A Room For The Night: Hotels Of The Old West

by Richard A. Van Orman

Drawing on records, autobiographies, letters and journals, Mr. Van Orman recreates for the modern reader the nature of the hotels and hospitality houses in the Old West from 1830 to 1890 to provide fascinating information which has been absent from nearly all literature on the expanding West. Containing lively illustrations and written with warm humor, his book describes the early hotels, their food and living conditions, the men who ran them and the people who stayed in them. Some of the hotels developed out of road ranches, while others such as San Francisco's Palace or the Menger in San Antonio were built by industrious, prosperous citizens who foresaw brilliant futures in their young towns.

162 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1966

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a homeschool project the family is learning about the history of hotels and motels. I saw this gem in a local book store, and I am glad I picked it up!
What a fun look back in time telling of some of the how and why hotels...such as they were back in the day came to be.
Many different takes on the start of places to stay for the night. The author is great about taking the reader into his passion for these tales of old. When you think old west, not always do you get a clear picture of what it was like. There are plenty of rough around the edges places to stay stories, but there are also so amazing buildings in the old west travel tales.
Read great for anyone that likes old west history and even more so if you happen to be into hotels/motes!

[Lori Lakin Hutcherson · Rating 3 out of 5]

While in the throes of John Steinbeck's "East of Eden" and its amazing ability to communicate a very specific place and time in early 20th-century California, "A Room For The Night" caught my eye while browsing in a small, independent bookstore. My fascination with California history (my home state) comes in waves and this book leapt out at me during one of these high tides. I thought it a fitting (and potentially relieving) read after the mammoth, big-themed, Bible-inspired saga of Steinbeck's, and I was right. Although written mainly in an academic style by then-professor of History at Purdue University Richard Van Orman, the information he methodically imparts about the evolution of Western hotels from ranch houses, taverns, and roadside inns in and of itself is pretty fascinating. Orman largely cites from personal letters or travel pieces by reporters of the times (1830s and forward) and later from the advertisements beckoning travelers to come west promising nothing short of paradise. Although dry and repetitive at times (e.g. "X Hotel was built by Y, it became the rage of town Z, then a few years later burned to the ground in a hotel fire"), I think because Orman, who the liner notes say was descended from one of the oldest hotel families in the United States, has genuine affection for his subject, it made the book worth finishing and made the history live in many of the chapters (e.g. descriptions of ill-tempered hotel keepers, rotten food, revelations over elevators and bell systems). I especially enjoyed his pages on Fred Harvey and the Harvey girls and his contributions to hotel science. I would absolutely recommend this for anyone who is fascinated by or is a student of the Old West and its development, or the history of hotels in America and the West.