What do you think?
Rate this book
Images of America: New York
Manhattan Hotels: 1880-1920
Manhattan has long been renowned for the diversity of its offering of hotels - from some of the best in the world to some of the worst.
Around 1880, the entire nature of the hotel experience began to change. Formerly, hotels had been just a place to stop between here and there for a hot meal and a warm bed. Suddenly, the hotel itself became the destination. New affluence, new technologies, and new fashion all came together in the decades between 1880 and 1920 to influence the demands of hotel guests, eventually changing the hotel themselves. This book gives a glimpse into the hotels of the super rich, the not-so-rich, the middle class, the Bohemians, and the workers. In a city as dynamic as New York, it should come as no surprise that so many hotels have a juicy tidbit or two of historical gossip attached to them. Manhattan Hotels: 1880'-1920 may well be the most extensive work in print on the subject of the city's hotels in this period. Far From being a book for specialists, however, it is designed to bring Manhattan and its hotels of this era to life for all those who have been captivated by the electric excitement of the place.
Around 1880, the entire nature of the hotel experience began to change. Formerly, hotels had been just a place to stop between here and there for a hot meal and a warm bed. Suddenly, the hotel itself became the destination. New affluence, new technologies, and new fashion all came together in the decades between 1880 and 1920 to influence the demands of hotel guests, eventually changing the hotel themselves. This book gives a glimpse into the hotels of the super rich, the not-so-rich, the middle class, the Bohemians, and the workers. In a city as dynamic as New York, it should come as no surprise that so many hotels have a juicy tidbit or two of historical gossip attached to them. Manhattan Hotels: 1880'-1920 may well be the most extensive work in print on the subject of the city's hotels in this period. Far From being a book for specialists, however, it is designed to bring Manhattan and its hotels of this era to life for all those who have been captivated by the electric excitement of the place.
- GenresNew York
128 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1997
21 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 19, 2016
This is a volume of photographs of mostly vanished NYC hotels, grouped by neighborhood, that trace the development of hotels - from humble inns, stage coach stops - to huge buildings like the Hotel Pennsylvania, within the 4 decades covered in the volume. The construction of taller hotels was enabled by the development of curtain walls, the adoption of a steel interior skeleton upon which to "hang" the masonry walls of a building, as well as the invention of the elevator (or vertical steam engine as it was originally known, before elevators were electrically-powered). The construction of an ever-increasing number of hotels was driven by the worldwide expansion of the number of people that could afford to travel as well as advancements in transportation (steam boats, railroads) and construction technology.
By the 1830s, members of "far-sighted" wealthy families such as the Astors began snapping up land in midtown and in the Upper East and West Sides; they built scores of hotels on myriad lots of property they assembled, such as the Waldorf-Astoria.
In addition to providing photos of the exteriors of hotels and commenting on the architectural styles and the architects, the volume gives some glimpses into the grandiose hotels of Gilded Age - with photographs of opulent lobbies complete with giant potted ferns, over-stuffed arm-chairs, and so forth, highly decorated ball rooms, and "genteel" tea rooms. Some hotels catered exclusively to single male or single female clients; a photograph is included of the reading room, writing and library rooms of a women-only hotel. There are also a couple of photographs of the hotel kitchen interiors of the huge hotels and even a photograph or two of large kitchen staffs - row upon row of almost identical-looking burly mustachio-ed men. But there are also many photos of more humble hotels that sprang up all over NY in this era - buildings that may have been converted to apartments eventually, types of buildings that will be familiar to anyone who has ever lived in or visited NY. It seems many, if not most, of these hotels had a heyday, and then declined - many times, the life of a hotel spanned only three or four decades. Rarely do these hotels seem to last more than four decades - but there are a couple that lasted more than a hundred years. Property seems to be on a development/re-development treadmill - with neighborhoods changing, large hotels, huge piles of masonry, countless hours of labor, are torn down to be replaced by the next iteration of hotel or perhaps an office building. There are also many interesting anecdotes or snippets of information about the hotels pictured scattered throughout the book along with the captions, as well as a brief but informative introductory essay - all will add to the reader's appreciation of these buildings and the world they catered to.
The reader will find exceptionally interesting the street scene photographs of hotels, including views up Broadway or Fifth Avenue long ago - which include traffic from a bygone era - as well as hotels -- some idealized no doubt -- as represented on postcards from the era. Early photographs show hardly any traffic with people and carriages sharing the roadway but this changes later on as the streets become more congested with cars and crowds of pedestrians throng the sidewalks.
As Manhattan filled up with people and structures over the course of the 19th Century, once fashionable neighborhoods where the rich had built their stand-alone mansions, such as the extant Morgan or Frick mansions (now museums/libraries) - inevitably became commercialized, less residential/quiet, the rich might redevelop the land upon which they had constructed their mansions, such as along Fifth Avenue, into hotels.
