The fabulous Pfister: Old World charm and museum-quality art accent Milwaukee's grand hotel

Travel America, May-June, 2004 by Randy Mink

WALK INTO THE ORNATE, barrel-vaulted lobby of the Pfister Hotel and you feel as if you've entered a palace. A hush falls over many first-time guests as they eye the celestial ceiling mural decorated with heavenly cherubs and trimmed in gilded plasterwork. Dark wood, marble-clad columns, etched glass, chandeliers, paintings, potted palms, red-and-gold carpeting--and more gold leaf--set the baronial tone of this 1893 landmark.

While downtown Milwaukee's Pfister Hotel may not be the Sistine Chapel, its public spaces cast their own beguiling spell on those who appreciate history and art. The lobby and mezzanine levels resemble museum galleries. More than 80 elaborately framed oil and watercolor paintings from the 19th and early 20th century grace the hallways and restaurants.

Located a few blocks from Lake Michigan, the Pfister was the culmination of a dream by Milwaukee businessman Guido Pfister and his son Charles to build a "palace for the people." Costing more than $1 million, it was the most expensive hotel constructed at the time, surpassing in opulence any hotel unveiled during the Gilded Age. The grand opening "was in a way to Milwaukee what the opening of the World's Fair was to Chicago," gushed the May 2, 1893 edition of the Milwaukee Sentinel.

The Pfister was the first completely fireproof hotel and one of the earliest to run entirely on electricity, using its own generators. It also was one of the first to have individual thermostats in each of the 200 sleeping rooms. There were 61 private baths and 14 public baths.

The hotel had its own barber shop, drug store with soda fountain. and separate lounges (with billiards) for gentlemen and ladies. Men were allowed to enter the ladies' area, but women were forbidden from the men's.

In 1899 the ballroom hosted a dinner for President William McKinley and his cabinet. The hotel has welcomed every U.S. president since, not to mention prime ministers, princes, sports stars, and big-name entertainers.

Guido Pfister emigrated from Germany to Milwaukee in 1845, made his fortune as a tanner, and established himself as a leader in the community. He envisioned a hotel that would act as Milwaukee's grand salon or "living room," where folks from all walks of life would gather. Though Guido died in 1889, a year before construction began, his son Charles would fulfill his wishes.

Standing eight stories high, the hotel featured a Romanesqne Revival exterior with enormous granite columns, terra cotta ornamentation, and towering bay windows. Green awnings today contrast with the gray limestone blocks and, on the building's upper half, the cream-colored bricks so prevalent in Milwaukee's early days. Carved at the top is "1890," the date construction commenced.

Many of today's guests do not stay in this historic structure. Instead, they are housed in the 23-story cylindrical tower that was attached (with parking garage) in 1966. Entering the tower elevators from the lobby, though, guests barely notice the transition because the two buildings appear to blend seamlessly.

The recently renovated 176 tower rooms feature English Regency furniture, oversized wooden beds with post headboards, swag drapes framing bay windows, leather-topped writing desks, and red-and-white-marble bathrooms. Rich gold, green, and garnet fabrics accent the mahogany details. Each room features reproductions of two paintings in the hotel's common areas.

The view from your room might include the vast U.S. Courthouse, a Romanesque Revival fortress that occupies a whole city block. Walking around the neighborhood reveals a number of 19th century limestone or brick buildings, some with plaques marking their inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

Centrally situated at Wisconsin Avenue and Jefferson Street, the Pfister is within walking distance of the theater district, the Milwaukee River's lively RiverWalk, and the Grand Avenue, an enclosed mall. To the south, the Historic Third Ward, a restored warehouse area, brims with art galleries, antique shops, restaurants, and night spots.

The festival grounds along Lake Michigan, the scene of ethnic celebrations and Summerfest (one of the world's largest music festivals), lie about six blocks from the hotel. The Milwaukee Museum of Art, dramatic in design, dominates the lakefront architecturally with its "flappable" wing-like structure, a moveable, louvered sunscreen that can be raised or lowered to help control both light and temperature inside the boat-shaped pavilion. New galleries, a lakeview restaurant, and elegant gardens also were part of the museum's recent $100-million expansion.

The Pfister, the official hotel of the Milwaukee Museum of Art, offers a one-night "Art Museum Package" ($209) that includes two museum tickets, a bottle of wine upon arrival, breakfast or Sunday brunch for two, overnight parking and the Pfister's art collection book.

About the Pfister collection. Russell Bowman, director of the Milwaukee Museum of Art, says: "Dating generally to the years surrounding the hotel's founding, the art collection is an exceptional example of late Victorian taste in America.... It must be said that the owners or their agents kept within the fairly conventional taste for historical and genre subjects, pleasant landscapes, and figural compositions which did not depart too much from expectations of their clientele."