This volume presents a pictorial history of Los Angeles hotels downtown, in Hollywood, and along the Wilshire Boulevard corridor from the late 19th through the mid-20th centuries. By the early 1900s, many hotels, including luxury ones, had been established in downtown Los Angeles to cater to business travelers and tourists. In the late 19th century, after the arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad, hotels were built to encourage tourism and sell real estate in the agricultural Hollywood area. And with the growth of the motion picture studios in the early decades of the 20th century, grander hotels were erected to accommodate the new industry. As the city expanded westward, luxury and residential hotels were also placed in the Westlake District and along the fashionable Wilshire Boulevard corridor connecting to Beverly Hills.

This is a new release of the original 1927 edition.

At The Plaza is a pictorial record and an anecdotal history of the world's most famous hotel: New York's Plaza. As a story, it traverses the breadth and scope of Gotham's high society during the American Century. As a photo collection, it's like no other, capturing the hotel's remarkable presence on the ever-changing New York scene. For almost one hundred years, The Plaza has mirrored the social history of Manhattan: its tastes in design, entertainment, restaurants and accommodations, as well as its adjustment to Prohibition, the Great Depression, two World Wars, the Cold War, women's rights, smokers' rights, animals' rights and British rock-and-roll. The first guests to sign the register-Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt-set the standard for the long procession of luminaries that followed: Mark Twain, Diamond Jim Brady, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Marlene Dietrich, Frank Lloyd Wright, Marilyn Monroe, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and the Beatles, among many others. In At The Plaza, the hotel's official historian, Curtis Gathje, has compiled a tremendous collection of photographs and vignettes chronicling the colorful history of a building, an institution, and a city.

This is a book for lovers of remarkable hotels. Whether you are a long-term luxury hotel addict, or just fantasising about a visit to one of the world's great hotels, this book is for you. This book features stories about great, grand and famous hotels sourced from history, legend and the occasional snippet of gossip. Take a peek inside and discover a treasure trove of famous or forgotten anecdotes. See the dramas unfold in lobbies, dining rooms, bars and ballrooms, or behind the closed doors of guest rooms and Presidential Suites. Marvel at those who made these hotels what they are: daring financiers, visionary owners, inventive architects, cutting-edge designers, devoted hoteliers and renowned chefs. Remember the great, grand and famous celebrity guests and meet the new breed of visionaries who are creating the great hotels of the future. Visit historic hotels, including The Ritz, Paris; the Waldorf-Astoria, New York; the Beverly Hills Hotel, Los Angeles; the Savoy, London; the Hassler, Rome; The Peninsula, Hong Kong; Raffles, Singapore; Mena House, Cairo; Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur; Chateau Lake Louise, Alberta; the Cipriani, Danieli and Gritti Palace, Venice; Reid's Palace, Madeira; and the Baur au Lac, Zurich, alongside modern masterpieces such as The Burj al Arab, Icehotel and other futuristic hotels. The book is intended to give the traveller a better understanding of, and greater insight into, the hotels they admire and love. It is also a reference book for the passionate hotel professional and provides knowledge for young hoteliers, helping them to understand the history and the development of their industry. Combining four years of research, assisted by many students in various hotel schools around the world, and with contributions by six travel writers, it is hoped this book will entice more people to seek out the world's great, grand and famous hotels, and to stay in them for an unforgettable experience, not just as a place to spend the night.