• In 1945 it cost $5 a night to stay at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, while the Plaza a few blocks away was a bargain at $6
  • Check out the minibar during your next stay – you might find a harmonica (Chicago’s Hotel of Blues), voodoo dolls and jazz CDs (Hotel Monaco New Orleans), glow-in-the-dark yo-yos (Pacific Palisades Vancouver), books of short stories (W hotels), or binoculars (Harbor Court Hotel San Francisco)
  • Opened in 1855, the Parker House in Boston is the oldest continuously operating hotel in the U.S. and claims some interesting history:
    • the Parker House roll was invented here
    • it was the first hotel to separate food and room charges
    • Charles Dickens gave his first American reading of “A Christmas Carol” here
    • kitchen employees have included Ho Chi Minh (1911-1913) and Malcolm X (early 1940s)