Rochester’s Grand Historic Hotel

The Kahler Grand Hotel, having just completed the latest historic major renovations in 2020, has a rich tradition and history in Rochester, beginning with the Mayo Brothers. Throughout the decades, The Kahler hotel has celebrated many milestones, including hosting US Presidents as well as Presidents, Princes, and Princesses of Foreign Countries.

Rochester’s Original Landmark Hotel & Hospital

In 1921, Kahler Grand Hotel started as Rochester's landmark property, known as The Kahler Hotel. This unusual building was a hybrid, one of its kind. The eleven-floor structure not only offered services of an upscale hotel but also was the beginnings of the Mayo Clinic Hospital, originally called "The Sanatorium."

Six floors of the building were used for the hotel, and five floors for hospital services, including three operating rooms and laboratories. The Kahler Hotel was designed following John H. Kahler's unique way of providing hospitality. It was 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.

As the Mayo Clinic Hospital expanded, so did the Kahler Hotel and other hotels that the Kahler Corp. owned and developed to provide places to stay for people coming for medical care. Through the efforts of the Kahler Realty Corporation, a growing hotel industry blossomed to meet the need of patients, visitors and hospital employees.

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History Snippet Rochesters Original Landmark Hotel and Hospital

Depression Era Growth

During the Depression-era, more improvements were made, despite hard economic times. Due to Minnesota's bitterly cold winters, a pedestrian, tile-lined subway system was constructed, connecting the downtown Mayo Clinic Campus of patient buildings and hospitals to surrounding hotels and retail.

Birth of the Kahler Hotel Collection

In 1953, hospital functions were phased out of The Kahler Hotel. The Kahler Corporation sold its hospital holdings, including Colonial Hospital, The Worrall, and Kahler Hall nurses' home, to the newly expanded Methodist Hospital. Using profits from these sales to expand its hotel services, The Kahler Corporation enhanced its hospitality business for patients and tourists and built several hotels aimed at different demographics.

Eventually, they developed and owned four hotels in Rochester, including The Kahler Hotel, The Kahler Inn & Suites, and The Kahler Plaza Hotel (now Rochester Marriott Mayo Clinic Area).

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A Legacy of Hospitality and Heart

With a proud legacy, The Kahler Grand Hotel is all about making every guest experience memorable. We truly serve the community with all our heart. The Kahler Grand Hotel celebrated 100 years of gracious service and authentic hospitality in 2018.

The Mayo Brother’s Vision

The Mayo Brothers wanted to build a hospital in Rochester, MN. As a small country town, Rochester could not offer enough places for patients and hospital workers to stay, creating a demand for development in the hospitality field. As a beginning effort, the brothers asked John Kahler of The Kahler Corporation (formed in 1917) to build them a hotel/hospital to be the origin of this grand, medical vision to offer care and lodging to people.

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