stan turkel
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 242: Hotel History: Fisher Island, Miami, Florida
Stanley Turkel | January 5, 2021
by Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: Fisher Island, Miami, Florida Fisher Island is in Miami-Dade County, Florida, located on a barrier island of the same name. As of 2015, Fisher Island had the highest per capita income of any place in the United States. The CDP had only 218 households and a total population of 467. Named for automotive parts pioneer and beach real estate developer Carl G. Fisher, who once owned it, Fisher Island is three miles offshore of mainland South Florida. No road or causeway connects to the island, which is accessible by private boat, helicopter, or ferry. Once a one-family island home of the Vanderbilts,...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 241: Hotel History: Menger Hotel
Stanley Turkel | December 15, 2020
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: Menger Hotel (316 rooms) The Menger Hotel, one of the most iconic and historically significant buildings in San Antonio, was constructed on Alamo Plaza in 1859 by German immigrants Mary and William Menger. Mary arrived in San Antonio in 1846 and when her husband died soon after her arrival, she opened a boarding house. The building provided studio space for renowned sculptor Gutzor Borglum, most famous for his work at Mt. Rushmore. After William Menger opened the Menger Brewery in 1855, he married Mary and the success of the Brewery operation led to the construction of the Menger Hotel. The orig...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 240 Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, Quebec City, Canada (1893)
Stanley Turkel | November 24, 2020
by Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: The Château Frontenac (611 rooms) Listed as a National Historic Site of Canada, the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac is among the nation’s most celebrated historic landmarks. This spectacular retreat is located in the heart of Old Québec, which served as the seat of colonial French power in North America over the better part of two centuries. It was from this location that France presided over thousands of acres that stretched from the Great Lakes to the bayous of Louisiana. Old Québec then became the headquarters in Canada for the British when they wrestled control of the region away from Franc...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 239: Hotel History: The Algonquin Hotel, NY (1902)
Stanley Turkel | November 3, 2020
by Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: The Algonquin Hotel (181 rooms) The Algonquin Hotel was originally planned as an apartment hotel with the idea of renting unfurnished rooms and suites on yearly leases to permanent tenants. When few leases sold, the owner decided to turn it into a transient hotel, which he was going to name “The Puritan”. Frank Case, the first general manager, objected and told the owner “it… contradicts the spirit of innkeeping. It is cold, forbidding and grim. I don’t like it.” When the owner replied, “You think yourself so smart, suppose you find a better name,” Case went to the public library to...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 238: Hotel History: The Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco
Stanley Turkel | October 13, 2020
by Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: The Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, CA (592 rooms) The luxurious Grande Dame atop Nob Hill in San Francisco was named after U.S. Senator James Graham Fair (1834-1894) by his daughters, Theresa Fair Oelrichs and Virginia Fair Vanderbilt. When the silver king James Fair purchased the site back in the late 1800s, his interest was to build the largest mansion in the neighborhood. However, when he died in 1894, the lot was still undeveloped until 1907 when his daughters commissioned the architectural and engineering firm of Reid & Reid to design a large hotel in Italian Renaissance style. The Reid br...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 237: Hotel History: Hotel Allegro, Chicago, Illinois
Stanley Turkel | September 22, 2020
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: Hotel Allegro, Chicago, IL, (483 rooms) The Hotel Allegro was created on the site of old Bismarck Hotel in 1998. The original Bismarck Hotel was built in 1894 by Emil and Karl Eitel, brothers from Stuttgart, Germany. The Eitels were pioneers who installed ice-boxes in the hotel's kitchen and air conditioning in the hotel's restaurants. During World War I, the Bismarck was renamed the Randolph Hotel because of anti-German sentiment. After the war, the Bismarck name was restored. When the Eitel brothers built a new 19-floor Bismarck Hotel, the 22-story Metropolitan Office Building and the 2500-seat P...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 236: Hotel History: The Hermitage Hotel
Stanley Turkel | September 2, 2020
by Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: Hermitage Hotel, Nashville, Tennessee (122 rooms) Historic Hotels of America is proud to announce that the Hermitage Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee has been selected as the 2020 Historic Hotel of the Year. “Congratulations to the ownership, leadership, and many associates at The Hermitage Hotel,” said Lawrence Horwitz, Executive Vice President, Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide. “We are delighted to recognize this magnificent historic hotel and its historic hoteliers for their dedication, enthusiasm, stewardship, and leadership in preserving this iconic treasure and i...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 235: Hotel History: Cavallo Point, The Lodge at the Golden Gate (1901)
Stanley Turkel | August 12, 2020
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: Cavallo Point Lodge, Sausalito, California (142 rooms) The history of the spectacular site of the Lodge at the Golden Gate commences with the coastal Miwok Indian tribes who occupied Horseshoe Cove long before there was a Golden Gate Bridge. In 1866, the U.S. Army acquired the site for a military base to fortify the north side of the harbor entrance. The twenty-four buildings around the ten-acre parade ground at Fort Baker were developed between 1901 and 1915. Designed in the Colonial Revival architectural style as permanent housing for the Coast Artillary Corps (active from 1907-1950), Fort Bak...
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