" A room and a bath for a dollar and a half!"

In 1905 E.M Statler decided to build, in Buffalo, a hotel unlike any other that had ever been built before. Opened in 1908, this path-breaking 300-room hotel had numerous innovations that became standard throughout the hotel industry. These included circulating ice water in each room, inside-the-door light switches, single-handled lavatory faucets, built-in bathroom elements and, most remarkably of all, a private bath room for each guest room. The original Hotel Statler was reputably the first hotel in the world with this feature.

This was not a luxury hotel, but was intended for the average businessman or tourist. Rooms that faced the street had full baths, at a rate of $2 or $3 per night, while those that faced the interior light courts had showers only, at $1.50 per night.

For this hotel unlike any other, Esenwein & Johnson produced an extraordinary Art Nouveau design quite distinct from anything yet built in America.

The exterior form was clearly derived from Adler & Sullivan's Guaranty Building, but while that building featured unglazed, monochromatic terra cotta, the Hotel Statler's concrete-encased, steel frame was clad in glazed poly-chrome terra cotta of stylized plant forms.

Hotel Statler. From a postcard. 1908.