Algonquin Hotel
Template:Short description Template:For Template:Good article Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox building
The Algonquin Hotel (officially The Algonquin Hotel Times Square, Autograph Collection) is a hotel at 59 West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. The 181-room hotel, opened in 1902, was designed by architect Goldwin Starrett for the Puritan Realty Company. The hotel has hosted numerous literary and theatrical notables throughout its history, including members of the Algonquin Round Table club during the early 20th century. Its first owner-manager, Frank Case, established many of the hotel's traditions, including an official hotel cat as well as discounts for struggling authors. The hotel is a New York City designated landmark and a member of Historic Hotels of America, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The hotel building is mostly twelve stories high, except for the extreme western end, which is three stories high. The first two stories of the facade are made of rusticated limestone blocks, while the upper stories have a Renaissance Revival brick facade, with limestone, metal, and terracotta details inspired by the Beaux-Arts style. When the hotel opened, it contained a large restaurant and a smaller cafe, which later became the Oak Room cabaret. The annex contains the Blue Bar on its ground story, while the upper stories were formerly used as a clubhouse.
Although the Algonquin was originally intended as an apartment hotel, it had few long-term tenants. Frank Case leased the hotel in 1907 and converted it into a traditional lodging establishment, attracting many theatrical and literary guests. Case bought the hotel in 1927 and continued to operate it until his death in 1946. Afterward, onetime patrons Ben and Mary Bodne bought the hotel from Case's estate and operated it for another four decades. The Algonquin then passed to the Aoki Corporation in 1987, the Camberley Hotel Company in 1997, Miller Global Properties in 2002, and HEI Hospitality in 2005, undergoing a renovation every time it was sold. The Algonquin became part of the Marriott International chain's Autograph Collection brand in 2010, and it was sold to MassMutual subsidiary Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors in 2011.
Site
The Algonquin Hotel is on 59 West 44th Street, on the north sidewalk between Sixth Avenue and Fifth Avenue, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City.<ref name="aia5">Template:Cite aia5</ref><ref name="ZoLa">Template:Cite web</ref> The rectangular land lot covers Template:Cvt, with a frontage of Template:Cvt on 44th Street and a depth of Template:Cvt.<ref name="ZoLa" /> On the same block, the Iroquois New York, the Sofitel New York Hotel, the New York Yacht Club Building, and the Harvard Club of New York City building are to the east.<ref name="ZoLa" /><ref name="NYCL p. 6">Template:Harvnb</ref> Other nearby buildings include the Belasco Theatre to the west; Americas Tower to the northwest; 1166 Avenue of the Americas to the north; the New York City Bar Association Building and the Royalton Hotel to the south; and the Penn Club of New York building at 30 West 44th Street, the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen building, and the Hotel Mansfield to the southeast.<ref name="ZoLa" />
The adjacent block of 44th Street is known as Club Row and contains several clubhouses.<ref name="nyt-2001-01-07">Template:Cite news</ref> When the hotel was developed in 1902, the area was filled with clubhouses, including those of the Harvard Club, Yale Club, New York Yacht Club, New York City Bar Association, and Century Association.<ref name="n111801850">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n111805625">Template:Cite news</ref> Prior to the development of the Algonquin Hotel, the neighborhood contained a slaughterhouse, stables for stagecoach horses, and a train yard for the elevated Sixth Avenue Line. One of the stables became the Algonquin's three-story annex in 1904.<ref name="NYCL p. 2">Template:Harvnb</ref> There had been many stagecoach stables on 43rd and 44th Streets between Fifth and Sixth Avenues,<ref name=nyt-2001-04-01/> but only a few of these buildings remained at the end of the 20th century.<ref name="NYCL p. 2"/><ref name=nyt-2001-04-01>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn By the 2010s, the hotel's annex was the only former stable on the block.<ref name="FM p. 120">Template:Harvnb</ref> The Algonquin is also one of six hotels on 44th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, the largest concentration of hotels on a single block in New York City during the early 21st century.<ref name=p219158681>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Architecture
