Chicago's Grand Hotels


Book Description

Architecturally imposing, historically rich, and socially important, Chicagos magnificent grand hotels have fascinated generations of Chicagoans and have pleased generations of guests. The Palmer House Hilton, The Drake, and The Hilton Chicago have come to represent a collective formal living room for Chicago, where the citys most important visitors are accommodated, entertained, and made aware of the grandeur and sophistication of their hosts hometown. They were built to inspire aweand still do for anyone fortunate enough to find themselves in the lobby of The Palmer House Hilton, The Palm Court of The Drake, or the Grand Ballroom of The Hilton Chicago. Many of the most famous locales in these classic structures have been transformed or have disappeared altogether due to changing times. Gone, for example, is The Hilton Chicagos famous rooftop miniature golf course and Boulevard Room supper club, complete with its ice shows. Gone, too, is The Drakes legendary supper club, the Camellia House. While the Empire Room of The Palmer House Hilton continues to exist as an function room, it no longer reverberates with the sound of Liberaces piano or Jimmy Durantes vocals, as it did when it was the citys premier entertainment facility. Chicagos Grand Hotels chronicles over 100 years of Chicago hotel history through vivid photographs and memorabilia from the archives of The Palmer House Hilton, The Drake, and The Hilton Chicago. It tells the compelling story of the visionary architects and hoteliers who brought these hotels to life and made them structural testaments to the warmth of midwestern hospitality.




Chicago's Grand Hotels


Book Description

Presents a pictorial history of Chicago's grand hotels, including the Palmer House, the Drake, and the Conrad Hilton Hotel.




Grand Hotels


Book Description

From its beginnings as the humble inn, the hotel has undergone enormous changes over the centuries. Elaine Denby charts the development of the Grand Hotel and how it has kept pace with technological innovations.




Building the Cold War


Book Description

In postwar Europe and the Middle East, Hilton hotels were quite literally "little Americas." For American businessmen and tourists, a Hilton Hotel—with the comfortable familiarity of an English-speaking staff, a restaurant that served cheeseburgers and milkshakes, trans-Atlantic telephone lines, and, most important, air-conditioned modernity—offered a respite from the disturbingly alien. For impoverished local populations, these same features lent the Hilton a utopian aura. The Hilton was a space of luxury and desire, a space that realized, permanently and prominently, the new and powerful presence of the United States. Building the Cold War examines the architectural means by which the Hilton was written into the urban topographies of the major cities of Europe and the Middle East as an effective representation of the United States. Between 1953 and 1966, Hilton International built sixteen luxury hotels abroad. Often the Hilton was the first significant modern structure in the host city, as well as its finest hotel. The Hiltons introduced a striking visual contrast to the traditional architectural forms of such cities as Istanbul, Cairo, Athens, and Jerusalem, where the impact of its new architecture was amplified by the hotel's unprecedented siting and scale. Even in cities familiar with the Modern, the new Hilton often dominated the urban landscape with its height, changing the look of the city. The London Hilton on Park Lane, for example, was the first structure in London that was higher than St. Paul's cathedral. In his autobiography, Conrad N. Hilton claimed that these hotels were constructed for profit and for political impact: "an integral part of my dream was to show the countries most exposed to Communism the other side of the coin—the fruits of the free world." Exploring everything the carefully drafted contracts for the buildings to the remarkable visual and social impact on their host cities, Wharton offers a theoretically sophisticated critique of one of the Cold War's first international businesses and demonstrates that the Hilton's role in the struggle against Communism was, as Conrad Hilton declared, significant, though in ways that he could not have imagined. Many of these postwar Hiltons still flourish. Those who stay in them will learn a great deal about their experience from this new assessment of hotel space.




The Great Hotel Murder


Book Description

In a grand Chicago hotel, a mysterious death sets a puzzling whodunnit in motion When a New York banker is discovered dead from an apparent morphine overdose in a Chicago hotel, the circumstances surrounding his untimely end are suspicious to say the least. The dead man had switched rooms the night before with a stranger he met and drank with in the hotel bar. And before that, he’d registered under a fake name at the hotel, told his drinking companion a fake story about his visit to the Windy City, and seemingly made no effort to contact the actress, performing in a local show, to whom he was married. All of which is more than enough to raise eyebrows among those who discovered the body. Enter theatre critic and amateur sleuth Riley Blackwood, a friend of the hotel’s owner, who endeavors to untangle this puzzling tale as discreetly as possible. But when another detective working the case, whose patron is unknown, is thrown from a yacht deck during a party by an equally unknown assailant, the investigation makes a splash among Chicago society. And then several of the possible suspects skip town, leaving Blackwood struggling to determine their guilt or innocence—and their whereabouts. Reissued for the first time in over eighty years, The Great Hotel Murder is a devilishly complex whodunnit with a classical aristocratic setting, sure to please Golden Age mystery fans of all stripes. In 1935, the story was adapted for a film of the same name.




