About the Statler Foundation
Ellsworth M. Statler
“For research work for the benefit of the hotel industry of the United States, not only in the construction and operation of hotels, but in the training and making more proficient the workers in hotels, for the benefit of the hotel industry, as a whole.”
Ellsworth Milton Statler grew up in Somerset County, PA and in Bridgeport, OH. Through most of his childhood he had to work because of his family’s poverty, and at 13 he got a job as a bellboy in a hotel in Wheeling, WV. He advanced to hotel clerk and studied hotel management and bookkeeping. Within a few years he was running his own lunch room and billiard hall in Wheeling.
In 1896 he moved to Buffalo, NY, and took over the restaurant concession at the Ellicott Square Building. Two years later, when Buffalo was designated as the site of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition, Statler built his first hotel, a temporary building of 2,100 rooms, near the exposition grounds. The reputation he earned from this venture won him the task of building the Inside Inn at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904. The same year he built the Statler Hotel in Buffalo, and his holdings were soon expanded into a chain of hotels in Detroit, Cleveland, St. Louis, and New York City.
The slogan of Ellsworth’s hotel business was “The customer is always right.” He was continually looking for new ways to make the guests of his hotels more comfortable. He strived to distinguish his accommodations from the competition.
History of Statler
The first “permanent” Statler hotel was designed by August Esenwein and James A. Johnson, built in Buffalo, New York, and offered 300 rooms and bathrooms (it was later expanded to 450 rooms and baths). The hotel was successful and led to a chain of hotels in other cities. Statler’s intent was not to compete with the luxury hotels, but rather to provide, clean, comfortable, and moderately priced rooms for the average traveler. Statler was the first major hotel chain to have a bathroom in every room. His innovative Statler Plumbing Shaft is still used in modern construction. From providing paper and pens for correspondence (prominently bearing the Statler name) to a light in the closet, Statler brought the average traveler a level of luxury that was otherwise unaffordable.
Rooms were originally available at what seemed a very cheap price, leading many other hoteliers to predict the failure of the Buffalo hotel. The opening night price was as low as $1.50 for a guest room, leading to the slogan “A Room and a Bath for a Dollar and a Half”. The hotel had a $500,000 line of credit available, but successfully maintained positive cash flow and Statler never used the line of credit.
Each of the subsequent Statler Hotels built upon this formula for success. Reflecting the era’s enthusiasm for scientific management, Statler took pride in how he applied standardization to questions of room design. His hotels had a minimum of wasted space, particularly on the guestroom floors, and he strove to have room layouts that would maximize efficiency and profitability.
Alice Seidler Statler
Ellsworth Milton Statler died on April 16, 1928. The Statler Foundation was established under Ellsworth’s Will to provide funds for improving the hotel industry. His former secretary and second wife, Alice, was made Chairman of the Board of Hotels Statler Corp., Inc. and the residuary of the estate went to her. She went on to build other Statler Hotels in Pittsburgh, PA (1938 – Leased the William Penn hotel), Washington, DC (1943 – Now called the Capitol Hilton), Los Angeles, CA (1952 – Now called the Wilshire Grand Hotel), Hartford, CT (1954 – Imploded in 1990), and Dallas, TX (1956 – Currently vacant) and remained active in the management of the hotels for the next 26 years.
On Oct. 27, 1954, Conrad Hilton, owner of the Hilton Hotel chain, paid $111,000,000 for the Statler assets, the then largest commercial real estate purchase in history. For a time following, some of the hotels were renamed Statler-Hilton Hotels. Alice was 71 at the time.
After the sale, Alice continued full-time as the Chairwoman of the Trustees of the Statler Foundation until her death in October, 1969.
The Foundation has continued Statler’s work, contributing to the development of the industry’s human capital both through its support of educational programs for the training of line and management employees and through scholarships awarded to deserving individuals.