The Algonquin Hotel was designed in 1902 by architect Goldwin Starrett of the Thompson–Starrett Company.<ref name="aia5" /><ref name="NYCL p. 2" /> Albert Foster, who headed the Puritan Realty Company, developed the hotel.<ref name="NYCL p. 2" /> The building is mostly twelve stories tall, except for the extreme western end, which was converted from a three-story stable. The 12-story section is shaped like an "H", with light courts facing west and east.<ref name="NYCL p. 6" /> In total, the hotel measures Template:Convert tall from ground level to the roofline.<ref name="FM p. 103">Template:Harvnb</ref>
Facade
The hotel building has a symmetrical facade. The first two stories of the facade are made of rusticated limestone blocks.<ref name="NYCL p. 6" /> The upper stories are largely clad with brick and are designed in the Renaissance Revival style, with limestone, metal, and terracotta details in a Beaux-Arts-inspired style.<ref name="NYCL p. 6" /><ref name="FM p. 116">Template:Harvnb</ref> There are band courses on the facade above the second and tenth stories.<ref name="NYCL p. 6" /> The twelfth story was originally crowned by a cornice, which has since been removed.<ref name="FM p. 116" />
The first story of the hotel's 12-story section is five bays wide and contains a limestone water table. The entrance is recessed within the center bay, and a marquee projects above the sidewalk in front of the main entrance.<ref name="NYCL p. 6" /> This marquee contains details such as old English lettering, wrought-iron scrolls, and a scalloped awning.<ref name="nyt-1965-07-23">Template:Cite news</ref> There are two segmental arches on either side of the main entrance, all of which have canopies above them. There are glazed wooden doors in the westernmost bay, as well as metal service doors in the easternmost bay. The second-westernmost and second-easternmost bays contain tripartite windows.<ref name="NYCL p. 6" /> The second story is seven bays wide. The three center bays on the second floor have two-over-two sash windows, separated by motifs of tassels and shells.<ref name="NYCL p. 6" /> There is a small balustrade in front of the three center bays, with a flagpole extending diagonally above the street.<ref name="NYCL pp. 6–7">Template:Harvnb</ref> The four outer bays have rectangular windows, separated by large brackets that support the band course above the second floor, and topped by keystones flanked by festoons.<ref name="NYCL p. 6" />
The third through eleventh stories are seven bays wide and are made of brick with limestone quoins. The four outermost bays on each story contain projecting bay windows with angular window frames, each consisting of a wide glass pane flanked by angled narrow sidelights.<ref name="NYCL pp. 6–7" /> The angled windows were intended to increase each unit's exposure to natural light.<ref name="n111805625" /> There are panels, urns, and floral motifs in the angled sidelights; some of the panels have been replaced with air conditioning grilles.<ref name="NYCL pp. 6–7" /> The band course above the tenth story protrudes from the facade; the underside of the band course contains dentils and scrolled console brackets. On the eleventh and twelfth stories, there are panels with roundels between each of the three middle windows; a similar panel is placed above the twelfth-story windows. At the twelfth story, the four outermost windows are flat rather than angled, as on the second story.<ref name="NYCL p. 7">Template:Harvnb</ref>
The western annex was originally a two-story stable but was expanded to a three-story brick structure in 1905.<ref name="NYCL p. 7" /><ref name="FM p. 120" /> The first story contains a wooden storefront with metal decorations. There is a double door at the center of the storefront, with a canopy in front of the door.<ref name="NYCL p. 7" /> This entrance leads to the Blue Bar.<ref name="nyt-2012-11-15">Template:Cite news</ref> The entrance is flanked by display windows, which in turn are topped by transom panels with metal grilles. On either side of the storefront are pilasters decorated with Native Americans' heads.<ref name="NYCL p. 7" /> The second story contains a projecting window with multiple panes, as well as angled sidelights. The third story is divided into three sections, above which is a cornice supported by brackets and decorated with lions.<ref name="NYCL p. 7" />
