credit. The Statler hotel in St. Louis was the first in the nation to offer air conditioning. The Dallas Statler hotel was the first in the nation to have elevator music. Each of the subsequent Statler Hotels built upon this formula for success. Reflecting the era's enthusiasm for scientific management, Statler took pride in how he standardized questions of room design. His hotels had minimal wasted space, particularly on the guestroom floors, and he strove to have room layouts that would maximize efficiency and profitability. After Statler's death in 1928, the company built hotels in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, California, Hartford, Connecticut, and Dallas, Texas. Many of these hotels were designed by the architectural firm of George Post & Sons, the successor firm of George B. Post. In the mid- and late-1940s, pianist Liberace "gained national exposure through his performance contracts with the Statler and Radisson hotel chains". The Hotels Statler Company, Inc., was sold to Conrad Hilton's Hilton Hotels in 1954 for $111 million, then the world's largest real estate transaction. The Statler hotel in Buffalo was the first to be demolished after the Hilton acquisition, in 1968. The Statler hotel in New York became the Hotel Pennsylvania. List of hotels Gallery The Statler Hotel - Buffalo, New York The Travel Channel's documentary paranormal television show Destination Fear filmed at the location in 2019 for the seventh episode of their first season. In 2020, former owner Mark Croce was killed in a helicopter crash. As of June 2021, the hotel has been purchased by developers planning to turn the building into a mixed-use structure with retail, meeting and entertainment space, and 600 - 700 residential units. See also List of tallest buildings in Buffalo References External links Statler Hotel/Buffalo Hotel E.M. Statler, Forgotten Detroit Hotel Pennsylvania Official Website history page Dallas Statler Hilton, The Nostalgic Glass Statler's Restaurant Statler's Pan Am Hotel Buffalo Hotel Statler 1907 Statler's Buffalo estate Buffalo Hotel Statler 1923 The Buffalo Statler Opens 1923 History of Buffalo, New York Companies based in Buffalo, New York 1954 disestablishments in New York (state) Buildings and structures in Buffalo, New York Defunct hotel chains American companies disestablished in 1954 1901 establishments in New York (state) Defunct companies based in New York (state)