Louis L’Amour and the Strater Hotel

In August 2019, I was lucky enough to have breakfast at the Strater Hotel in Durango, Colorado. The setting was historic, the company good, and the breakfast spectacular.

We had chosen the hotel for the history, not realising we would also be visiting a literary landmark. It was here, in Room 222, that Louis L’Amour was an annual visitor. From the mid 1960s, he and his family stayed in the hotel during during the month of August. This room is directly above the hotel’s Diamond Belle Saloon, and L’Amour said the honky tonk music from this saloon inspired him. He wrote most of the Sackett series of Western novels in this room, and the writing desk which he used is still in the hotel.

Diamond Belle Saloon Interior of the one of the rooms Beautiful hotel light fitting

L’Amour later bought later near the town of Durango.

Sources:

Literary Landmark: Room 222, Strater Hotel – Louis L’Amour