Hotel History (Yael & D’Etta)

Welcome to Hollywood! What's your dream? If it's to learn about one of Hollywood's oldest hotels, we've got you covered. The Hollywood Roosevelt has been a hot spot for celebrities since it was built in the late '20s and continues to delight tourists and residents alike with celebrity sightings and a few hauntings, including Marilyn Monroe.

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Fitzgerald and the Plaza. Oscar Wilde and the Savoy. Allen Ginsburg and the Chelsea. The literary world and hotels have always walked arm and arm, but the hotels featured in this episode have taken it a step further, asking you to completely immerse yourself in literature. And we are more than happy to oblige! Listen on if you've ever wanted to curl up inside a bookshelf (you can – in Japan!) or if the Dewey Decimal System is your love language.

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Bedtime After a Coffee by Barradeen via Chosic licensed under CC BY-SA.

The Savoy Hotel redefined hospitality for London in the late 19th century, and it remains one of the top hotels in the world. In Part 1, we discuss the man behind the vision, Richard D'Oyly Carte, his decades-long partnership with light opera composers Gilbert & Sullivan, and some of the early scandals that plagued the hotel, (including one of its most famous guests, Oscar Wilde).

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We're going to the Catskills! It's summer vacation, and for thousands of 20th century families, that meant a trip out of the sweltering heat of New York City into the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York, where they patronized thousand-acre resorts, bungalow colonies, and B&B's. We welcome special guest Jen Stewart, host of the Borscht Belt Tattler Podcast, as she takes us through the rise and fall of the Borscht Belt. Listen and subscribe to Jen's podcast here:

https://borschtbeltpod.buzzsprout.com

Follow Jen on Instagram: @borschtbeltpod

You can support Hotel History (and our caffeine addiction) by clicking below

:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/hotelhistory

Sign up for our newsletter, The CHECK-IN: https://tcheckin.substack.com

Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/hotelhistory

TikTok: @hotelhistory

Instagram: @hotelhistorypodcast

Twitter: @hotelhistorypod

End credits music by audionautix.com

The Savoy Hotel redefined hospitality for London in the late 19th century, and it remains one of the top hotels in the world. In Part 3, we discuss the hotel's history following World War II through today, including Queen Elizabeth's coronation ball, Bridget D'Oyly taking the helm, famous celebrities who stayed (and got turned away), and a fun reality TV show back in 2020 titled, fittingly, "The Savoy.

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Transition Music: "Four-Way" by William Ross Chernoff's Nomads is licensed under an Attribution License.

New York City at Christmastime is the most wonderful time of the year! We bring you our top five NYC hotels during the Christmas season, all full of immaculate decorations, bespoke packages and excursions, and boozy brunches for Christmas and New Year's Day to take the edge off all the holiday fun.

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Transition Music: "Advent Season" by Torben Fugger is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

As the summer wanes, we would be remiss if we didn't pay homage to another summer resort of bygone days. This time we're headed across the pond to the seaside town of Bournemouth in England, where British Jews created their own Borscht Belt of sorts to spend their summers and holy days feted with kosher delights.

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Crinoline Dreams by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Just above the famed Sunset Strip in West Hollywood lies an architectural fluke, an artist's muse, a celebrity playground. Chateau Marmont is one of Los Angeles' best known hotels, even if most Angelenos can't actually pinpoint where it is. This one has it all folks -- high society, mobsters, the Hollywood elite, and debauchery of all sorts.

You can support the podcast (and our caffeine addiction) by clicking below:

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We've dug into some interesting corners of the internet (thank you messynessychic.com!) to bring you five strange, surprising, and fun hotels around the world, including the last steamship on the Nile, a hotel in the south of France that wishes it were a ship, a conservation-based hotel where you can hang out with giraffes, a kitschy hotel turned pop culture icon, and a Hogwarts-esque castle in Poland offering a wizardry school for those who never received their post by owl.

