12 Old Upstate NY “Grand Dame” Hotels That Are Now Long Gone!

Can you imagine a time when a splendid hotel, one which boasted all the modern amenities of its day, would highlight in its advertising that the hotel "featured a full length dressing mirror in every room!).  Amazing.

These 12 hotel "palaces" were among the finest in all of Upstate New York at one time.  And, they are all gone.  But, oh those memories!

The hotels range from those that were located in the downtown urban areas of our region's largest cities (Albany, Buffalo, Utica, etc.), as well as other grand hotels located in smaller places like the Catskill Mountains, Saratoga Springs, etc.)

These were big sprawling hotels, even skyscrapers for the era.  While doing research for this gallery the thing I was most struck with was the fact that most of these hotels had big ballrooms and the major artists of the day, say the 1940s-1970s, could be found entertaining sell out crowds when the star got routed through these various cities.  Folks like Duke Ellington, Judy Garland, Dean Martin, Kate Smith, Glenn Miller, Jerry Lewis, and many others.  What a time it must have been when Frank Sinatra rolled into an Upstate New York city and put on a show at one of these long gone elegant hotels.

We know that virtually every city had at least one unforgettable hotel in its past, one that was killed by time and the wrecking ball.  Using this list of a dozen as a starting point, we encourage you to submit the names of others that you know of over on our Facebook page.  Let us all share in your memories of these forever gone Grand Dames.