In a city once filled with stately hotels, many of them long gone, the Hotel Lenox endures as a relic of Buffalo’s more glamorous age. Opened in 1896, it holds the distinction of being the city’s longest continuously operating hotel.
According to the hotel’s own history, “The operation began as a luxury-suite hotel for men and women of wealth, social refinement, and prominence. They expected comfort and aristocratic accommodations while visiting the Pan-American Exposition.” The Lenox delivered.
Celebrities and aristocrats alike found themselves drawn to the hotel’s elegance. A young F. Scott Fitzgerald stayed here; so did Duke Ellington, Harry Belafonte, and Henry Fonda. Today, the Lenox may welcome more ordinary travelers—such as myself and my small family of three—but its old-world charm still lingers…