Features
When the hotel opened in 1902, its public rooms were originally furnished in English oak with marble floors.<ref name="n111805625" /> The hotel originally contained a large restaurant known as the Pergola at ground level,<ref name="nyt-1913-12-28">Template:Cite news</ref> as well as a smaller cafe.<ref name="n111805625" /><ref name="p128381180">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The Pergola restaurant occupied the west and north sections of the ground floor, with a kitchen on the same level.<ref name="n111805625" /> The Pergola contained a mural with outdoor scenes on one wall, as well as wood-paneled columns, which supported a latticework arch with flowers and acorn-shaped light fixtures. Although the Pergola could only fit three rows of tables, mirrors on the remaining walls gave the impression that the restaurant was larger than it actually was.<ref name="p128381180" /> The cafe's ceiling and walls contained terracotta and woodwork, and the lights were suspended from plaster holders on the ceiling.<ref name="p128381180" />
There are multi-room suites and single rooms on the third through eleventh floors.<ref name="NYCL p. 6" /> The core of the H-shaped hotel contains two elevators.<ref name="n111801850" /><ref name="nyt-1989-05-043">Template:Cite news</ref> Above the second floor, the elevators open into a public hallway that connected all of the rooms on that floor. The core also contains a dumbwaiter leading from the hotel's kitchen; a set of stairs; and service rooms.<ref name="n111801850" /> The roof contained a patio and a roof garden, which were constructed before air conditioning became popular.<ref name="FM p. 124">Template:Harvnb</ref> There was also a Template:Convert water tower above the roof.<ref name="nyt-1903-04-21">Template:Cite news</ref> The modern-day hotel contains 181 guest rooms and suites,<ref name="FM pp. 119–120">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Everett 2021">Template:Cite web</ref> as well as five meeting/conference rooms.<ref name="Johnson 2008">Template:Cite web</ref>
The annex became part of the hotel in 1904.<ref name="FM p. 120" /> The Pergola occupied the first floor, and the Rocky Mountain Club opened its clubhouse within the annex's second and third stories in 1913.<ref name="FM p. 120" /><ref name="nyt-1913-12-28" /> The clubhouse had its own entrance on 44th Street, which ascended directly to the second story. The second floor contained a lounge, a reading room, and a cafe that connected with the hotel, while the third floor included the club's parlor, pool, and billiards rooms.<ref name="nyt-1913-12-28" /> The Rocky Mountain Club house was used by the Beethoven Association from 1922 to 1934.<ref name="nyt-1934-05-20">Template:Cite news</ref> The third floor was then used as a ballroom for much of the 20th century, while the second floor became storage space. In 2012, the annex's second floor was renovated, becoming the John Barrymore Suite.<ref name="FM pp. 120–121">Template:Harvnb</ref> The annex's first floor has contained the Blue Bar since 1997.<ref name="FM p. 122">Template:Harvnb</ref>
Ground level
Lobby
Originally, the front (south) portion of the ground floor contained a lounge with palms and flowers.<ref name="n111805625" /> When the hotel opened, the lobby included a barbershop, bar, and newsstand. The barbershop was closed during World War I, and the bar and newsstand were both removed in the 1990s.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> The lobby also contains wood paneling and a grandfather clock, which were both part of the original design.<ref name="p546422633" /><ref name="p260545595">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="FM p. 118">Template:Harvnb</ref> There was a glazed partition between the waiting area and reception desk.<ref name="n111735112">Template:Cite news</ref> To the east of the lounge was a men's smoking room and club.<ref name="n111805625" /> These features were removed during several subsequent renovations of the hotel.<ref name="FM p. 116" />