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Transition Music: "Be Carefree - Calm mood of a weekend in anticipation of unusual adventures" by Oleg Mazur Free Music is licensed under a Creative Commons License

Salem, MA, is a town steeped in history. It is forever embossed in pop culture as Witch City thanks to the witch trials in 1692 and its 20th century resurgence as a spiritual (and literal) home for many Wiccans. Salem's hotels are also entrenched in history. Built anywhere from the 1600's to 1925, they offer an escape wrapped up in local history, lore, and even a few ghosts. You can support Hotel History (and our caffeine addiction) here or on Patreon. Sign up for our free newsletter, The CHECK-IN. Follow us: TikTok | Instagram | Twitter (X or whatever)

Transition music: Nocturnal by Beat Mekanik from the Free Music Archive (License: CC BY)

Usually the whole point of a hotel is that you don't have to sleep outside, but these special "rooms" take you into some of the best spaces Mother Nature has to offer. Take your pick from staying in a treehouse, underwater in a lagoon, in a star bed with arguably the best view of the night sky on the planet, and more. Most of them can also be enjoyed by the less outdoors-inclined, and some of them offer indoor stays, too, so there's something for everyone!

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Inspiring Optimistic Upbeat Energetic Guitar Rhythm by Oleg Mazur via Chosic licensed under Creative Commons License.

Welcome back to the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, where scandals live side by side with art and culture. This episode starts with the tragedy of John Belushi's death in the 1980s and finishes in the present day with union strikes and sexual assault allegations against the hotel's owner with a fair amount of sex, partying, death, and even rioting in between.

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TikTok: @hotelhistory

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We interview the creators of The Hotel Who, an immersive and interactive theater experience currently based in Los Angeles (but hopefully coming to more cities soon). They tell us about their current show (a 1930's murder mystery held in a castle in the Hollywood Hills), how they got started, and what's next for this unique art form.

You can buy tickets to an upcoming show here

Follow The Hotel Who on Instagram and TikTok.

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Transition Music:

Masquerade by Beat Mekanik from the Free Music Archive licensed under CC BY.

For our inaugural episode, we take on a New York institution – the Plaza Hotel. We discuss its Gilded Age origins (ambitious, glamorous, and a wee bit violent), its rich and famous residents, and how it handled progress and change through the first half of the 20th century.

You can support the podcast (and our caffeine addiction) by clicking below:

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Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/hotelhistory

TikTok: @hotelhistory

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Twitter: @hotelhistorypod

The second half of the Plaza's history is filled with glamorous parties, rock stars, activists, billionaires, bankruptcy, a precocious 6-year-old running wild, and a slew of household names, including the Beatles, Truman Capote, Betty Friedan, and Donald Trump.

You can support the podcast (and our caffeine addiction) by clicking below:

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We've covered some of the most expensive and luxurious hotels in the world, but what about the accommodations that get less than stellar reviews? From the annals of the internet, we bring you horror stories (alleged, of course) of filthy rooms, antagonistic staff, and wayward... monkeys?

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Merry Bay by Ghostrifter Official from Chosic licensed under CC-BY-SA-3.0

It's our first book club episode! We're talking about Deadly Summer Nights by Vicki Delany, a fun cozy mystery that takes place at a Catskills resort in the 1950s. Don't worry, no spoilers.

Join us for our next read here and check out our bookshop here (we earn a small commission at no expense to you, and the site supports independent bookstores!).

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If you fancy a midnight run-in with the famed Headless Horseman, or maybe just want to stroll down the road with the Lady in White, you should take a little trip to Sleepy Hollow. Yes, it's a real place made famous by Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. In addition to its ghost stories, it boasts a plethora of historical places, including the Florence Inn and the Castle Hotel.& Spa.

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In part three of our interview with Jen Stewart, host of the Borscht Belt Tattler Podcast, we continue learning about famous hotels of the region and discuss the Borscht Belt in pop culture. Listen and subscribe to Jen's podcast here and follow her on Instagram.

