New Haven Hotel

Located at 229 George Street is the New Haven Hotel. As one of the major hotels in downtown New Haven, the hotel has accommodated hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world. A century ago, the address was occupied a Catholic Church. Two decades ago, it was a medical hotel. By tracing the social history of 229 George Street, one will observe its cultural and economic significance as a hub of community, hospitality, and city development. 

Late 1700s-Mid 1800s: Owner of the Gilbert & Sons

1868-1936: St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church

1989-unknown: New Haven Medical Hotel (Medical Hotel Associates)

unknown-Current: New Haven Hotel (229 George Street LLC)

By the late-18^th century, the land was owned by the Gilbert Family who had a leather store on 105 George Street. A different family of the same name had occupied the land as residential space. [12]

In 1868, the Boniface Roman Catholic Church was built on 229 George Street [13]. By 1930, however, the church was moved to 636 State Street, and the one on 229 George Street was used as a repair garage until it was razed in 1936. There were three realty sales, and the largest warranty deed was from Barbara Fresenius to Esther Schwartz at the cost of $1500. [14]

 The space remained vacant until 1989 when the current New Haven Hotel was built.

Established next to 229 George Street sometime in the 20^th century is the United Illuminating Co. [15] The fact that 229 George Street and its adjacent buildings had been a church, a hotel (normal and medical), and an electric company suggests that the area has been a long history as a hub of public service.

The function of 229 George Street as a place of public convention is inherited to the hospitable lobby of the current New Haven Hotel. As its name implies, the New Haven Hotel is the intersection of the flow of people that come in and out of New Haven from the local I-95 highway. 229 George Street will continue to be a symbol of development and community bonding as New Haven attracts new visitors. 

The New Haven Hotel was built in 1989 as a “medical hotel” called the New Haven Medical Hotel on a budget of $7.8 million [3]. The rise in demand for this type of hotel in New Haven is tied to the rapid growth of the Yale-New Haven Hospital complex in the late 1980s [4]. Medical hotels are designed to give qualified patients a more independent recuperating environment while being close to the medical center. Qualified patients are patients who no longer have acute care needs but are not yet eligible to be discharged to home. They are also restricted to “ambulatory” patients who are capable of walking by themselves (with a wheelchair or assistance, if necessary) and not bed-dependent. The rooms of the medical hotel resembled regular hotel rooms, with two beds, carpeting, and television. A relative or friend stayed with the patient to care for the patient in place of the physician, and the environment provided more independence to the patients than a regular hospitalization setting did.

The hotel was owned and operated by the Temple Medical Center, a comprehensive outpatient medical center located across George street from the hotel [5]. Although the hotel is no longer owned by the Temple Medical Center, their connection is evident in the pedestrian bridge that connects the second floors of the two facilities [6]. Another reminiscence of the medical hotel in the New Haven Hotel is the wide elevator that was built to be able to carry on a stretcher [7].

By 2004, the New Haven Medical Hotel changed its name to the New Haven Hotel and its function to accommodate non-hospital guests. It is currently a normal hotel with more than 120 guest rooms of various types [8] and average price of $159 per night [9]. As a non-medical hotel, the New Haven Hotel experienced a shift in social function from accommodating patients to accommodating visitors from all over the world, playing an important role in New Haven’s revitalization from economic stagnancy. In striving for urban renewal, New Haven has directed its efforts towards bringing people into the city to work, to shop, and to enjoy themselves [10].  In particular, the downtown area has experienced an influx of business and recreational activities in the 2000s. Amid these endeavors, hotels served an integral social function of attracting and providing space for visitors to New Haven.

Currently, the New Haven Hotel is owned by 229 George St. LLC, whose headquarters are located in Providence. [11]

Located within the hub of the city of New Haven, the New Haven Hotel provides refuge for guests to take a rest from the downtown hustle.

The neighborhood is full of activity: small retail stores, bars, and restaurants of various ranks surround the hotel. Right to the east is the Bow Tie Criterion Cinema. A short walk up College Street brings one to the Shubert Theatre. Proximity to drug stores and convenience stores assure convenience to the guests. The hotel is also highly rated for its easy access to public transportation including the bus stop and Union Station. 

Built in 1989-1990[1], the New Haven Hotel is very modern in style. The classic brick material allows the hotel to resonate with the rest of the neighborhood, while the stone columns maintain the refinement of the hotel’s facade. The hotel is composed of seven stories: the first floor is the lobby and the second to seven floors are guestrooms. The second floor has a restaurant, and several floors have a meeting room. The hotel underwent a series of renovations throughout its 29-year history, one of the recent ones being in 2014 when it added guest rooms and a meeting room on the third floor [2].

Geometric and stylish, the exterior of the New Haven Hotel keeps ornaments minimal. The building is a cube with windows that are roughly symmetric and equal in number across the front, side, and back facades. A lack of protrusions, with the exception of the minimal coping, adds to the simple modernistic nature of the building. Fenestration pattern is constant and regular except for the highest floor, in which the window is circular and comes with a cross-shaped mullion.

Recently renovated, the refined lobby represents its nobility with low-saturated and high-contrast colors. The royal pigmentation provides a luxurious but comforting feeling for visitors. The guest rooms are standard and clean, and some rooms come with magnificent view that overlooks the neighborhood and part of Yale’s campus.

One characteristic that distinguishes the New Haven Hotel from its counterparts is an abundance of pictures on the walls of the lobby and guest rooms showing Yale architecture and landscape.

1.    Vision Government Solutions. http://gis.vgsi.com/newhavenct/Search.aspx.

2.    Certificate of Occupation, Office of Building Inspection and Enforcements, New Haven Hall of Records.

3.    Certificate of Approval, Office of Building Department, New Haven Hall of Records.

4.    City of New Haven Redevelopment Agency, City Plan Department.

5.    Certificate of Occupation, Office of Building Inspection and Enforcements, New Haven Hall of Records.

6.    New Haven City Plan Commission Design Review, Buildings Department, New Haven Hall of Records.

7.    Certificate of Substantial Completion, Building Department, New Haven Hall of Records.

8.    Guest Room Count, Building Department, New Haven Hall of Records.

9.    "New Haven Hotel." New Haven Hotel - New Haven, Connecticut. https://www.newhavenhotel.com/.

10. City of New Haven Redevelopment Agency, City Plan Department.

11. "229 George Street, LLC." OpenCorporates.https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ri/000150961.

12. DANA Collection, v.63, New Haven Museum.

13. Minifilm1-C, Reel 8 Frame 24-25, New Haven Museum.

14. DANA Collection, v.119, p59-60, New Haven Museum.

15. Sanborn Map Company of New York, Insurance Maps of New Haven Connecticut, Volume 1, 1961.