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was closed in 2007 to undergo a massive %u00a3220 million renovation, then reopened in 2010.During the period between World War II and the present, a variety of hotel types have emerged. These include budget hotels, business hotels, family-friendly hotels, vacation resorts, boutique hotels, ultra-luxury hotels, and even hotels that float (cruise ships), among others. Today, well into the twenty-first century, there are an estimated half-million hotels in the world, with the largest being the 7,351-room First World Hotel in Pahang, Malaysia.In Indiana, the oldest hotel still in operation is the Broadway Hotel in downtown Madison along the Ohio River. Established in 1834 by Jacob Smith, it began by serving travelers arriving by riverboat, then later by railroad. It also offered good meals to locals. Smith%u2019s menu usually included oysters, as well as fresh fish and game. In the late 1800s, Mike and Dan Finnegan took over as the Broadway%u2019s proprietors and ran it until 1939. After additional changes of ownership, it continues serving tourists, travelers, and the local citizenry. It%u2019s also occasionally visited by two ghosts%u2014a criminal shot on its premises and a wailing woman.In 1853, Hervey Bates built the Bates Hotel, one of the very first in downtown Indianapolis. Famous guests have included President-elect Abraham Lincoln who stayed on February 11, 1861 on his way to his inauguration in Washington, DC. After the aging hotel was demolished in 1901, Hervey built a new one with an upscale name, The Claypool. Three Presidents, Taft, Franklin Roosevelt, and Eisenhower have been guests there. It served Indianapolis well%u2014until June 23, 1967, when the %u201cabsolutely fireproof%u201d hotel was destroyed by a devastating conflagration that was later ruled as arson. The Embassy Suites now sits on its former site.By the turn of the 20th century, almost every Indiana city of any size had at least one hotel%u2014and some of them were resort spas. In 1933, Indianapolis had 94 hotels, with 22 major ones in the downtown area alone. Back then, their rates ranged from a dollar per night for a single room without a bath, to as high as $7 for a double with a bath. The Omni Severin is currently Indianapolis%u2019 oldest hotel that continues to be in operation. It first opened in 1913, and still boasts its original Austrian crystal chandelier and dramatic marble staircase.When I was a boy growing up in the early 1950s, even my hometown of Fowler, with a population of only about 2,000, had a small hotel, plus an even smaller tourist home where visitors could spend the night. By 1960, my family was living in the bigger community of Lafayette, which had two large hotels in the heart of downtown%u2014the Lahr and the Van Orman-Fowler%u2014plus four smaller ones. In 1901, there had been a total of 13.Luxurious dining at London%u2019s Savoy.