Arriving...

PRESIDENTIAL PLACES TO

ARRIVE (& STAY) FOR THE NIGHT

For more than 200 years, U.S. presidents have slept around...when not sleeping at the White House, they stay at some of America's most historic hotels. For other travelers, it's just as easy to find a presidential place to stay. Just call Historic Hotels of America (HHA).

HHA is an exclusive program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. They have identified more than 100 quality hotels that have faithfully maintained their historic integrity, architecture, and ambience. To be selected for this prestigious program, a hotel must be at least 50 years old, listed on or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, or recognized locally as having historic significance. It also seems that the hotel most have presidential connections.

With hotels dating back to the 17th century, HHA's members have played host to all of the presidents through the years. Tales of presidential visits make for lively modern-day stays.

HAVING A BALL

You don't have to stray far from the White House to start on the presidential historic hotel trail. The Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. has been the host of the last 19 Inaugural Charity Balls. The first, in honor of President Calvin Coolidge, occurred just two weeks after the hotel's official grand opening in 1925. The country and the nation's capital were in a mood to celebrate, but the President was mourning his 16-year-old son's tragic death from food poisoning. Choosing not to attend the ball, Coolidge sent Vice-President Charles Dawes in his place.

For some reason, the hotel has since experienced strange occurrences on the official January 20th ball date, including the smell of Coolidge's lime-scented cologne, flickering lights, and bizarre elevator movements. "President Coolidge was terribly upset both with his son's death and also of missing his Inaugural gala," says Lou Carrier, Assistant Food and Beverage Director and in-house historian. "Although I can't prove it, I believe these unusual occurrences every January 20 is President 'Silent Cal' Coolidge attending his Inaugural 'in spirit' here at the hotel, knowing he missed a great party and trying to make up for it."

Another of many Mayflower stories involves President Richard Nixon, who arrived at The Mayflower after midnight for his 1969 inaugural ball. Addressing the 3,000 celebrants, he said that his predecessor, Dwight Eisenhower, had confided to him that he had ordered his tickets to the ball eight weeks earlier. "I told Ike that I had made reservations eight years ago," Nixon quipped.

Jimmy Carter's inaugural ball in 1977 at The Mayflower saw 3,500 down-home folks celebrating in a more informal fashion. Carter asked the partly denim-clad crowd, "How do you like my wife's old dress?" It was the same light-blue colored chiffon frock Rosalynn had worn to his inauguration as Governor of Georgia in 1970.

OTHER WASHINGTON WONDERS

Other HHA members in Washington, D.C. also have presidential ties. The Hay-Adams Hotel is definitely as close as you can sleep to the White House without actually being invited for the night by the Clintons. The first member of HHA, The Hay Adams overlooks the White House and Lafayette Square.

The Morrison-Clark Inn was once the Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen's Club, traditionally presided over by first ladies and accommodating up to 120 guests a night and housing more than 40,000 servicemen a year during World War II. Mamie Eisenhower is remembered as the First Lady who took the deepest interest in the club, her feet aching after hours at a hot sink washing dishes.

A RENAISSANCE HOTEL

Just down I-95, The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, Virginia was named for founder Lewis Ginter's hero, Thomas Jefferson, America's third president and true Renaissance man. Though, of course, Jefferson never stayed at the hotel (Presidents Harrison, McKinley, Wilson, Coolidge, both Roosevelts, Truman, and Reagan did), his legend lives throughout. Some Jeffersonian legacies include: a magnificent Carrara marble statue of Jefferson in The Palm Court Lobby; nearby Lemaire, a full-service gourmet restaurant named for Jefferson's maitre d'hotel during his years in the White House and featuring regional cuisine prepared in the manner Jefferson would have enjoyed; and T.J.'s Grill and Bar, for more casual Jefferson food and drink.

CAST YOUR BALLOT

The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire holds the distinction as the first location in the nation to vote in presidential primaries and general elections. Registered voters (24 in 1996) gather at midnight in the Ballot Room of the hotel, making them the 'first in the nation' to report results.

HISTORIC ROMANCE

Politics and romance can mix for presidents. The romantic Mission Inn in Riverside, California has hosted many presidential couples, including the marriage of Richard and Pat Nixon in the Presidential Suite and the honeymoon of Ronald and Nancy Reagan.

WHERE'S CAL

President Calvin Coolidge, when a candidate for Massachusetts lieutenant-governor, was left behind at The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. A nearby rally was scheduled and the party was underway when Congressman Treadway (then the inn's owner) suddenly exclaimed, "Where's Cal?" Nobody knew, so the chaffeur was dispatched to find him. Coolidge was found sitting on The Red Lion Inn's front porch, smoking a cigar. He is said to have calmly remarked, "I thought you would come back for me."

TRUMAN'S TALES

The down-home style of President Harry S. Truman left a mark at many Historic Hotels, with two tales especially memorable. While staying at The Peabody in Memphis, Tennessee, President Truman wrote a letter to his wife, dated November 16, 1941, saying, "I got up at 7:15am and had breakfast in the coffee shop downstairs, and they charged me 55 cents for a tomato juice, a little dab of oatmeal and milk with toast. I don't mind losing $100 on a horse race or in a poker game with friends, but I do hate to pay 55 cents for breakfast."

Leo Montgomery, a bell captain with the Boston Park Plaza Hotel for 40 years, once escorted President Truman to his room. The President poured a shot of whiskey from his flask and offered it to Montgomery. The bell captain hesitated, as drinking on the job was not allowed. Sensing this, Truman asked with great authority, "You're not saying no to to the President, are you?" Not one to refuse a presidential guest, Montgomery obliged and had his first and only drink on the job.

FORE!

The Brown Palace Hotel in Denver enjoyed frequent visits from Dwight D. Eisenhower. Favorite memories include an incident at a formal dinner in the 1950s, when the President jumped from the table to rescue a tiny trout that had flipped out of the water surrounding an elaborate ice carving. A permanent reminder of one of his stays is in the now-named Eisenhower Suite, where a dent in the fireplace molding was made by an errant golf ball Ike hit while practicing in his room.

A TOAST FROM THE PRESIDENT

President William McKinley created quite a stir among the temperance movement when he attended a banquet in his honor at The Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee in 1899. According to an editorial in The Voice, a temperance publication, President McKinley was chastised for not only having wine with his dinner, but for proceeding to drink every wine on the menu.

THE ORIGIN OF THE ROUGH RIDERS

In 1898, in the bar of The Menger Hotel in San Antonio, Teddy Roosevelt recruited many of his Rough riders, the first volunteer cavalry who fought in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Many of of Roosevelt's Rough Riders were members of New York's elite, including Hamilton Fish and Cornelius Vanderbilt.

TAFT'S ROLE IN A CHARLESTON DELICACY

Several times between 1908 and 1912, President William Howard Taft was entertained by Mayor Goodwyn Rhett at his home, which is now the John Rutledge House Inn in Charleston, South Carolina. For one of these affairs, the Rhetts asked their butler to 'dress up' the pale crab soup they usually served. The butler added orange-hued crab eggs to give color and improve the flavor, inventing the Charleston delicacy, She Crab Soup.

Of course, there are many other presidential places to stay throughout the U.S.. But the HHA makes for a convenient and productive start to sleeping your way through presidential history.

To receive a copy of the 130-page Historic Hotels of America membership directory, send $3 check or money order to Historic Hotels of America, National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1785 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20036. Rooms at any of the member hotels can be reserved by calling 800-678-8946. When reservations are made through this number, three percent of the cost is returned to the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation.