Souvenir Hotel Del Monte, Monterey, Cal.
[Monterey, CA]: [Hotel Del Monte], [1894]. Large 8vo. 31, [7] pp. Frontispiece; illustrations; 2 full-page maps; 5 full-page floor plans. Light wear; else a fine copy. Item #21089
The Hotel Del Monte, created by railroad pioneer Charles Crocker, opened in June 1880. The hotel was one of the world's leading resorts in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and also the starting and finishing point for the original 17-Mile Drive. Skeptics called the project “Crocker’s Folly” and predicted that the resort would quickly fail. The time was right for the notion of "leisure", however, and Crocker's idea to create a luxury destination reachable by train mean that in its first month of operation, Hotel Del Monte would show a net profit of $11,300. With a capacity of just over 100 suites and guest rooms, Del Monte's manager had to turn down more than 3,000 reservation requests in the hote's first six weeks. Frequent visits by a succession of Presidents, by leaders of industry, royalty, heads of states, and the upper class of the world set the tone for Del Monte. It soon gained international prominence and a reputation as the “Queen of American Watering Places,” “The Most Elegant Seaside Resort in the World” and "California's Best Loved Resort."
Price: $200.00