The Henry VIII Hotel, also known as The Henry VIII Inn and Lodge, was a
hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...
of
Tudor Revival architecture
Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...
which was located near the St. Louis Lambert International Airport with an address of 4690 North Lindbergh Boulevard, Bridgeton, Missouri. The hotel remained in business until 2000 when it was removed to expand a runway area for the nearby airport. The
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
had approved the expansion in 1998 with airport runway planners calling for the demolition of the hotel as far back as 1995.
Conventions
Political election parties and conventions were also held at this location.
Archon
The
Archon
''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, mean ...
multigenre convention hosted by St. Louis Science Fiction, Ltd. was held here for about ten years. The Archon convention was held here 1984 and 1985 and from 1987 until 1992.
Many science fiction and fantasy authors and others visited this hotel during these years including the following:
*1984
L. Sprague de Camp
Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and works of non-fiction, including biog ...
Jack Gaughan
John Brian Francis "Jack" Gaughan, pronounced like 'gone' (September 24, 1930 – July 21, 1985) was an American science fiction artist and illustrator who won the Hugo Award several times. Working primarily with Donald A. Wollheim at Ace Books, ...
, and
C. J. Cherryh
Carolyn Janice Cherry (born September 1, 1942), better known by the pen name C. J. Cherryh, is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has written more than 80 books since the mid-1970s, including the Hugo Award-winning novels '' Downbelo ...
*1985
R. A. MacAvoy
Roberta Ann MacAvoy (born December 13, 1949) is an American fantasy and science fiction author. Several of her books draw on Celtic mythology, Celtic or Zen themes. She won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1984.
Biography
R. A. ...
,
Rowena Morrill
Rowena A. Morrill (September 14, 1944 – February 11, 2021), also credited as Rowena and Rowina Morril,"Rowina Morril" may be a typo, but has been used in multiple works even where the signature on the cover artwork is clearly "Rowena". The 22nd ...
, and
Suzette Haden Elgin
Suzette Haden Elgin (born Patricia Anne Suzette Wilkins; November 18, 1936 – January 27, 2015) was an American researcher in experimental linguistics, construction and evolution of languages and poetry and science fiction writer. She founded t ...
*1987
Glen Cook
Glen Charles Cook (born July 9, 1944) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction, known for ''The Black Company'' and ''Garrett P.I.'' fantasy series.
Biography
Cook was born in New York City.James P. Hogan, Keith Berdak, and Nancy Nutt
*1988
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (born September 15, 1942) is an American writer. She is known for her series of historical horror novels about the vampire Count Saint-Germain.
Biography
Yarbro was born in Berkeley, California. She attended Berkeley schoo ...
Charles L. Grant
Charles Lewis Grant (September 12, 1942 – September 15, 2006) was an American novelist and short story writer specializing in what he called " dark fantasy" and "quiet horror". He also wrote under the pseudonyms of Geoffrey Marsh, Lionel Fe ...
Julius Schwartz
Julius "Julie" Schwartz (; June 19, 1915 – February 8, 2004) was a comic book editor, and a science fiction agent and prominent fan. He was born in The Bronx, New York. He is best known as a longtime editor at DC Comics, where at various t ...
, and Bob Tucker
*1990
George R. R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...
,
Victor Milán
Victor Woodward Milán (August 3, 1954 – February 13, 2018) was an American writer known for libertarian science fiction and an interest in cybernetics.
Life and career
Milán was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In 1986 Milán won the Prometheus A ...
Melinda Snodgrass
Melinda M. Snodgrass is a science fiction writer for print and television. In February 2021 Melinda was the Screenwriting Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker at the 39th annual Life, the Universe, & Everything professional science fiction and fan ...
Brian Thomsen
Brian Michael Thomsen (April 13, 1959 – September 21, 2008) was an American science fiction editor, author, and anthologist.
Biography
Thomsen was raised in the New York City neighborhood of Rockaway Beach and attended Regis High Schoo ...
& wife Donna Thomsen, Steve & Fran Scherer, and Jim & Kim Elmore
*1992
John Varley John Varley may refer to:
* John Varley (canal engineer) (1740–1809), English canal engineer
* John Varley (painter) (1778–1842), English painter and astrologer
* John Varley (author) (born 1947), American science fiction author
* John Silvest ...
In 1990, the first Simutronics Corporation's Multiplayer Online Game Players' Convention was held at the King Henry VIII Hotel. The Simutronics Gamer Convention was held here for a few years:
*SimuCon 1990, including
Elonka Dunin
Elonka Dunin (; born December 29, 1958) is an American video game developer and cryptologist. Dunin worked at Simutronics Corp. in St. Louis, Missouri from 1990–2014, and in 2015 was Senior Producer at Black Gate Games in Nashville, Tennes ...
and
David Whatley
David Whatley (born 1966) is the president and CEO of Simutronics Corporation, a multiplayer game company in St. Charles, Missouri. He was the co-founder of the company in 1987, and has been a key developer on all of the company's products, inclu ...
*SimuCon 1999
*SimuCon 2000
Sports
The St. Louis Amateur Boxing Association previously held dinners and boxing shows at the Henry VIII Hotel and Conference Center. Professional boxer William Guthrie won two bouts here in the mid-1990s.