A Legacy Of Service At Our Minnesota HotelThere is a grand history of service at our Rochester Minnesota hotel. The Kahler Grand Hotel offers so much more than a comfortable stay. With legendary hospitality for more than 80 years, our friendly staff has hosted thousands of guests - some famous faces, too - with a continuous energy not found in traditional lodging. Read on to learn how our celebrated Rochester hotel came to be:
After a tornado destroyed much of Rochester in 1883, Mother Alfred of the congregation of the Sisters of St. Francis was inspired to approach Dr. William Worrall Mayo about the town's need for a hospital. Dr. Mayo agreed to provide medical staff if the Mother Superior and her fellow nuns would provide the funds. In 1885, land was purchased, and four years later, St. Mary's Hospital opened its doors to patients.
Dr. Mayo and his associates quickly gained a reputation for medical excellence. As word spread, more patients came, and his sons Will and Charlie joined the practice in the early 20th century. It was during this time of growth for both the town of Rochester and the Mayo's medical practice when a man with a vision come to town.
John Henry Kahler arrived in Rochester in 1896. The first property he managed was the Cook House, a first-class hotel. He insisted on operating a progressive hotel in which guests were given every convenience, including perfect service, courtesy, and attention to detail. These principles were to become the foundation upon which The Kahler Grand would be built and operated by to this day.
As the Mayo Clinic admitted more and more patients in the early 20th century, the increasing shortage of hotel rooms and hospital beds in Rochester led J. H. Kahler to try out a new idea, a unique way of providing caring and service to the community and its visitors. He acquired the E. A. Knowlton house, and promptly converted it into a special type of hotel. The new Kahler Hotel had all the furnishings of a fine hotel, but was distinguished by the operating room and other hospital equipment on the third floor.
The Kahler Hotel was an instant success, but demand for hotel and hospital rooms in the city quickly outgrew the existing supply. After several years that saw hotels converted into hospitals and small hospitals into nurses' dormitories. In an attempt to keep up with the growth of the medical industry and the services that supported it, Kahler and some of his associates consolidated their companies and formed The Kahler Corporation in 1917.
The formation of the corporation aided the hospitality industry in Rochester by bringing its downtown hotels and hospitals together under the management of one company. In 1919, however, Rochester's population of 15,000 continued to struggle to provide adequate service for the more than 60,000 patients who came each year. Plans were drawn for a new grand hotel that would be the ultimate in providing care and service to patients and their families. The new Kahler Hotel was designed following J. H. Kahler's unique way of providing hospitality. It was to be a "triple plan": a 210-bed hospital with operating suites for oral, plastic, and general surgery, a 150-bed convalescent unit, and a 220-room hotel.
The Kahler Grand Hotel
At the grand opening of the Kahler Hotel on September 27, 1921, Dr. William J. Mayo had high praise for his friend and colleague John Kahler. He said, "I want to acknowledge that Mr. Kahler has done more for the advancement of Rochester and the Mayo Enterprises than all the rest of the citizens of Rochester put together." The hotel that was to bear his name was truly a culmination of Kahler's innovative method of caring for the people who came to Rochester.
No expense was spared in building the "new" Kahler Hotel; the final price tag was more than $1.75 million dollars. The Tudor gothic architecture complemented the interior decoration, where cathedral arches and cornices, textured ceilings, crystal chandeliers, damask draperies, and Wilton rugs patterned after English originals treated guests to the ultimate in comfort and luxury. The dining room, known as the Elizabethan Room, was operated European-style, with cane chairs, Irish linen napkins, lots of silver, and fine china. The menu offered several international items, so those guests who had traveled a long way would feel more at home. For a time, the Elizabethan Room was the only place in the world where one could drink Silex coffee brewed in three different strengths. This unique service received national recognition, and again helped to accommodate the tastes of international guests.
The Great Depression affected the Kahler Hotel and Corporation much as it did the rest of the country. As most people found their pocketbooks stretched thin, the number of patients who came for treatment at the Mayo Clinic decreased. This created a ripple effect that touched nearly all of Rochester, since fewer patients meant fewer people to eat in the city's restaurants, stay in its hotels, and shop in its boutiques. The corporation - and the hotel - survived, but wages, employees' hours, and annual dividends were reduced, along with cafeteria prices and room rates.
However, even though times were tight, the tradition of excellence was never sacrificed. In keeping with Mr. Kahler's desire to be progressive, all new furniture was purchased at low cost for the hotel rooms during the early 1930's. The second major change during this time, which also reflected a great deal of faith in the future, was the tile-lined subway system. Nearly a mile in length, the pedestrian subway system connected downtown's clinics, hospitals and hotels.
After World War II, patients returned in droves, and once again, hotel space in Rochester was limited. The Kahler Hotel coped as best as possible, offering two unique ways to serve guests. The first was to rent out the surgical beds to overnight visitors, with the provision that they had to leave by 6:00 the next morning. The second was the "try and locate system:" the hotel staff promised they would try to locate room for the inquiring guest in the Kahler, but if there was no room, they would still find a place, even if it was in a farmhouse outside of town!
It was during the post-war period that it became clear that the idea which had been the corporation's greatest asset in years past was now its biggest liability. The Kahler Hospital, which still occupied the top floors of the hotel, was run separately. With no medical insurance system during earlier years, payment was collected from patients in advance, and hospitals were essentially charitable institutions. Thus, the board of directors decided that no corporation engaged in seeking a reasonable profit should be operating a hospital at the same time, and it was sold, with the hospital areas becoming part of the hotel. Another major change to the Kahler Hotel was construction of the addition on the north end of the building in 1950.
Today, as the closest full-service hotel to the Mayo Clinic, the Kahler does more than provide a room for the average guest on vacation or a business trip. With the increase in outpatient surgery today, many people stay at the Kahler for a few days following their visit to the clinic, where they can order a bowl of soup through room service or relax with a massage in the spa. The spa, along with a wide variety of other shops and restaurants located in the subway, gives guests the unique opportunity to do some shopping without leaving the hotel building. The hotel strives to continue in Mr. Kaher's footsteps by providing legendary hospitality.
Over time, some things have changed at the Kahler Hotel. In the 1930's, rooms cost around a dollar and a quarter, and all the advertising was done on matchbook covers and road signs. No alcohol was served in the hotel until the 1950's, when corporation president Roy Watson purchased a liquor license. There are no hospital beds in the Kahler Hotel of today. However, the hotel is still the premier place to stay for those who are visiting the Mayo Clinic, and its legendary hospitality has evolved with the times to provide for the needs of guests. John Kahler's tradition of caring for and providing excellent service to guests has continued through his successors, and now under the ownership of Sunstone Hotels.
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Discover an extensive variety of accommodations, versatile meeting space, and a prime location at The Kahler Grand Hotel - the closest full-service lodging to the Mayo Clinic. Quality care and thoughtful service make our historic hotel the ideal destination in downtown Rochester, Minnesota.
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