George Boldt
Prussian immigrant George C. Boldt and his Philadelphia-born wife, Louise Kehrer Boldt, opened an earlier facility, the Bellevue Hotel, in 1881. Louise's father, William Kehrer, steward of The Philadelphia Club, had engaged Boldt as his assistant steward at the time of the 1876 Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia. Boldt and Louise Kehrer wed shortly thereafter. Prominent members of the Philadelphia Club assisted the couple in setting up their own hotel, the Bellevue, at the NW corner of Broad & Walnut Streets. A small boutique inn, it quickly became nationally-known for its high standard of service, elite clientele, and fine cuisine- it is believed that Chicken à la King was created in the 1890s by hotel cook William "Bill" King. The Boldts expanded by acquiring the Stratford Hotel at the SW corner of Broad & Walnut. The Stratford was demolished and the old Bellevue supplanted by construction of the grand Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, designed in the French Renaissance style by G.W. & W.D. Hewitt. These Philadelphia architects also designed the Boldts' famous landmark residence, Boldt Castle in the Thousand Islands.
In 1890, George Boldt was invited by owner William Waldorf Astor to be proprietor of the new Waldorf Hotel in New York City. Louise Boldt had been instrumental in making their Philadelphia hotel attractive and socially acceptable to wealthy women. This was probably a major motivation for Astor in asking George Boldt to become proprietor of his new Waldorf, later expanded by John Jacob Astor to become the world-class institution known as the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
Read more about this topic: The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel