In the former half of the 20th century, the most stylish of hotels and resorts were all about gilded spectacle, replete with solariums, "crystal rooms," "interior concourses," and oozingly grand details like gigantic Roman-style bathing pools (in Atlanta), spindly antique furniture (NYC), and marble colonnades (everywhere). Below, find 42 grandiose vintage shots, all plucked from the archives of the Library of Congress, that show off all the hospitality grandeur of yesteryear. Featured: NYC's Waldorf-Astoria (sampled above), Washington D.C.'s Willard Hotel, Philadelphia's Bellevue-Stratford, Atlanta's Ponce de Leon, plus other glamorous lodgings in Jamaica, Egypt, and Hawaii.
· All Library of Congress photo collections [official site]
· All Hotels Week 2014 posts [Curbed National]
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