels of America of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Its visitors have included heads of state, celebrities, and professional sports stars. It is owned by The Anschutz Corporation through its subsidiary, The Broadmoor-Sea Island Company.
The main resort complex, situated at the base of Cheyenne Mountain, is 6,230 feet (1,900 m) above sea level, and 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of downtown Colorado Springs. The resort has hotel, conference, sports, and spa buildings that radiate out from Cheyenne Lake. The Broadmoor's Ranch at Emerald Valley is a luxury lodge and set of cabins situated on the backside of Cheyenne Mountain, while the Broadmoor's Cloud Camp is situated upon the top of Cheyenne Mountain.
Historically, national and world skating and hockey championships were held at the Broadmoor World Arena, which was demolished in 1994 and replaced by another arena by the same name in Colorado Springs. Golf championships have been held at the Broadmoor Golf Club since 1921. The resort has also been the site of clay shooting championships. (Full article...) -
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Canada's grand railway hotels are a series of railway hotels across the country, each a local and national landmark, and most of which are icons of Canadian history and architecture; some are considered to be the grand hotels of the British Empire. Each hotel was originally built by the Canadian railway companies, or the railways acted as a catalyst for the hotel's construction. The hotels were designed to serve the passengers of the country's then expanding rail network, and they celebrated rail travel in style. (Full article...) -
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The Crowne Plaza in Christchurch, New Zealand, originally known as the Parkroyal Hotel, was a hotel of the Crowne Plaza group. Built in 1988 in the north-west corner of Victoria Square after much public protest, as it cut off the first part of Victoria Street, its construction happened at the same time and enabled the substantial redesign of Victoria Square. The building had New Zealand's largest atrium, and was one of the city's largest hotels. The building suffered significant damage in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and was demolished in April 2012. The Crowne Plaza group has secured a lease in the Forsyth Barr Building at the opposite end of Victoria Square. (Full article...) -
Image 13Bates Motel is an American psychological horror drama television series based on characters from the 1959 novel Psycho by Robert Bloch that aired from March 18, 2013, to April 24, 2017. It was developed by Carlton Cuse, Kerry Ehrin, and Anthony Cipriano for the cable network A&E.
A "contemporary prequel" to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho, it depicts the lives of Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) and his mother Norma (Vera Farmiga) prior to the events portrayed in the film, albeit in a different fictional town (White Pine Bay, Oregon, as opposed to Fairvale, California) and in a modern-day setting. However, the final season loosely adapts the plot of the novel Psycho.
Max Thieriot and Olivia Cooke both starred as part of the main cast throughout the series's run. After recurring in the first season, Néstor Carbonell was added to the main cast from season two onward. Both Nicola Peltz and Kenny Johnson had main cast roles at different points throughout the series’s run.
The series begins in Arizona with the death of Norma's husband, after which Norma purchases the Seafairer motel located in a coastal Oregon town so that she and Norman can start a new life. Subsequent seasons follow Norman as his mental illness becomes dangerous, and Norma as she struggles to protect her son, and those around him, from himself. The series was filmed outside Vancouver in Aldergrove, British Columbia, along with other locations within the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. (Full article...) -
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The Grand Rapids Hotel also known as The Grand Rapids Resort, was a hotel that existed outside of Mount Carmel, Illinois, in Wabash County, Illinois, United States in Southern Illinois from 1922 to 1929. The hotel was located on the Wabash River next to the Grand Rapids Dam on land that was originally purchased by Thomas S. Hinde. Before the hotel was built, the property where the hotel was located was a site of a former homestead, and was used by Frederick Hinde Zimmerman for multiple small shops that sold goods to fisherman and tourists.
Frederick Hinde Zimmerman was the founder and owner of the hotel, and he completed construction and opened the hotel to the public on August 7, 1922. The hotel had 36 rooms and one large assembly room that served as a dining room, meeting hall, and was used for weddings, exhibitions, anniversaries, and other important occasions. The hotel was one of the first major resorts on the southern portion of the Wabash River and quickly was able to attract tourist from across the country because of its location on the river and ease of access provided by the railroad. During its nine-year existence the hotel established a reputation for luxury and high quality.
In later years, after manager Glenn Goodart took over operation of the hotel, it gradually began to lose patronage due to incompetent business planning and flooding of the Wabash River in the summers of 1927, 1928, and 1929. On July 29, 1929, Glenn Goodart burned the Grand Rapids Hotel to the ground by dropping a blowtorch in the basement shop. Three months before Goodart burned the hotel down, the United States Senate Committee on Commerce had decided to remove the Grand Rapids Dam by revoking funding. Due to the onset of the Great Depression shortly after the hotel was burned down, it was not rebuilt. The same year Goodart burned the hotel down he was elected as Finance Commissioner for Wabash County, Illinois. (Full article...) -
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A palm court is a large atrium with palm trees, usually in a prestigious hotel, where functions are staged, notably tea dances. Examples include the Langham Hotel (1865), Alexandra Palace (1873), the Carlton Hotel (1899), and the Ritz Hotel (1906), all in London; and the Alexandria Hotel (court added in 1911) in Los Angeles, Palace Hotel, San Francisco, Britannia Hotel in Trondheim and the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Capitalizing on their popularity, some ocean liners also had palm courts, notably the RMS Titanic (1912). (Full article...)
Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that Danny Kaleikini once worked as a singing hotel busboy in Waikiki before becoming the headline entertainer at the Kahala Hilton for 28 years?
- ... that the Pomme d'Or Hotel was used as the Nazi naval headquarters during the occupation of Jersey, and the Union Jack is raised on the hotel balcony every year to celebrate Jersey's liberation?
- ... that the Algonquin Hotel keeps a cat in its lobby?
- ... that the wine cellar of New York City's Barclay Hotel is on the second floor?
- ... that the Piedmont Hotel hosted a former, a current, and a future U.S. president in one week?
- ... that the Exchange Hotel, Montgomery, where Confederate president Jefferson Davis's inaugural procession started, also hosted Ku Klux Klan leaders, politicians, prostitutes, and two US presidents?
- ... that a restaurant in a Thai hotel serves "Chicken Volcano", a dish containing whiskey?
- ... that when a ban on developing the Hotel Macklowe was revoked two years early, some New York City Council members said they did not realize that they had voted to rescind the ban?
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