OVERVIEW

When you imagine the built environment, the places that shape a city’s culture, you probably think about stadiums and parks, skyscrapers and museums. But, what we often forget is the importance of the ubiquitous. We often forget about how culturally impactful the hotel can be.  With over 5,000,000 rooms nationally, from Motel 6 to the Ritz-Carlton, these haunts of hospitality provide a place of rest, but also a platform for stories, memories, legend and lore. This month come sit down, relax, and turn on that free cable as we enter the lobby of culture, convenience, and capitalism. This month we’re checking in to “The Hotel”.

Hotels have been around for a long time, tracing their heritage back to medieval roadside inns. These inns provided a place of rest for weary travelers who wanted something softer than an open field or a farmer’s barn to sleep in. University of New Mexico professor, and award-winning historian, Andrew Sandoval-Strausz, quite literally wrote the book on the subject.  Hotel: An American History, traces the rise of the hotel in America, and how this bastion for hospitality became a powerful cultural catalyst along the way.

Food and beverage super-star, Brian Schaer, is Senior Interior Designer for Hirsch Bedner Associates, one of the world’s premier hospitality design firms. From Abu Dhabi to Atlanta, Brian has a talent for creating jaw-dropping spaces designed to draw the eye, the palate, and the hungry traveler. He joins us in the studio to talk lobby culture, libation, and, of course, the delicacy that is superior interior design.

As a point of interest, Gene Kansas, Creator & Host of Sidewalk Radio, would not be here today if it were not for the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans.  Gene’s parents met just off the lobby at the famous Sazerac Bar many moons ago.  It’s a great story.  Ask him!  And, enjoy the show.