Tom Betti

Historic Hotels of Columbus, Ohio Tom Betti

Though only a handful remain today, the Capital City once boasted a wealth of illustrious hotels and raucous two-bit establishments. Grande dame hotels like the Neil House, the Great Southern, the Hartman, the Chittenden and the Deshler achieved the height of elegance and refinement. More modest establishments were frequented by fugitive Confederate generals, notorious bootleggers and Fidel Castro's family. Join the Gilded Age bachelors who decked out banquet halls to look like camping sites and the Hungarian revolutionaries who failed to keep a low profile. From devastating hotel fires to ornate outhouse fittings, authors Tom Betti and Doreen Uhas Sauer introduce you to a whole new side of Columbus history.