stan turkel
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 270: Hotel History: Hotel Martinique (1910)
Stanley Turkel | August 25, 2022
Nobody Asked Me But… The family of Stanley Turkel would like to share that Stanley Turkel passed away on Friday, August 12th, 2022 after a brief illness. Stanley had completed his 270th article for this newsletter which is below. It was a great pleasure for him to have you, a receptive readership, over the last 20-plus years. Thank you. Stanley’s obituary can be found on his website. If you are so inclined, Stanley would appreciate donations to The Southern Poverty Law Center or the ACLU in his name. by Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: Hotel Martinique (530 rooms) The Hotel Martinique (560 rooms) at the northeast corner...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 269 Hotel History: Paso Robles Inn (1891)
Stanley Turkel | August 2, 2022
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS For centuries, the local Salinan Indian tribe enjoyed the hot mineral water that bubbled up in what is now the center of Paso Robles. They named it “Heaven’s Spot” because of the curative powers of the sulphur springs. When the Franciscan padres arrived, the tribes’ population was greatly reduced in just four generations. The Spanish colonial government intended for their California missions to be temporary institutions which they mistakenly thought would quickly convert the Indians to Catholicism and teach them Spanish and farming methods. In 1857, James and Daniel Blackburn purchased land in El Paso de ...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 268: Hotel History: Wentworth by the Sea
Stanley Turkel | July 12, 2022
by Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: Wentworth By The Sea, New Castle, New Hampshire (161 rooms) The Wentworth by the Sea (formerly the Hotel Wentworth), built in 1874 by Daniel E. Chase and Charles E. Campbell, was the largest wooden structure on the New Hampshire coast. It was bought in 1879 by Frank Jones, wealthy owner of banks, breweries, insurance companies, racing stables, railroads and the world's largest shoe-button company. Jones hired the talented Frank W. Hilton (no relation of Conrad) to manage and promote the Wentworth. Hilton introduced steam-driven elevators, Western Union telegraph, a telephone wire connected to...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 267: Hotel History: Famous Artist Edward Hopper and His Hotel Management Paintings
Stanley Turkel | June 21, 2022
Hotel History: Famous Artist Edward Hopper (1882-1967) and his Hotel Management paintings by Stanley Turkel, CMHS The American artist Edward Hopper was known for interest in hotels, motels, tourist homes, and the wide scope of hospitality services. From 1920 through 1925 he worked as a commercial illustrator for Hotel Management and Tavern Topics from the Great Depression through the Cold War. He augmented his knowledge of hospitality services as a frequent guest in several lodgings on the long-distance automobile trips he took with his wife, the artist Josephine Hopper. Beginning in the mid-1920s and through the early 1960s, Hopper explo...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 265: Hotel History: Asian American Hotel Owners Association
Stanley Turkel | May 10, 2022
by Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: The Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) The Asian American Hotel Owners Association is a trade association that represents hotel owners. As of 2022, AAHOA has approximately 20,000 members who own 60% of the hotels in the United States and are responsible for 1.7% of the nation’s GDP. More than one million employees work at AAHOA member-owned hotels, earning $47 billion annually and provide 4.2 million U.S. jobs across all sectors of the hospitality industry. Indian Americans in the hotel and motel industry early on faced discrimination, both from the insurance industry and from com...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 264: Hotel History: Palmer House (1871), Chicago, Illinois
Stanley Turkel | April 20, 2022
by Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: Palmer House, Chicago, IL (1,639 rooms) The original Palmer House was built in 1871 by Potter Palmer who began his career as a bank clerk in upstate New York. He later became a dry-goods store owner in Chicago where he revolutionized the retail trade. He was the first to make big window displays, to use big advertising spaces, to send goods on approval to homes and to hold bargain sales. He became a brilliant hotel man as he applied his successful department store methods to the operation of his hotel. He saw no reason why clerks, chefs and head waiters should not be subject to the same discipline...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 261: Hotel History: The Homestead, Hot Springs, Virginia
Stanley Turkel | February 15, 2022
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: The Homestead, Hot Springs, Virginia The Homestead is a famous luxury resort that opened a decade before the American revolutionary war. Located in the middle of the Allegheny Mountains, the area has the largest hot springs in Virginia. Native Americans used the waters to rejuvenate themselves during their many excursions through the area. Captain Thomas Bullett and Charles and Andrew Lewis were part of the militia and surveyors during the French and Indian War. They were told of the many healing qualities of the waters in the area. In 1764, at the end of the war, Capt. Bullett received Gold and...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 260: Hotel History: Terminal City, The Roosevelt Hotel and The Postum Building, New York
Stanley Turkel | January 25, 2022
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: Terminal City (1911) Terminal City originated as an idea during the reconstruction of Grand Central Terminal from the old Grand Central Station from 1903 to 1913. The railroad owner, the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, wished to increase capacity of the station’s train shed and rail yards, and so it devised a plan to bury the tracks and platforms and create two levels to its new train shed, more than doubling the station’s capacity. At the same time, chief engineer William J. Wilgus was the first to realize the potential of selling air rights, the right to build atop the now-undergr...
