Hotel Dreams

Winner, 2012 Sally Hacker Prize, Society for the History of Technology

Hotel Dreams is a deeply researched and entertaining account of how the hotel''s material world of machines and marble integrated into and shaped the society it served. Molly W. Berger offers a compelling history of the American hotel and how it captured the public''s imagination as it came to represent the complex—and often contentious—relationship among luxury, economic development, and the ideals of a democratic society.

Berger profiles the country''s most prestigious hotels, including Boston''s 1829 Tremont, San Francisco''s world-famous Palace, and Chicago''s enormous Stevens. The fascinating stories behind their design, construction, and marketing reveal in rich detail how these buildings became cultural symbols that shaped the urban landscape.