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Ending credits music: Composition: Naftule Brandwein; Performance: United States Air Force Band of the Rockies, Stellar Brass; Recording: United States Air Force, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Since winter is in full swing, we knew it was time for the Stanley Hotel – everyone's favorite haunted hotel and inspiration for The Shining by Stephen King (and the movie by the same name, natch). But the hotel had a haunted reputation even before King made it famous and those twin movie ghosts made it infamous. Throw in their very own frozen dead guy a la the world's only cryonics museum, and you've got a veritable amusement park for ghost and horror enthusiasts.

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Transition Music: "Come Out And Play" Royalty Free Horror Remixed By Darren Curtis is licensed under a  Creative Commons License.

Society is saturated with superstition, so of course hotels are no different! We can't guarantee it, but these superstitions just might make you feel a little more comfortable on your travels – and keep the resident spirits at bay.

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Transition Music:

Ghostwaltz By Rezonance (CZ) is licensed under a  Creative Commons License.

As we rewatched Sex and the City for the bajillionth time (recently released on Netflix!), we couldn't help but wonder – is there a hotel that matches the personality of each of our beloved fabulous foursome? A few martinis and bad renditions of the theme song later, and just like that, we had a list of hotels that scream Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte (and Big, Aidan, Steve, and Stanford, too).

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Transition Music:

George Street Shuffle by Kevin MacLeod from Chosic under a Creative Commons Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

We continue our exploration of literary hotels with the OG: The Algonquin Hotel in New York City. Known as a magnet for writers of every ilk, it was the home of the most well-known literary circle in America, perhaps the world. Variously known as the Algonquin Round Table, the Vicious Circle, and the Board, they dabbled in word play and cut each other down every day at lunch, then went home to write American classics. Their legend lives on at the Algonquin, along with stellar service, celebrity-inspired cocktails, and an annual cat fashion show that gives Fashion Week a run for its money.

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Transition Music:

Night in Venice by Kevin MacLeod via Chosic licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Fall is finally here, so we're taking a little trip to Stars Hollow, CT, to talk about the inns that provide a backdrop, back story, and realized dream for Lorelai Gilmore; her daughter, Rory; and her best friend, Sookie St. James – the Independence and Dragonfly Inns. We'll also give a little history on the Mayflower Inn in Washington, CT, which helped inspire the show’s creator. We may get sidetracked by the many psychological (and financial) issues facing the characters of this beloved show, so bear with us.

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Transition and ending credits music: Happy Days by Steven O'Brien | https://www.steven-obrien.net/

Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0

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Love is in the air! Or is that sex? There's room for both at our collection of hotels for lovers ... and sinners. From a romantic trip to Charleston, SC, a la The Notebook to the Belle Epoque-inspired labyrinth of a former Paris brothel cum (ahem) hotel, we've got the foremost places to spend a little one-on-one time with your pleasure partner.

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Transition Music:

Sensual Jazz by Grand_Project via Pixabay.

Dreamy Jazz by JuliusH via Pixabay.

Submission by Beat Mekanik from the Free Music Archive licensed under CC BY.

French Toast by Beat Mekanik from the Free Music Archive licensed under CC BY.

Sexy Lounge Music by Saavane via Pixabay.

In part two of our interview with Jen Stewart, host of the Borscht Belt Tattler Podcast, we talk about the impact the Borscht Belt had on sports, especially boxing and basketball, and talk about one of the most famous Borscht Belt hotel owners, Jennie Grossinger. Listen and subscribe to Jen's podcast here and follow her on Instagram.

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Ending credits music: Lachaim by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The Savoy Hotel redefined hospitality for London in the late 19th century, and it remains one of the top hotels in the world. In Part 2, we discuss the hotel under Rupert D'Oyly Carte from the Belle Epoque, through the Jazz Age, and into the second world war with plenty of scandals, spies, and intrigue along the way. You can support Hotel History (and our caffeine addiction) here or on Patreon. Sign up for our free newsletter, The CHECK-IN. Follow us: TikTok | Instagram | Twitter (X or whatever)