In 1922 the original owner, the Elms Realty Company, sold the hotel to Dr. A. S. McCleary, operator of a Kansas City sanitarium.

In 1932 the American Medical Association released research studies which stated that there was no scientific evidence supporting the claimed health benefits of mineral water, and that same year the hotel was declared bankrupt and was purchased by the Eppley Hotel Company chain.

After Truman predicted victory to his staffers at his headquarters at the Muehlebach Hotel in Kansas City, he then went to the Elms, avoiding the attention drawn to his home in Independence.

[4][5][6] Throughout its history, the hotel has been the site of other notable activities, including serving as a training camp for boxer Jack Dempsey, and as the summer camp for the 1948 New York Giants football team.

Sheraton sold the Elms, along with seventeen other aging properties, to Gotham Hotels in 1968 and it regained its original name.