My long-time preoccupation with hotel history reveals one continuous strand: the achievements of unique entrepreneurs who created singular hotels one at a time. These pioneers were not by subsequent definition, “hotel men”. They did not attend hotel schools because there were none until 1924 with the creation of the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. Most of them did not grew up in the hotel business but became successful because of their varied on-the-job training experiences, business acumen and unexpected opportunities. Their tradition-breaking vision and single-minded ambition led them to create iconic hotels. My research has uncovered three such hotel mavens two of whom 1) were both essentially in the railroad and steamship business 2) were friendly competitors 3) concentrated their hotel creations in the State of Florida: Henry Morrison Flagler, on the east coast and Henry Bradley Plant on the west coast. The third maven was Carl Graham Fisher who created Miami Beach and Montauk, Long Island, N.Y.
Stanley Turkel is a recognized authority and consultant in the hotel industry. He operates his hotel consulting practice serving as an expert witness in hotel-related cases, and providing asset management and hotel franchising consultation.
Prior to forming his hotel consulting firm, Turkel was the Product Line Manager of Hotel/Motel Operations at the International Telephone & Telegraph Co. overseeing the Sheraton Corporation of America. Before joining IT&T, he was the General Manager of the Summit Hotel (762 Rooms), General Manager of the Drake Hotel (680 Rooms) and Resident Manager of the Americana Hotel (1842 Rooms), all in New York City.
Turkel is certified as a Master Hotel Supplier Emeritus by the Educational Institute of the American Hotel and Lodging Association. He served for eleven years as Chairman of the Board of the Trustees of the City Club of New York.
Stanley Turkel is one of the most widely-published authors in the hospitality industry. More than 275 articles have been published and posted on the Hotel-Online, BlueMauMau, and eTurboNews websites. This is his eight published book.
In 2014 and 2015, he was designated as the Historian of the year by Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