Locations near transportation, such as Grand Central Station were selected and developed by groups of investors/hotel developers signing on to multi-hotel development plans. Railway development typically spurred growth in American cities coast to coast.
This book details the growth/transition of several neighborhoods of Manhattan through the lens of hotel development. The hospitality industry remains a key economic sector in NYC - this book details perhaps the dawn of the sector as travel increasingly became a mass activity with the development of steam transportation (boats & trains).
There is also a final section on "out of town" hotels built between 1880-1920 - at Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach, Nantucket, Niagara Falls, Saratoga Springs, Long Island, Rhode Island and Fort Lee, NJ - hotels that were built to accommodate the burgeoning population of Manhattan residents looking to "escape" the City to convenient nearby resorts. Before Brighton and Manhattan Beach were densely built up, and the Boardwalk constructed, there were once huge hotels at these shore front destinations - these hotel locations became feasible once railroads linked Manhattan to Brooklyn ferry stops to these Coney Island beach resort areas; likewise, regularly scheduled steam-boat lines that plied coastal routes between Manhattan, Long Island and New England, drove hotel construction at these beach front resort destinations.
By the 1830s, members of "far-sighted" wealthy families such as the Astors began snapping up land in midtown and in the Upper East and West Sides; they built scores of hotels on myriad lots of property they assembled, such as the Waldorf-Astoria.
In addition to providing photos of the exteriors of hotels and commenting on the architectural styles and the architects, the volume gives some glimpses into the grandiose hotels of Gilded Age - with photographs of opulent lobbies complete with giant potted ferns, over-stuffed arm-chairs, and so forth, highly decorated ball rooms, and "genteel" tea rooms. Some hotels catered exclusively to single male or single female clients; a photograph is included of the reading room, writing and library rooms of a women-only hotel. There are also a couple of photographs of the hotel kitchen interiors of the huge hotels and even a photograph or two of large kitchen staffs - row upon row of almost identical-looking burly mustachio-ed men. But there are also many photos of more humble hotels that sprang up all over NY in this era - buildings that may have been converted to apartments eventually, types of buildings that will be familiar to anyone who has ever lived in or visited NY. It seems many, if not most, of these hotels had a heyday, and then declined - many times, the life of a hotel spanned only three or four decades. Rarely do these hotels seem to last more than four decades - but there are a couple that lasted more than a hundred years. Property seems to be on a development/re-development treadmill - with neighborhoods changing, large hotels, huge piles of masonry, countless hours of labor, are torn down to be replaced by the next iteration of hotel or perhaps an office building. There are also many interesting anecdotes or snippets of information about the hotels pictured scattered throughout the book along with the captions, as well as a brief but informative introductory essay - all will add to the reader's appreciation of these buildings and the world they catered to.
The reader will find exceptionally interesting the street scene photographs of hotels, including views up Broadway or Fifth Avenue long ago - which include traffic from a bygone era - as well as hotels -- some idealized no doubt -- as represented on postcards from the era. Early photographs show hardly any traffic with people and carriages sharing the roadway but this changes later on as the streets become more congested with cars and crowds of pedestrians throng the sidewalks.
As Manhattan filled up with people and structures over the course of the 19th Century, once fashionable neighborhoods where the rich had built their stand-alone mansions, such as the extant Morgan or Frick mansions (now museums/libraries) - inevitably became commercialized, less residential/quiet, the rich might redevelop the land upon which they had constructed their mansions, such as along Fifth Avenue, into hotels.
Locations near transportation, such as Grand Central Station were selected and developed by groups of investors/hotel developers signing on to multi-hotel development plans. Railway development typically spurred growth in American cities coast to coast.
This book details the growth/transition of several neighborhoods of Manhattan through the lens of hotel development. The hospitality industry remains a key economic sector in NYC - this book details perhaps the dawn of the sector as travel increasingly became a mass activity with the development of steam transportation (boats & trains).
There is also a final section on "out of town" hotels built between 1880-1920 - at Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach, Nantucket, Niagara Falls, Saratoga Springs, Long Island, Rhode Island and Fort Lee, NJ - hotels that were built to accommodate the burgeoning population of Manhattan residents looking to "escape" the City to convenient nearby resorts. Before Brighton and Manhattan Beach were densely built up, and the Boardwalk constructed, there were once huge hotels at these shore front destinations - these hotel locations became feasible once railroads linked Manhattan to Brooklyn ferry stops to these Coney Island beach resort areas; likewise, regularly scheduled steam-boat lines that plied coastal routes between Manhattan, Long Island and New England, drove hotel construction at these beach front resort destinations.
Displaying 1 of 1 review