H. H. Holmes


Book Description

America's first and most notorious serial killer and his diabolical killing spree during the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, now updated with a new afterword discussing Holmes' exhumation on American Ripper. H. H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil is the first truly comprehensive book examining the life and career of a murderer who has become one of America’s great supervillains. It reveals not only the true story but how the legend evolved, taking advantage of hundreds of primary sources that have never been examined before, including legal documents, letters, articles, and records that have been buried in archives for more than a century. Though Holmes has become just as famous now as he was in 1895, a deep analysis of contemporary materials makes very clear how much of the story as we know came from reporters who were nowhere near the action, a dangerously unqualified new police chief, and, not least, lies invented by Holmes himself. Selzer has unearthed tons of stunning new data about Holmes, weaving together turn-of-the-century America, the killer’s background, and the wild cast of characters who circulated in and about the famous “castle” building. This book will be the first truly accurate account of what really happened in Holmes’s castle of horror, and now includes an afterword detailing the author's participation in Holmes' exhumation on the TV series, American Ripper. Exhaustively researched and painstakingly brought to life, H. H. Holmes will be an invaluable companion to the upcoming Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio movie about Holmes’s murder spree based on Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City.




Dishoom


Book Description

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'A love letter to Bombay told through food and stories, including their legendary black daal' Yotam Ottolenghi At long last, Dishoom share the secrets to their much sought-after Bombay comfort food: the Bacon Naan Roll, Black Daal, Okra Fries, Jackfruit Biryani, Chicken Ruby and Lamb Raan, along with Masala Chai, coolers and cocktails. As you learn to cook the comforting Dishoom menu at home, you will also be taken on a day-long tour of south Bombay, peppered with much eating and drinking. You'll discover the simple joy of early chai and omelette at Kyani and Co., of dawdling in Horniman Circle on a lazy morning, of eating your fill on Mohammed Ali Road, of strolling on the sands at Chowpatty at sunset or taking the air at Nariman Point at night. This beautiful cookery book and its equally beautiful photography will transport you to Dishoom's most treasured corners of an eccentric and charming Bombay. Read it, and you will find yourself replete with recipes and stories to share with all who come to your table. 'This book is a total delight. The photography, the recipes and above all, the stories. I've never read a book that has made me look so longingly at my suitcase' Nigel Slater




Early Chicago Hotels


Book Description

From their rise in the early 19th century, Chicagos hotels were bustling centers of city life. The Great Fire in October 1871 destroyed all of that. But it also gave the city an opportunity to begin again with a fresh palette of architectural ideas. By the Worlds Columbian Exposition of 1893, Chicago had built over 1,400 hotels and lodging houses, establishing it as the nations prime destination for business, conventions, and tourism. Early Chicago Hotels presents more than 200 postcards, inviting the reader to tour the stunning exterior and dazzling interior designs of Chicagos architects. The citys fi rst-class hotels, resorts, and lesser-known second-class hotelsmany of which are long goneare featured. These early hotels set the stage for the great palace hotels of the 1920s. From their rise in the early 19th century, Chicagos hotels were bustling centers of city life. The Great Fire in October 1871 destroyed all of that. But it also gave the city an opportunity to begin again with a fresh palette of architectural ideas. By the Worlds Columbian Exposition of 1893, Chicago had built over 1,400 hotels and lodging houses, establishing it as the nations prime destination for business, conventions, and tourism. Early Chicago Hotels presents more than 200 postcards, inviting the reader to tour the stunning exterior and dazzling interior designs of Chicagos architects. The citys fi rst-class hotels, resorts, and lesser-known second-class hotelsmany of which are long goneare featured. These early hotels set the stage for the great palace hotels of the 1920s.




Amsterdam’s Canal District


Book Description

In terms of design, scale, and blending of ecologicical and aesthetic function, Amsterdam’s seventeenth-century Canal District is a European marvel. Its survival for four centuries is a testament to its ingenuity, reflected in its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010. The Canal District today is an extraordinary example of resilient historic design and cultural heritage in a living city, but it is not without present-day challenges: in recent years, its urban ecology has become subject to severe pressures of global tourism and supergentrification. This edited volume brings together seventeen reputable scholars to debate questions about the origins, evolution, and future of the Canal District. With these differing approaches and perspectives on the Canal District the contributions render a collection where the whole is much more than the sum of the parts. The book breaks new ground in our understanding of the District’s historic design, its evolution over four hundred years, and the fundamental issues in future-facing strategies and policies. While the main focus is clearly on Amsterdam, the discussions in this collection have an important bearing on broader questions of urban historic preservation elsewhere, and on questions about enduring urban design.




Great, Grand & Famous Hotels


Book Description

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.