The modern-day lobby includes modern furniture designed in an early 20th-century style, as well as original furniture from the same time period. The walls and columns are stained to resemble chocolate-ebony wood.<ref name="p234919504">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The space also contains black-and-white tiled floors, which were installed in 1998 in a vintage style;<ref name="FM p. 118" /> the floors are covered by imported British rugs.<ref name="p234919504" /><ref name="Hospitality Design 2022">Template:Cite web</ref> The lobby contains an oil painting of several Algonquin Round Table regulars,<ref name="nyt-1998-05-28">Template:Cite news</ref> designed by Natalie Ascencios on the site of a former bar.<ref name="FM p. 119" /> Next to the painting is an imitation round table, for which guests can make reservations.<ref name="nyt-1998-05-28" /><ref name="p240360593">Template:Cite news</ref> There is a blue-and-red marble desk with a shelter for the hotel's cat (see Template:Section link) and, near the eastern window, a shelf with a small staircase for the cat.<ref name="Hospitality Design 2022" /><ref name="Nast 2022">Template:Cite web</ref> Above the reception desk is an artwork composed of salvaged guest books, which was added in 2022.<ref name="Nast 2022" /><ref name="Hospitality Net 2022">Template:Cite web</ref> There is also a seating area across from the reception desk, where guests can pet and play with the hotel's cat.<ref name="Hospitality Net 2022" />
The Rose Room and Round Table
The Rose Room, along with the smaller Oak Room, was part of the hotel's restaurant. During the 1920s, prominent intellectuals gathered daily for lunch in the Rose Room, and became known as the Algonquin Round Table.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The space contained red wallpaper, a red ceiling, and chandeliers with orange velvet tubes.<ref name="p894053750" /> The Rose Room was demolished when the lobby was expanded in 1998.<ref name="nyt-1998-05-28" /><ref name="p433297615">Template:Cite news</ref> The Round Table Restaurant was relocated into the Rose Room's former space.<ref name="FM p. 118" /><ref name="n123560235">Template:Cite news</ref>
Oak Room
The Oak Room occupied the ground floor of the annex and was originally the Pergola's rear section.<ref name="FM p. 123">Template:Harvnb</ref> The Oak Room Supper Club opened within part of the Pergola in 1939,<ref name="p1032209319">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="p1627592346">Template:Cite magazine</ref> with European chanteuse Greta Keller as the room's first star.<ref name="wsj-2012-02-03">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Playbill 2012">Template:Cite web</ref> The club closed during World War II.<ref name="wsj-2012-02-03" /> The Oak Room reopened as a regular venue in either 1980<ref name="wsj-2012-02-03" /><ref name="p2598187728">Template:Cite magazine</ref> or 1981<ref name="FM p. 123" /> under the management of cabaret operator Donald Smith.<ref name="nyt-2012-02-04">Template:Cite news</ref> Its first regular and star was singer-pianist Steve Ross.<ref name="Playbill 2012" /> Other performers who have appeared at the Oak Room include Julie Wilson,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Mary Cleere Haran,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Karen Akers,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> KT Sullivan,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Barbara Carroll,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Sandy Stewart and Bill Charlap,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Diana Krall,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Jessica Molaskey,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Jamie Cullum,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and John Pizzarelli.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Andrea Marcovicci performed there for over 25 years,<ref name="Lunden 2012">Template:Cite web</ref> sometimes with her mother Helen Stuart Marcovicci.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Harry Connick Jr. and Michael Feinstein performed at the Oak Room early in their careers.<ref name="Playbill 2012" /> The singer Sylvia Syms collapsed and died on stage there during a performance in 1992.<ref name="nyt-2012-02-04" /><ref name="wsj-2012-02-03" />
