There's a Small Hotel

"There's a Small Hotel" is a 1936 popular song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart originally written for but dropped from the musical "Billy Rose's Jumbo" (1935), then used in "On Your Toes" (1936), where it was introduced by Ray Bolger and Doris Carson and again in the film version of Pal Joey (1957).

According to Lorenz Hart's biography, Lorenz Hart - A Poet on Broadway (By Frederick Nolan Published 1994 Oxford University Press, ISBN: 0195102894), [http://books.google.com/books?id=1VFwDk20BnUC&pg=PA206&lpg=PA206&dq=Lorenz+Hart+Stockton+Inn&source=web&ots=LeyEMfBEte&sig=W6FVRxonbHEyMC9sJFUQM_umvEs&hl=en] the song was inspired by a visit by Richard Rodgers to to the Stockton Inn [http://www.stocktoninn.com/] , in Stockton NJ.

Another claimant to be the inspiration is the Montecito Inn, in Santa Barbara, California. Renovations to the hotel in the 1950's replaced the wishing well, mentioned in the song, by a floral fountain. [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=zbpSfrkaa88C&pg=PT308&lpg=PT308&dq=Montecito+Inn+rodgers&source=web&ots=RoVrwKyYqO&sig=B6WczFQVRsw_BO2TRECf5Mo5J4Q&hl=en]

Notable recordings

*Ella Fitzgerald - "Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers & Hart Songbook" (1956)
*Della Reese - Della, Della, Cha-Cha-Cha (1960)

References