Sleeping With History

Hotels Can Be Much More Than A Place To Sleep

- Victor Block

How would you like to spend a night at a hotel once frequented by Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and other Hollywood luminaries? Or snuggle under the sheets at a former stagecoach stop along the famous Chisolm Trail which played host to George Custer, the cavalry commander in the Civil and American Indian Wars, and Jesse James, who needs no introduction.

If luxury and elegance are your preference, the Hotel Du Pont in Wilmington, Delaware, which opened in 1913, was built to challenge the finest European lodgings in stylishness and beauty.

A hotel can be much more than a place to sleep. Properties throughout the country offer interesting stories of famous guests, accommodations that range from laid back to lavish, and opportunities to snooze with intriguing chapters of history. You might want to check them out, and perhaps check in to one or more, next time you take to the road.

An Italian Renaissance-style building which was the first high-rise hotel in Phoenix, and first in Arizona with elevators (hand-operated), was the go-to place for Hollywood celebrities when it opened in 1928. Guests of the Hotel San Carlos today enter the same limestonetile lobby with its original carved crown moldings, crystal chandeliers and other architectural features that greeted famous movie stars.