On Oct. 16, 1829, the Tremont House opened in Boston, a hotel that many consider the first modern hotel in the United States, according to Boston magazine and American Heritage magazine.

The hotel stood at the corner of Tremont and Beacon streets and was designed by architect Isaiah Rogers, Boston magazine reported. It offered a list of firsts, the magazine said: free soap, locked guest rooms, bellboys, a reception area and indoor plumbing.

Before 1829, American travelers stayed at inns, where they slept in shared rooms and sometimes shared beds, American Heritage reported. The Tremont House had 170 guest rooms, all of them private, the magazine said. Instead of greeting guests in a barroom, it met them with a large lobby, a dining room and even a library.

The building also showed off new technology, American Heritage reported. Its public rooms had gaslight, and there were eight indoor toilets. Guests could call for water or a bellboy by pushing one of two buttons on an "electro-magnetic annunciator," which tripped a disk in the main office, the magazine said.

The opening night included a celebratory dinner attended by Mayor Josiah Quincy, Boston magazine reported. Guests ate roast beef, boiled cod, turkeys, pears and grapes.

Not everyone liked it. "You live in a crowd —eat in a crowd," wrote the Rev. George Lewis, an English minister, as quoted by American Heritage, which called the Tremont the world's first hotel in the modern sense.

Over the years the hotel hosted Charles Dickens, President Andrew Jackson, President John Tyler, Daniel Webster and Davy Crockett, Boston magazine reported. It closed in 1894 and was razed in 1895, the magazine said. A building at 73 Tremont St. now stands on the site.

What we know: The Tremont House opened on Oct. 16, 1829, with private, locked rooms and indoor toilets, and was torn down in 1895.
What we don't: How much a night at the Tremont House cost when it opened.