The Oak Room spanned Template:Convert.<ref name="nyt-2002-11-19">Template:Cite news</ref> New York Times critic Raymond Sokolov described the Oak Room as intimate and more masculine than the Rose Room.<ref name="p894053750">Template:Cite news</ref> The space had theatrical equipment and lighting, as well as a grand piano.<ref name="FM p. 123" /> The Oak Room was not a large source of income,<ref name="Lunden 2012" /> despite charging at least $100 per person (more if one had dinner, except for matinees).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune wrote in 1993 that the room's decorations, size, furnishings, and waiters' services evoked "an era when visitors sat back, sipped a drink, listened to music and savored life in an unhurried way".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The Oak Room permanently closed as a cabaret nightclub in 2012, and a portion of the room was converted into a private breakfast room for Marriott Reward Elite customers.<ref name="wsj-2012-02-03" /> Template:As of, the Oak Room is a Template:Convert conference room with space for 105 guests in a theater-style arrangement.<ref name="Hospitality Net 2022" /> The Oak Room also contains a movable partition, which can split the space into two rooms, each with a capacity of 40.<ref name="Hospitality Design 2022" /><ref name="Hospitality Net 2022" /> The room retains its original woodwork,<ref name="Hospitality Net 2022" /> and its ceiling contains curving metal light fixtures.<ref name="Hospitality Design 2022" />
Blue Bar
.jpg){kind=link}
The hotel's Blue Bar has operated since 1933, following the end of Prohibition in the United States.<ref name="Thrillist 2017">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="FM p. 121">Template:Harvnb</ref> Originally, the Blue Bar was placed in a niche behind the reception counter.<ref name="FM p. 122" /> The niche was closed and converted to storage space by the 1980s.<ref name="FM p. 122" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Blue Bar relocated to the annex in 1997,<ref name="FM p. 122" /><ref name="nyt-1998-05-28" /> with its own entrance from the street.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2000: "The Blue Bar is frequented by widows and well-traveled gentlemen with a predilection for theater."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2012, the Blue Bar was renovated and expanded into part of the space formerly occupied by the Oak Room.<ref name="nyt-2012-11-15" /><ref name="FM p. 122" /> The expanded Blue Bar contained blue lighting and blue-toned backlit bookshelves, with black-and-white floors that resembled those in the main reception area.<ref name="nyt-2012-11-15" /><ref name="FM p. 122" /> The Blue Bar was relocated to the main lobby in 2022. The modern bar contains design elements similar to those added in the 2012 renovation, but the rear of the bar can be cordoned off for private parties.<ref name="Hospitality Design 2022" /><ref name="Hospitality Net 2022" />
Rooms and suites
The rooms and suites were originally arranged in square groups, each with its own hallway connecting to the elevators and stairs at the core.<ref name="n111801850" /><ref name="TL p. 110">Template:Harvnb</ref> The largest suites available in the hotel contained a private hallway, a sitting room, a library or dining room, three bedrooms, and three bathrooms. Each unit originally contained mahogany woodwork and waxed-oak floors.<ref name="n111801850" /><ref name="n111805625" /><ref name="TL p. 110" /> Sliding doors separated the parlors and bedrooms in each suite; the master bedrooms were illuminated by the bay windows on the facade. Unusually for hotels of the time, each bedroom had its own bathroom, with a shower, hot and cold water, and electric lights.<ref name="n111805625" /> Except for bookshelves and fireplace mantels, the units were otherwise unfurnished.<ref name="n111801850" /><ref name="TL p. 110" /> By the 2000s, the rooms had black-and-white wallpaper with framed cartoons from The New Yorker magazine.<ref name="n111949902">Template:Cite news</ref> The hallways also contain cartoons taken from The New Yorker.<ref name="nyt-1998-05-28" /><ref name="p434802090">Template:Cite news</ref>
