Milwaukee's The Astor Hotel has employed the same business model for more than a century. It caters to two different kinds of guests: both long-term residents and travelers.
The 1920 hotel offers a combination of apartments and hotel rooms; in fact, the apartments have historically outnumbered the guest rooms, even when the hotel first opened 101 years ago.
The Astor Hotel boasts many of the ornamental features typical of hotels of its era, including a handsome lobby accented with detailed woodwork, underneath a colorful stained glass dome.
The rooms are, admittedly, on the smaller side, as was typical for a 1920s hotel. But they offer a certain vintage charm, including smart details like a dry cleaning service door, pictured below.
On this episode of the Urban Spelunking podcast, OnMilwaukee's Bobby Tanzilo and I talk about the Astor Hotel's upscale history, including the string of luxury car dealerships that once occupied the hotel lobby.
Listen to the podcast below, and visit OnMilwaukee to read Bobby's complete story.
