Hollenden Hotel

The Hollenden Hotel
The Hollenden Hotel, circa 1903
General information
Location	Superior and Bond (E. 6th) St. Cleveland, Ohio
Opening	1885
Closed	1962
Technical details
Floor count	8
Design and construction
Architect	George F. Hammond
Other information
Number of rooms	1000

The Hollenden Hotel was a luxury hotel in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It opened in 1885, was significantly upgraded in 1926 and demolished in 1962. During the hotel's existence, it contained 1,000 rooms, 100 private baths, a lavish interior, electric lights and fireproof construction. As Cleveland's most glamorous hotel of the time, it hosted industrialists, celebrities and politicians, including five U.S. Presidents. The Fifth Third Center skyscraper currently occupies the hotel's former location.

Liberty E. Holden, a real estate investor and owner of The Plain Dealer, purchased the land from Philo Chamberlain and created a corporation to build the hotel; he hired the Cleveland architect George F. Hammond to design it. He selected the name Hollenden, an early English form of the name Holden. When the hotel opened on June 7, 1885, it was considered a technological marvel because every room was equipped with electric lights and the building was fireproofed. Adding to the hotel's glamor, it contained 1,000 rooms, 100 private baths, a theater, barbershop along with several bars and clubs. The hotel housed permanent as well as temporary residents. The hotel's interiors consisted of paneled walls, redwood and mahogany fittings and were finished off with crystal chandeliers.

During the hotel's history, it had a reputation for hosting celebrities, industrial giants and various politicians, including the former U.S. Presidents McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson and Harding.Albert Einstein stayed there in 1921 upon his first visit to the United States. In particular, politicians made the dining room a popular place for meetings. In 1929, the hotel hosted a dinner for Prince Nicholas of Romania and in 1960, it was the location for a speech by then-U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy.