Plaza Hotel

Description

The Plaza Hotel (also known as The Plaza) is a luxury hotel and condominium apartment building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is located on the western side of Grand Army Plaza, after which it is named, just west of Fifth Avenue, and is between 58th Street and Central Park South (a.k.a. 59th Street), at the southeastern corner of Central Park. Its primary address is 768 Fifth Avenue, though the residential entrance is One Central Park South. Since 2018, the hotel has been owned by the Qatari firm Katara Hospitality.

Architecture & Design

The 18-story, French Renaissance-inspired château style building was designed by Henry Janeway Hardenbergh. The facade is made of marble at the base, with white brick covering the upper stories, and is topped by a mansard roof. The ground floor contains the two primary lobbies, as well as a corridor connecting the large ground-floor restaurant spaces, including the Oak Room, the Oak Bar, the Edwardian Room, the Palm Court, and the Terrace Room. The upper stories contain the ballroom and a variety of residential condominiums, condo-hotel suites, and short-term hotel suites. At its peak, the Plaza Hotel had over 800 rooms. Following a renovation in 2008, the building has 282 hotel rooms and 181 condos.

History & OwnershipHistory & Ownership

A hotel of the same name was built from 1883 to 1890. The original hotel was replaced by the current structure from 1905 to 1907; Warren and Wetmore designed an expansion to the Plaza Hotel that was added from 1919 to 1921, and several major renovations were conducted through the rest of the 20th century. The Plaza Operating Company, which erected the current building, operated the hotel until 1943. Subsequently, it was sold to several owners during the remainder of the 20th century, including Conrad Hilton, A.M. Sonnabend, Westin Hotels & Resorts, Donald Trump, and a partnership of City Developments Limited and Al-Waleed bin Talal. The Plaza Hotel was renovated again after El Ad Properties purchased it in 2005, and the hotel was subsequently sold to Sahara India Pariwar in 2012 and then to Katara Hospitality in 2018. The hotel has been managed by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts since 2005.

Famous Guests & Events

Most of the 20th century’s biggest names stayed at The Plaza, including Greta Garbo, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and Frank Sinatra. Others held spectacular galas, such Truman Capote and his famous “Black and White Ball.” Some went on to perform down in the hotel’s Persian Room, like Marlene Dietrich, Eartha Kitt, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, and Peggy Lee. And a few—including actress Kay Thompson and architect Frank Lloyd Wright—even lived for a time inside the building’s luxurious suites. The Plaza has also hosted a number of high-profile weddings over the years. One of the earliest ceremonies to transpire at the hotel involved Patricia Kennedy marrying British film star Peter Lawford. Held in 1954, their nuptials featured a wealth of influential people, such as Patricia’s brothers Robert Kennedy (future Attorney General), Ted Kennedy (future U.S. Senator), and John F. Kennedy (future President of the United States).

Movies

NORTH BY NORTHWEST,1959,THE WAY WE WERE,1973,THE FRONT,1976, HOME ALONE 2,1992,SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE,1993,BRIDE WARS,2009,THE GREAT GATSBY,2013,Eloise at the plaza.

Weddings

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas (2000)

30 Guests $55,000 Eloise package