Hotel Nonotuck (1915)
The Hotel Nonotuck opened in Holyoke in 1915 and featured such amenities as a fine restaurant and the rooftop Indian Garden, advertized as a “Glass Enclosed Restaurant” that “Affords Comfort from Wind and Chill” and provides a “Wonderful View of the Picturesque Connecticut” with “Perfect Cuisine” and “Dancing.” The building became a Roger Smith Hotel in the 1940s and from the ate-1960s was known as the Holyoke House. Continue on to see some more pictures of this historic building:
I was born in1957 and worked at the Holyoke House beginning at the age of 18. I started in the coat room on the second floor which was the ballroom. It held 500 people and hosted such acts as the Jimmy Dorsey band as well as weddings and parties of all kinds. From there I worked on the first floor where I trained on the service bar in the lounge. George Chamberlain was my boss and he must have seen some hidden potential in me because he kept on giving me more and more responsibilities. I soon became the second head bartender and was given the choice of what parties I wanted to work. The roof garden was an exceptional place to work. All the best parties were up there and when my boss opened it up for lunches I was made head waitress. In my mid twenties and I was in charge of a whole crew. I’ve always appreciated the opportunities that man gave me. I went on to owning my own restaurant and lounge and it was all possible because of the faith that George Chamberlain had in me.
was there not a Hotel MOnet in Holyoke. My immigrant great grandparents from Germany worked there in the 1880s upon their arrival to the US> Would love to know the owners name . We believe he is the father of my grandmother who was a chambermaid and her husband the pant engineer.
Would appreciate any information
thank you
woops fraudulent slip plant engineeer
I worked at the rooftop garden, and as a banquet waitress for George Chamberlain! I became very close to my boss on the rooftop garden; and actually worked for her when she became the owner of her own restaurant and lounge. My training at the Holyoke house, prepared me and made me a consummate professional in the service industry! Some of the best years of my life.
My father, his three brothers, and their father, all worked at the hotel in its Nonotuck and Roger Smith incarnations, and — after working at the Waterbury Ct., Roger Smith in the ’60s — my dad retired back to Holyoke and even tended bar at the Holyoke House again long enough to be interviewed about it by the Transcript.