The Pfister Hotel is a hotel

Hotel

A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...

 in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

. It was owned by Guido Pfister and his son Charles Pfister and opened in 1893 at the cost of over 1 million dollars. Designed by architect Henry C. Koch

Henry C. Koch

Henry C. Koch was a German-American architect, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and likely best known for the design of the Milwaukee City Hall, the tallest building in the United States from its completion in 1895 to 1899....

, it had features uncommon in its time like fireproofing

Fireproofing

Fireproofing, a passive fire protection measure, refers to the act of making materials or structures more resistant to fire, or to those materials themselves, or the act of applying such materials. Applying a certification listed fireproofing system to certain structures allows these to have a...

, electricity

Electricity

Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...

, and thermostat

Thermostat

A thermostat is the component of a control system which regulates the temperature of a system so that the system's temperature is maintained near a desired setpoint temperature. The thermostat does this by switching heating or cooling devices on or off, or regulating the flow of a heat transfer...

 controls. In 1962 it was bought by a man named Ben Marcus who renovated the hotel and added a 23-story tower. The Pfister hotel has the largest Hotel collection of Victorian art

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

in the world. The Pfister Hotel has won the AAA Four Diamond award twice.