Description
Completed in 1923, the Hotel Statler was the successor to Ellsworth Statler’s first hotel, which opened in Buffalo in 1908. The new hotel’s interiors exemplified the elegant “Statler style” that blended Italian and English Renaissance influences. It also featured the modern innovations, notably a bath in every room, that made Statler hotels the new standard of lodging in America. Located in the heart of downtown overlooking historic Niagara Square, the grand hotel was a jewel of the national Statler chain. It also served as a social center for generations of Buffalonians.
The Hotel Statler is an outstanding example of the early 20th century hotel by one of the foremost hotel innovators in American history. Completed in 1923, it was a gift from “America’s Extraordinary Hotelman” to his adopted city of Buffalo, NY. Ellsworth M. Statler came from humble beginnings in Ohio and West Virginia, and through hard work, shrewd business decisions, creative use of advertising, and adherence to high standards for his employees and their treatment of his customers, built one of the most successful hotel chains in the United States.
Douglas Jemal purchased the Statler in 2020 and immediately began improvements to the exterior of the building. Development has begun to bring back the legendary hotel in Buffalo as a mixed use building offering hundreds of apartments, entertainment options, and Buffalo’s grandest ballrooms.