17 Historic Hotels with a Famous Past
There’s something special about walking through the doors of a hotel that’s been standing for over a century. These places aren’t just somewhere to rest your head.
They’re living museums where presidents have slept, celebrities have partied, and history has unfolded in the hallways and dining rooms. Ready to check in to some of the most storied accommodations America has to offer? Let’s take a tour through hotels where the walls could tell a thousand tales.
The Willard InterContinental, Washington D.C.
Two blocks from the White House sits a hotel that’s been at the center of American power since 1818. Presidents have stayed here before their inaugurations, and the term ‘lobbyist’ was actually coined in these halls when people would wait in the lobby to petition President Ulysses S. Grant.
Martin Luther King Jr. finished writing his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech in a room upstairs. The current building opened in 1901 and drips with Beaux-Arts grandeur that makes you feel like you’ve stepped back into the Gilded Age.
Hotel del Coronado, San Diego
This massive Victorian beach resort opened in 1888 and became an instant sensation on the California coast. The wooden structure is one of the largest in the world, and Thomas Edison himself supervised the installation of its electric lights.
Some say the ghost of Kate Morgan, who died mysteriously at the hotel in 1892, still roams the hallways. Marilyn Monroe filmed ‘Some Like It Hot’ here, and the hotel’s red turrets have appeared in countless movies since.
The Plaza, New York City
When it opened in 1907, The Plaza was the most expensive hotel ever built at $12 million. This French Renaissance palace overlooking Central Park has hosted everyone from The Beatles to Frank Lloyd Wright.
F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda once jumped into the fountain outside after a wild party. The hotel became even more famous when a fictional six-year-old named Eloise made it her home in Kay Thompson’s beloved children’s books.
The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park
Freelan Oscar Stanley built this Georgian Colonial Revival hotel in 1909 after moving to Colorado for his health. The mountain air must have worked because he lived to be 91.
Stephen King stayed here in 1974 and had a nightmare in room 217 that inspired ‘The Shining’. Today, guests can take ghost tours through the supposedly haunted hallways.
The hotel sits at 7,500 feet elevation with stunning views of Rocky Mountain National Park spreading out below.
Greenbrier Resort, White Sulphur Springs
This sprawling West Virginia resort has been welcoming guests since 1778, making it one of America’s oldest destinations. What most visitors didn’t know until 1992 was that a massive underground bunker sat beneath the building, built during the Cold War to house Congress in case of nuclear attack.
Twenty-six presidents have stayed here, and the resort’s pristine white columns and manicured grounds have made it a favorite for generations of wealthy Americans seeking mountain air and mineral springs.
The Biltmore, Los Angeles
Built in 1923, this downtown landmark hosted the Academy Awards eight times in the early years of Hollywood’s most famous night. The hotel’s Crystal Ballroom is where the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was actually founded in 1927.
JFK made it his campaign headquarters during the 1960 Democratic National Convention. The lobby’s ornate Spanish-Italian Renaissance architecture has appeared in everything from ‘Ghostbusters’ to ‘Beverly Hills Cop’.
Château Marmont, Los Angeles
This castle-like hotel modeled after a Loire Valley château opened in 1929 and quickly became Hollywood’s favorite hideaway. The secluded bungalows and strict privacy policy made it perfect for stars behaving badly.
Led Zeppelin rode motorcycles through the lobby, and Jim Morrison dangled from a window. Countless careers and relationships have been launched and destroyed within these walls, but the staff never tells.
The Peabody, Memphis
This Italian Renaissance hotel opened in 1869 and became the social center of the Delta. The current building dates to 1925 and is most famous for its ducks, which march from the elevator to the lobby fountain every morning at 11 a.m.
Elvis Presley attended his high school prom here. During the Civil Rights Movement, the hotel’s restaurant became one of the first in Memphis to integrate.
The rooftop once held a dance floor where big band music floated out over the Mississippi River.
Omni Parker House, Boston
America’s longest continuously operating hotel opened in 1855 and changed American cuisine forever. The Parker House roll was invented in its kitchens, as was Boston Cream Pie.
