The Statler Hotel company was one of the United States' early chains of hotels catering to traveling businessmen and tourists. It was founded by Ellsworth Milton (E. M.) Statler in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

Early ventures

In 1901, Buffalo hosted the

Pan-American Exposition The Pan-American Exposition was a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is now Delaware Park, extending from Delaware Avenue to Elmwood ...

. Statler built a hotel on the Exposition grounds and called it "Statler's Hotel". It was a temporary wooden structure intended to last the duration of the Exposition. With 2,084 rooms, it could accommodate 5,000 guests. Although the Exposition was deemed an overall failure due to a number of factors (including bad weather and the assassination of President William McKinley), Statler was one of the few vendors to make a small profit. His next venture was the Inside Inn, built for the 1904

Louisiana Purchase Exposition The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds tota ...

in St. Louis, Missouri. Another temporary wooden structure, it was the world's largest hotel with 2,257 rooms. A grand success, the hotel made Statler a net profit of $361,000 and laid the groundwork for his first permanent hotel. The hotel was then dismantled and sold for scrap. The Inside Inn was near the edge of

Forest Park A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment. Examples Chile * Forest Park, Santiago China * Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai * Mufushan National Forest ...

in St. Louis, now traversed by Highway 64/40.

Company history

The first "permanent" Statler hotel was designed by August Esenwein and James A. Johnson, built in

, and offered 300 rooms and bathrooms (later expanded to 450 rooms and baths). It was the first hotel chain to offer such amenity.Mark Byrnes
The Rise and Fall of One of America's Most Innovative Hotel Chains
''Bloomberg.com'', 15 February 2013 The hotel was successful and led to a chain of hotels in other cities. Statler's intent was not to compete with the luxury hotels, but to provide, clean, comfortable, and moderately-priced rooms for the average traveler. Statler was the first major hotel chain to have a bathroom in every room. His innovative Statler Plumbing Shaft is still used in modern construction. From providing paper and pens for correspondence (prominently bearing the Statler name) to a light in the closet, Statler brought the average traveler a level of luxury that was otherwise unaffordable. Rooms were originally available at what seemed a very cheap price, leading many other hoteliers to predict the failure of the Buffalo hotel. The opening night price was as low as $1.50 for a guest room, leading to the slogan "A Room and a Bath for a Dollar and a Half". The hotel had a $500,000 line of credit available, but maintained positive cash flow and Statler never used the line of credit. The Statler hotel in St. Louis was the first in the nation to offer air conditioning. The Dallas Statler hotel was the first in the nation to have elevator music. Each of the subsequent Statler Hotels built upon this formula for success. Reflecting the era's enthusiasm for

scientific management Scientific management is a theory of management that analyzes and synthesizes workflows. Its main objective is improving economic efficiency, especially labor productivity. It was one of the earliest attempts to apply science to the engine ...

, Statler took pride in how he standardized questions of room design. His hotels had minimal wasted space, particularly on the guestroom floors, and he strove to have room layouts that would maximize efficiency and profitability. After Statler's death in 1928, the company built hotels in Washington, D.C.,

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

, and

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. Many of these hotels were designed by the architectural firm of George Post & Sons, the successor firm of George B. Post. In the mid- and late-1940s, pianist

Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...

"gained national exposure through his performance contracts with the Statler and Radisson hotel chains". The Hotels Statler Company, Inc., was sold to

Conrad Hilton Conrad Nicholson Hilton Sr. (December 25, 1887 – January 3, 1979) was an American businessman who founded the Hilton Hotels chain. From 1912 to 1916 Hilton was a Republican representative in the first New Mexico Legislature, but became disi ...

Hilton Hotels Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton. The original company was founded by Conrad Hilton. As ...

in 1954 for $111 million, then the world's largest real estate transaction. The Statler hotel in Buffalo was the first to be demolished after the Hilton acquisition, in 1968. The Statler hotel in New York became the Hotel Pennsylvania.

List of hotels

Gallery

File:Statler Hotel Buffalo NY.jpg, Statler City,

. File:Renaissance St. Louis Grand Hotel (2008).jpg, Renaissance Grand Hotel St. Louis, MO the original Statler Hotel is the back half of the building now. File:Statler-Hilton-Block-Panora.jpg, Statler Hilton Hotel, Dallas TX.

The Statler Hotel - Buffalo, New York

The Travel Channel's documentary paranormal television show Destination Fear filmed at the location in 2019 for the seventh episode of their first season. In 2020, former owner Mark Croce was killed in a helicopter crash. As of June 2021, the hotel has been purchased by developers planning to turn the building into a mixed-use structure with retail, meeting and entertainment space, and 600 - 700 residential units.

References

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External links

Statler Hotel/Buffalo HotelHotel Pennsylvania Official Website history pageDallas Statler Hilton, The Nostalgic Glass
{{Hotel chains History of Buffalo, New York Companies based in Buffalo, New York 1954 disestablishments in New York (state) Buildings and structures in Buffalo, New York Defunct hotel chains American companies disestablished in 1954 1901 establishments in New York (state) Defunct companies based in New York (state)