When George Washington embarked on his presidential tours of 1789–91, the rudimentary inns and taverns of the day suddenly seemed dismally inadequate. But within a decade, Americans had built the first hotels—large and elegant structures that boasted private bedchambers and grand public ballrooms. This book recounts the enthralling history of the hotel in America—a saga in which politicians and prostitutes, tourists and tramps, conventioneers and confidence men, celebrities and salesmen all rub elbows. Hotel explores why the hotel was invented, how its architecture developed, and the many ways it influenced the course of United States history. The volume also presents a beautiful collection of more than 120 illustrations, many in full color, of hotel life in every era.   Hotel explores these topics and more: ·        What it was like to sleep, eat, and socialize at a hotel in the mid-1800s ·        How  hotelkeepers dealt with the illicit activities of adulterers, thieves, and violent guests ·        The stories behind America’s greatest hotels, including the Waldorf-Astoria, the Plaza, the Willard, the Blackstone, and the Fairmont ·        Why Confederate spies plotted to burn down thirteen hotels in New York City during the Civil War ·        How the development of steamboats and locomotives  helped create a nationwide network of hotels ·        How  hotels became architectural models for apartment buildings ·        The pivotal role of hotels in the civil rights movement   " Hotel is a marvelous piece of work. It is lucid, original, beautifully written, wonderfully illustrated, and historiographically and theoretically sophisticated. It is brimming with fresh insights."—Wendy Gamber, Indiana University (Wendy Gamber) “This is an essential history of one of the nation’s most significant building types. A.K. Sandoval-Strausz deftly sets hotels at the center of the nation’s social history, urban development, and political consciousness.”—Dell Upton, author of Architecture in the United States (Dell Upton) "In Hotel: An American History, A.K. Sandoval-Strausz presents a highly creative history of the nineteenth-century first-class hotel, and develops important and stimulating interpretations of what hotels have meant to American business, culture, and racial politics."--Paul Groth, University of California, Berkeley (Paul Groth) “Once upon a time, hotels were simply way-stations where weary travelers could stop to rest along a journey that could take many days. But over the centuries, hotels evolved into the symbols of American capitalism and of urban life. The biggest and best of them provided glamour, sophistication, elegance, and excitement, and A. K. Sandoval-Strausz has now given them the recognition they deserve. Beautifully illustrated and engagingly written, Hotel will reward both the specialist and the general reader.”—Kenneth T. Jackson, Columbia University (Kenneth T. Jackson) "A new exhaustive history on where travelers hang their hats."— New York Post ( New York Post 2007-11-04) "All . . . interested in the interrelationships among architecture, institutions, politics, economics, and culture [should] read this excellent study. That it fills the longstanding need for an up-to-date scholarly history of the hotel is only the most obvious of its considerable achievements."—Catherine Cocks, American Historical Review (Catherine Cocks American Historical Review ) “Professor Sandoval-Strausz’s cultural history of the hotel in America is like getting the best suite in the house: fabulous views, elegant details, and fine finishes. Writing as an historian, he integrates architecture, urban geography, and social history to illuminate the influence of hotel development and tourism on our country’s development.”—Richard Penner, Cornell School of Hotel Administration (Richard Penner) "The authority and imagination with [which Sandoval-Strausz] explores an impressive range of subjects, orchestrating them within a taut, holistic framework render Hotel an exceptional study by any standard."--Richard Longstreth, Journal of Social History (Richard Longstreth Journal of Social History ) A. K. Sandoval-Strausz is associate professor of history at the University of New Mexico.