Charles Dickens gave his first public reading of ‘A Christmas Carol’ here, and Ho Chi Minh worked in the kitchen as a baker before returning to Vietnam. Malcolm X was a busboy in the restaurant.
John F. Kennedy proposed to Jackie Bouvier in booth nine.
The Ahwahnee, Yosemite National Park
This grand lodge opened in 1927 to attract wealthy tourists to Yosemite Valley. The massive stone and timber structure blends Native American and Art Deco styles in a way that feels both rustic and elegant.
Queen Elizabeth II dined here during her 1983 visit to California. Ronald Reagan honeymooned here with Nancy, and the hotel’s soaring dining room has hosted everyone from Winston Churchill to Steve Jobs.
Floor-to-ceiling windows frame views of Half Dome and Yosemite Falls.
The Mission Inn, Riverside
What started as a small adobe boarding house in 1876 grew into a sprawling masterpiece mixing Mission Revival, Spanish Gothic, and Mediterranean styles. Owner Frank Miller spent decades adding wings, courtyards, towers, and bells collected from California missions.
Richard and Pat Nixon were married in the hotel’s chapel in 1940. Eight presidents have stayed here, and the collection of artwork and antiques rivals many museums.
Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz
This Victorian castle resort opened in 1869 on the shores of a glacial lake in the Hudson Valley. The Smiley family built it and their descendants still run it today, making it one of America’s oldest family-owned resorts.
John Burroughs and other naturalists gathered here to discuss conservation, and Theodore Roosevelt was a frequent guest. The hotel banned alcohol, dancing, and card playing for decades, attracting Quaker families seeking wholesome mountain retreats.
The Pfister, Milwaukee
Beer baron Guido Pfister opened this ornate hotel in 1893, filling it with his personal art collection that’s still on display today. The hotel’s Victorian splendor and extensive artwork have led many baseball players to report ghostly encounters during road trips to Milwaukee.
Presidents from McKinley to Obama have stayed here. The hotel’s Grand Ballroom has ten-foot crystal chandeliers and a ceiling painted to look like the sky.
Congress Hall, Cape May
This bright yellow beach resort opened in 1816 and became known as the ‘Summer White House’ because so many presidents vacationed here. Benjamin Harrison conducted cabinet meetings from the hotel in 1891.
The oceanfront location and large wooden porches made it perfect for escaping Washington’s brutal summer heat. Cape May became America’s first seaside resort town, and Congress Hall anchored the social scene for over a century.
The Brown Palace, Denver
This triangular hotel opened in 1892 with an eight-story atrium that still takes visitors’ breath away. Presidents from Theodore Roosevelt to Barack Obama have stayed here, and the Beatles caused a riot when they arrived in 1964.
The hotel has its own artesian well 750 feet deep, and water from it has been served since opening day. During Prohibition, the atrium’s balconies provided perfect vantage points for society watching while sipping illicit cocktails.
Jekyll Island Club Resort Georgia
Back in 1886, rich American dynasties like the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and Morgans gathered on a secluded island off Georgia’s coast. One out of every six dollars worldwide sat in their hands while they hunted through mild winters there.
Hidden behind closed doors at that very spot, plans for the Federal Reserve quietly took shape by 1910. Once soldiers came home after World War II, Georgia stepped in – purchasing land once reserved for elites.
Now the old members-only lodge welcomes all comers as a public escape among live oaks and marsh light.
The Hollywood Roosevelt Los Angeles
Opened back in 1927, this Spanish Colonial Revival hotel welcomed the very first Academy Awards two years later. By its poolside, Marilyn Monroe stepped in front of a camera for her debut magazine session.
Room 928 carries whispers – Montgomery Clift stayed there three months, now said to linger long after. Inside, the Cinegrill nightclub once gave early stages to waves of rising talent.
In 1987, David Hockney dipped brush into paint, turning the pool floor into something people still look at.
History stays here
A few hotels grow richer in meaning over time. Not new ones – those deliver predictability, ease – but none carry the hush of a room where leaders rested their heads.
Imagine stepping where famous faces paced decades ago. Walls here hold whispers, not just paint and plaster.
Stay inside history, feel it lean close, even as modern comfort wraps around you.
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