In the 1840s, they embraced new theories and methods of hotel management based on closer supervision and regimentation of employees and regularized contact among managers.
In the 1850s, hotel proprietors began to organize their first local trade associations, and in the 1870s they established specialized publications like Hotel World and the National Hotel Gazette that served the industry nationwide. Visitors from overseas constantly commented on the size, extent, and excellence of the nation's hotel system, revealing that as early as midcentury, the American hotel had surpassed the hostelries of Europe and become the leading international standard for public accommodation.