The Seelbach Hilton is a historic hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, founded by relatives of Bavarian-born immigrants Louis and Otto Seelbach. It was opened in 1905 as the Seelbach Hotel, envisioned by the Seelbach Brothers to embody the old-world splendor of European hotels in cities like Vienna and Paris. To do so at the beginning of the 20th century, Louisville, they used the French Renaissance design in building hotels. Louis had been a restaurant owner in Louisville when his brother Otto joined him from Germany around 1890, forming the Seelbach Hotel Co. The company started construction at the hotel in 1903.
The hotel is quickly considered among the best hotels in the United States and throughout its long history has been frequented by many prominent Americans - for example F. Scott Fitzgerald, who took inspiration from Seelbach for a hotel in The Great Gatsby > Hotel is part of Hilton Hotel & amp; Resorts Chain.
Video Seelbach Hotel
History
Louis Seelbach and his brother Otto emigrated from Frankenthal, Germany, a small rural town in Bavaria. Louis Seelbach arrived in Louisville in 1869 at the age of 17, shortly after reaching the United States. He worked at the first Galt House for some time after his arrival, but after 22 years in 1874, he realized that he had greater ambition. He opened Seelbach Bar & amp; Bake in the same year, and quickly build it into a growing company. The success of restaurants in Louisville rapidly expanded the population and economically enabled Louis Seelbach to bring his brother Otto from Germany to help open the first Seelbach Hotel in 1891 over the bar & grill on 6 and Main.
The brothers intend to build the first big hotel Louisville: a hotel that reflects the luxury of European hotels. They bought a piece of land on the corner of 4th Walnut Street and Walnut (now Muhammad Ali Blvd), land in December 1903, and opened the door on May 1, 1905, just in time for the Kentucky Derby.
On opening day, more than 25,000 people visit the hotel. Seelbach held a show that night, with a dinner party in each of the 150 rooms. This structure combines marble from Italy, Germany and France, along with wood from the West Indies and Europe.
The hotel attracted a large number of customers in the first two years, and, fortunately, the Seelbach Realty Company - formed in 1902 before the purchase of the property - had planned since opening day to expand the hotel. On January 1, 1907, the second phase opened, increasing the number of rooms to 500. Two lower floors of the ten-story structure were faced with rocks, while the upper floors were brick. The work includes attaching a roof garden to allow it to be used as a winter garden. The new and improved Seelbach regularly hosts the guests at Kentucky Derby.
In 1925, Louis, president of Seelbach Hotel Co., died, creating the need for new management. On April 1, 1926, Chicago-based businessman Abraham M. Liebling bought the hotel for about $ 2,500,000. In 1929, he sold the hotel to Eppley Hotel Company for $ 2,000,000. Mr. Eppley, from Omaha, Nebraska, owned many hotels throughout the Midwest, but eventually sold The Seelbach Hotel and all other properties in 1956 to the Sheraton as part of a $ 30 million deal. This makes Seelbach part of the second largest hotel sales in US history. The hotel became Sheraton-Seelbach Hotel , but its name was soon shortened to just Sheraton Hotel . Sheraton sold the property to the Gotham Hotel in 1968 and regained the name Seelbach. After a severe national economic downturn in 1975, it closed after its owners went bankrupt.
In 1978, the original television actor and Hollywood Louisville, Roger Davis, bought Seelbach. The restoration work began in early 1979 and continued until reopening on April 12, 1982. National Hotels Corporation, a subsidiary of Radisson Hotels and DoubleTree Hotels manages properties that have regained many previous reputations.
The hotel has changed hands several times after the revival. When MeriStar Hospitality Corp. bought the hotel in 1998 and became The Seelbach Hilton . Seelbach is jointly owned by Interstate Hotels & amp; Resorts and Investcorp and operates under the Hilton flag. In 2009, the hotel completed the latest renovation at a cost of $ 12 million.
Impact on Louisville
At the time of construction, there are very few in the area around 4 and Walnut Streets. When the Seelbach brothers put forward their project, the Mayor of Louisville said, "Nobody will come to the hotel so far." Some others are trying to prevent property development so far from the 'center' of Louisville. Since then, Louisville has grown and Seelbach Hotel has long been stalking one of the booming shopping and business districts. Between the 1930s and 1960s, the Seelbach Hotel even anchored in an area with "best shops" in Louisville. Despite falling into disrepair for a certain period of time, today the area is again becoming a bustling cultural and commercial center. The area around the hotel is also filled with other large hotels competing for the Louisville area guests. Not only is the city growing around the hotel, but more hotel owners are inspired to build in the same area after seeing Seelbach's success.
Maps Seelbach Hotel
Famous guest
President
Many US Presidents have chosen to spend time in temporary hotels in Louisville, including William Howard Taft (1911), Woodrow Wilson (1916), Franklin D. Roosevelt (1938), Harry Truman (1948), John F. Kennedy (1962) Lyndon B. Johnson (1964), Jimmy Carter (1970s), Bill Clinton (1998), and George W. Bush (2002).
Gangster
Lucky Luciano, Dutch Schultz, and Al Capone - often Seelbach guests - stay at the hotel, often for clandestine poker games. One story from the 1920s involving Al Capone slipped out through a series of secret staircases and tunnels when Louisville Police decided on one of these games. Hotel staff often want to show the Al Capone room (if it is empty) and give its history.
More
The Rolling Stones, Whitney Houston, Elvis Presley, Billy Joel, Robin Williams, Russell Crowe, Julia Child, Wolfgang Puck, and Shorty Rossi, reality TV personalities of Pit Boss are among the celebrities who have lived in Seelbach.
F. Scott Fitzgerald often visited this hotel in April 1918, while training for his placement in World War I. One night after expensive bourbon and cigars, he had to be restrained and expelled from the hotel. This experience did not seem to tarnish his memory, as he later entered a fictitious hotel similar to Seelbach as the setting for Tom and Daisy Buchanan's wedding at The Great Gatsby. In this story, it is pointed out that Tom "Rents the entire floor of the Mulbach hotel" which can refer to the Grand Ballroom (formerly located on the roof of the hotel) or the Rathskeller room (located in the basement) where Fitzgerald often goes to the bar.
Hotel
The Seelbach is an award-winning AAA 4 Diamond hotel. This hotel appears in the National Register of Historic Places and is considered "Louisville's Historic Hotel".
Facilities
Seelbach offers its guests in Louisville access to the AAA Five Diamond Award winning restaurant, The Oakroom, fitness center and valet parking, among other standard features of a luxury hotel.
Restaurants
Seelbach's restaurants include The Oakroom, Gatsby's on Fourth and Starbucks. Oakroom is the only AAA Five Diamond Restaurant Award winner in Kentucky, one of 44 in the country while Rathskellar, decorated with Rookwood Pottery, is a restaurant influenced by the rare and distinctive Seelbach South-Germany. Today Rathskeller is used for occasional private events. Derived from the German language, the term "Rathskeller", meaning "basement of the council" and is a common name in German-speaking countries which refers to a bar or restaurant located in the basement of the town hall (Rathaus). The word "Rath" has nothing to do with the German word "Ratten" (rat) as it has been erroneously reported in some cases. There is a cocktail called The Seelbach Hotel, called The Seelbach, which contains bourbon, triple sec, two types of bitter and topped with sparkling wine or champagne.
In the movie
The Seelbach Hotel is featured in Russell Crowe/Al Pacino 1999 "The Insider".
The hotel has also been featured in "The Hustler" and "The Great Gatsby".
See also
- List of attractions and events in the Louisville metropolitan area
References
The work cited
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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