A hotel lobby... plated in copper?

March 8, 2023 8:53 AM

When I was very young, in the late '70s, my family visited Salt Lake City and stayed at (or went to) a hotel that I remember as having a hotel lobby made out of, or mostly plated in, copper. I vaguely remember it being somehow linked with a nearby massive copper mine (which I assume was the Bingham Canyon Mine). My Mom said that she vaguely remembered the hotel as well, but couldn't provide more information. Google has gotten me absolutely nowhere. Was this an actual place?
posted by eschatfische to Travel & Transportation around Salt Lake City, UT (3 answers total)

Best answer: What this reminds me of is the Hotel Utah. The lobby is not exactly clad in copper per se, but it is ornate and sorta copper-ish colored. Photos from the 1970s.

Also note the portico - it is clad in copper or some copper alloy, anyway. So that may be the entrance area "completely plated in copper" that you are remembering. It is at the entrance, fairly large, and definitely completely plated in copper.

Also, one of the major early investors in the hotel was Daniel C. Jackling of the Utah Copper Co. He also lived in the hotel, so there is definitely the Bingham Canyon connection. (More about Jackling.)
posted by flug at 11:10 AM on March 8, 2023 [1 favorite]

Another possibility is the Hotel Newhouse, built by mining magnate Samuel Newhouse, who was associated with the Bingham Canyon Mine. The hotel seems to have operated into the 1970s but was torn down in 1983. However, via Newspapers.com I have checked the stories about its opening in March 1915, which have extensive descriptions of the materials used in the lobby and other spaces, but no mention of copper plating. Nor is copper mentioned in stories about the opening of the Hotel Utah in 1911.
posted by beagle at 11:35 AM on March 8, 2023

It’s not in Utah, but the Copper King mansion in Butte, Montana has this (and is a b&b).
posted by shadygrove at 8:49 PM on March 8, 2023