Hotel Directories

My grandparents took 2 weeks holiday every summer and drove to Old Orchard Beach in Maine where they stayed at The Butler House. They reserved the same suite every year, as it had a nice big kitchen for Grampa to cook their meals.

Typically a Hotel Directory will give the name of the town, name of hotel, name of proprietor and the cost per night to stay there. Some entries are more detailed (I assume they paid extra for the entry) and tell a little more about the area or amenities.

So, maybe your ancestor didn't own or manage a hotel, but he may have stayed at one. The newspapers once printed names of people that stayed at the local hotels, and where they were from. Usually on the same page as the names of people who are setting sail. In old Canadian papers it is under Personal Intelligence.

At Trove for Australia, search "Staying at Hotels". 

The following was in The Sun, Sydney 13 Nov 1913..

Relevant Links

Old Orchard Beach, Maine 1900

The Official hotel red book and directory of the United States and Canada, 1903

United States hotel guide and railway companion for 1867

List of hotels throughout the United States offering special rates to employees of the Department of Agriculture, 1910

Hotel & boarding house directory of Queensland, 1912, 1921, 1929

Hotels of San Francisco 1906

Hand book to temperance hotels, UK 1888

A Century of Historic Hotels, Montreal 1903

Roe's hotel guide for commercial travellers, USA 1876

American summer resort directory... A complete guide and directory of summer hotels and boarding houses 1883

Canadian Summer Resort Guide, 1907

Picturesque Catskill Mountains summer resorts; list of hotels and boarding houses 1906