{{For|hotels with a similar name|Lafayette Hotel (disambiguation)}} {{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Hotel Lafayette | nrhp_type = | image = HotelLafayette_cropped.jpg | caption = Hotel Lafayette, May 2015 | location = 391 Washington St., Buffalo, New York | coordinates = {{coord|42|53|4|N|78|52|22|W|display=inline,title}} | mapframe = yes | area = {{convert|0.86|acre}} | built = 1902 | architect = Bethune, Bethune & Fuchs (1902–1912); Esenwein and Johnson (1913–1937); and Roswell E. Pfohl / Design Inc. (1942 lobby) | architecture = French Renaissance | added = August 19, 2010 | refnum = 10000555<ref name="nris">{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/weekly-list-2010-national-register-of-historic-places.pdf|title=National Register of Historic Places|date=2010-08-27|work=WEEKLY LIST OF ACTIONS TAKEN ON PROPERTIES: 8/16/10 THROUGH 8/20/10|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref> }} '''Hotel Lafayette''', also known as the '''Lafayette Hotel''', is a historic hotel building located in Buffalo in Erie County, New York.
==History and features== It is a seven-story steel frame and concrete building designed in the French Renaissance style. It is composed of several rectangular building units completed between 1902 and 1926. It features decorative vitreous red brick and white terra cotta trim. The hotel is the masterpiece of Louise Blanchard Bethune (1856–1913), the first professional woman architect in the United States. 67
The original building was designed by the firm of Bethune, Bethune & Fuchs and built between 1902 and 1911. Additions from 1916–1917 and 1924–1926 were completed by Esenwein and Johnson. The lobby was decorated in 1942 in the Art Moderne style.<ref name=nrhpdoc>{{cite report|type=none|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317633 |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: New York SP Hotel Lafayette|publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |author= Martin Wachadlo and Francis Kowsky|date= June 2010| access-date=October 21, 2025 }} ({{NationalArchivesNote}})</ref> In its prime, the Lafayette Hotel was considered one of the 15 finest hotels in the country. Besides elevators, every room featured hot and cold water and a telephone. A {{Convert|97|m|abbr=on}} antenna is attached to the building. From September 29 to December 19, 1953 it was home to the short-lived television station WBES-TV.
In the 1970s and 1980s, it was owned by Tran Dinh Truong, under whose tenure the hotel became a "quasi crack house".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Petrovic |first1=Branka |title=De architectura |journal=Montreal Review of Books |date=March 2, 2015 |url=https://mtlreviewofbooks.ca/reviews/storming-the-old-boys-citadel/ |access-date=December 2, 2024 |language=en-CA}}</ref>
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.<ref name="nris" />
===2012 renovation=== thumb|left|upright|The building before renovation, 2009 In 2012, the completion of a $35 million rehabilitation project restored the hotel to its original beauty. The hotel now contains 92 one & two bedroom apartments, 57 hotel rooms, several bars, restaurants and banquet facilities. Following Buffalo ReUse stripping the building, its renovation was conducted by Buffalo property developer Rocco Termini, along with architect Jonathan Morris and his team at Carmina Wood Morris PC.<ref name="k745">{{cite web | last=Christmann | first=Samantha | title=ReUse in the Milk-Bone district | website=The Buffalo News | date=September 15, 2015 | url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/reuse-in-the-milk-bone-district/article_54547f28-37ce-5404-9815-5dd33ecee8f3.html | access-date=May 23, 2025}}</ref><ref name="Buffalorising">[http://www.buffalorising.com/2010/11/hotel-lafayette-shines.html Hotel Lafayette Shines] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127031930/http://www.buffalorising.com/2010/11/hotel-lafayette-shines.html |date=2010-11-27}}. buffalorising.com, accessed November 24, 2010.</ref><ref name="The Buffalo News">[http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/buffalo/article177226.ece Work to start this month on Hotel Lafayette makeover]. buffalonews.com, accessed August 31, 2010.</ref>
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==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Hotel Lafayette}} *[http://thehotellafayette.com/ Official Hotel Lafayette website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427015157/http://thehotellafayette.com/ |date=2012-04-27 }} *[http://www.buffaloah.com/a/washngtn/391/index.html Buffalo as an Architectural Museum: Hotel Lafayette] *[http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=88427 Skyscraperpage building page]
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York}}
Category:Hotel buildings completed in 1902 Category:Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Category:Renaissance Revival architecture in New York (state) Category:Art Deco architecture in New York (state) Category:National Register of Historic Places in Buffalo, New York Category:Esenwein & Johnson buildings Category:1902 establishments in New York (state)