Oct 8, 2020
by
Jacqueline Spafford and Mark Hinchman, SAHARA Co-Editors
Hotels are so ubiquitous it is hard to imagine that for most of human history, they didn’t exist. Initially when people needed to put a roof over their heads when travelling or otherwise away from home, they did so in boarding or rooming houses. A few of those still exist and are represented in the SAHARA collection. Hotels really came into their own with the grand structures of the 19th and 20th centuries. The typology faced a challenge with the advent of modernism, a challenge some architects were poised to meet. Highways and automobiles brought about a new subcategory: motels. A phenomenon of recent times are grand buildings not originally designed as hotels, such as banks and post offices, that prove surprisingly adaptable to providing hospitality. Whether you travel or stay close to home this fall, please consider contributing to SAHARA.
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To learn more about contributing, visit: sah.org/publications-and-research/sahara
![Prince George Hotel A long white building with mansard roof](/images/default-source/sahara-highlights/oct2020---hotels/1_hsahara__1113_23527001.jpg?sfvrsn=b56f249b_0)
Unknown. Prince George Hotel. Kingston, Ontario, Canada, 1817-1820. Photograph by Richard Longstreth.
![Imperial Hotel a three-level interior courtyard lobby](/images/default-source/sahara-highlights/oct2020---hotels/2_hsahara__1113_39134713.jpg?sfvrsn=aa6f249b_0)
Frank Lloyd Wright. Imperial Hotel. Uchiyama, Japan, 1923. Photograph by Danielle Willkens, 2017.
![Bitaoyuan Hotel a six-story brick building with large red characters on the rooftop signage](/images/default-source/sahara-highlights/oct2020---hotels/3_hsahara__1113_33202884.jpg?sfvrsn=5f6e249b_0)
Unknown. Bitaoyuan Hotel. Bitaoyuan Daijuchan, China, late 20th century. Photography by Dell Upton, 2016.
![Ahwahnee Hotel a small lobby with geometric tapestries decorating the walls.](/images/default-source/sahara-highlights/oct2020---hotels/4_hsahara__1113_33569167.jpg?sfvrsn=4c6e249b_0)
Unknown. Ahwahnee Hotel, Yosemite National Park, California, 1927. Photograph by Ruth Lang, 2016. Also known as the Majestic Yosemite Hotel, the interiors were adapted for Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film The Shining.
![Rice’s Hotel a long, white, two-story building with external breezeways](/images/default-source/sahara-highlights/oct2020---hotels/5_hsahara__1113_23559533.jpg?sfvrsn=616e249b_0)
Unknown. Rice’s Hotel. Heathsville, Virginia, 1791. Photograph by Richard Guy Wilson.
![Hotel Havana Riviera a lobby with a blue and white modernist bench and patterned doors and wall panels](/images/default-source/sahara-highlights/oct2020---hotels/6_hsahara__1113_39134149.jpg?sfvrsn=166e249b_0)
Igor B. Polevitzky. Hotel Havana Riviera. Havana, Cuba, 1957. Photograph by Danielle S. Willkens, 2016.
![Beaumont Hotel a white building with red roof in a mountain setting](/images/default-source/sahara-highlights/oct2020---hotels/7_hsahara_1113132750.jpg?sfvrsn=b6e249b_0)
Unknown. Beaumont Hotel. Ouray, Colorado, 1886. Photography by Patrick Malone, 2011.
![Hotel Belgrave a wide building with hipped roofs and gables](/images/default-source/sahara-highlights/oct2020---hotels/8_hsahara__1113_43695147.jpg?sfvrsn=386e249b_0)
D.W. Greatbatch. Hotel Belgrave. Kimberly, South Africa, 1897. Photography by Sarah Rovang, 2018.
![Albion Hotel A white building with a curved corner façade](/images/default-source/sahara-highlights/oct2020---hotels/9_hsahara_1113155909.jpg?sfvrsn=2d6e249b_0)
Polevitzky and Russell. Albion Hotel, Miami Beach, Florida, 1935. Photography by Peter Clericuzio, 2013.
![Hotel Sofitel Metropole a white building with architectural features reminiscent of the federal style](/images/default-source/sahara-highlights/oct2020---hotels/10_hsahara__1113_36021428.jpg?sfvrsn=c26e249b_0)
Unknown. Hotel Sofitel Metropole. Ha Noi, Vietnam, 1905. Photograph by Carrie Cushman.