Menger Hotel — San Antonio, TX, United States
About Menger Hotel
In June 1882, a 27-year-old Wilde, still years away from his best-known works, was midway through an 11-month, 140-lecture tour of North America promoting Aestheticism. He checked into The Menger on June 21, 1882, and lectured that night at the Turner Opera Hall. San Antonio's The Evening Light newspaper covered it the next day, describing him in "a black velvet suit, ancient in design and picturesque in appearance" with a "nervous temperament." Further, as a former San Antonio resident, O. Henry set several short stories in the city and specifically incorporated the Menger itself into some of his works, including “Seats of the Haughty," in which O. Henry writes, "We stopped in San Antonio long enough for Solly to buy some clothes, and eight rounds of drinks for the guests and employees of the Menger Hotel, and order four Mexican saddles with silver trimmings and white Angora suaderos t…
Literary significance
Historical character oozes out of this original lobby, with antique furniture the Mengers reportedly collected on European buying trips. It's preserved , gorgeous, and frequently cited by reviewers. However, this preservation is architectural, but not associated with any author or short story.
Authors
Location
204 Alamo Plaza, San Antonio, TX 78205, United States