The modern-day hotel contains 156 rooms and 25 suites.<ref name="FM pp. 119–120" /><ref name="Everett 2021" /> Each suite has a name, and many suites are named after members of the Algonquin Round Table. For example, suite 506 is named for Robert Benchley, suite 610 for Harold Ross, suite 1106 for Dorothy Parker, and suite 1112 for Franklin Pierce "F.P.A." Adams.<ref name="FM p. 116" /> Suite 306, named for Edna Ferber, hosted annual meetings of the New York Drama Critics' Circle.<ref name="FM p. 120" /> Suite 1010 (now the Noël Coward Suite) was the owner's apartment for nearly one hundred years. The hotel's first owner-manager Frank Case lived there from 1902 until his death in 1946; the subsequent owners, Ben and Mary Bodne, lived there from 1947 until their respective deaths in 1992 and 2000.<ref name="FM p. 116" /> The largest suite in the hotel is suite 209 on the annex's second floor, which is named after John Barrymore and covers nearly Template:Convert.<ref name="FM p. 124" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
Development and opening
Construction
The Algonquin was the third hotel to be built on the surrounding city block, after the Iroquois and Royalton, which had opened in 1900.<ref name="FM p. 103" /> In November 1901, the Puritan Realty Company bought a Template:Convert site at 59–63 West 44th Street from the Century Realty Company for $180,000.<ref name="FM p. 103" /><ref name="nyt-1901-11-26" /><ref name="p571086026" /> The Puritan Realty Company immediately announced plans to erect an apartment hotel on the site.<ref name="nyt-1901-11-26">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p571086026">Template:Cite news</ref> The hotel would be similar in design to the then-newly completed Touraine, at 9–11 East 39th Street,<ref name="nyt-1901-11-26" /> and it would rent rooms and suites on year-long leases.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>
The owners hired 28-year-old Goldwin Starrett to design the hotel,<ref name="FM p. 103" /> his first project in Manhattan.<ref name="FM p. 106">Template:Harvnb</ref> Starrett's firm, the Thompson–Starrett Company, was to build the hotel for $500,000<ref name="nyt-1901-11-26" /><ref name="p571086026" /> or $600,000.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The Puritan Realty Company acquired a $250,000 loan from the Century Realty Company at the end of 1901.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Albert T. Foster and Ann Stetson Foster obtained a majority ownership stake in the Puritan Realty Company in February 1902.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At the end of the month, the company submitted plans to the New York City Department of Buildings for an unnamed 12-story hotel, to be built on the north side of 44th Street east of Sixth Avenue.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Thompson–Starrett Company completed the hotel within a seven-month period, between April and November 1902.<ref name="FM p. 106" />
Originally, the hotel was to have been known as the Puritan; there are conflicting explanations for how it received the Algonquin name.<ref name="Case pp. 26-27">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Hermann 1982">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="FM p. 105">Template:Harvnb</ref> The Fosters hired Frank Case as a clerk in late 1902, a few weeks before the hotel opened.<ref name="p1322411155">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="NYCL p. 3">Template:Harvnb</ref> According to one account, Case believed the "Puritan" name was too pompous and evocative of European influences.<ref name="TL p. 110" /><ref name="NYCL p. 3" /> Case reportedly advocated for an American name,<ref name="TL p. 110" /> and he persuaded the Fosters to rename the hotel after discovering that Algonquian Native Americans had been the first residents of the area.<ref name="NYCL p. 3" /> Another possible derivation is that Ann Foster named the hotel the Algonquin to complement the nearby Iroquois, which was also named after a Native American tribe.<ref name="FM p. 105" /> The historian John Tauranac, which attributed the "Algonquin" name to Case, claimed that the Algonquin had been named before the Iroquois was.<ref name="TL p. 110" /> Either way, the Algonquin had been planned with a gentlemen's billiards room, but, under Case's supervision, that room was converted to a kitchen.<ref name="FM p. 111">Template:Harvnb</ref>
Early years
The hotel opened on November 22, 1902,<ref name="n111801850" /><ref name="FM p. 105" /> and was originally intended as a long-term hotel.<ref name="Case pp. 26-27" /><ref name="Hermann 1982" /> At the time of the hotel's opening, 75 percent of the units were occupied.<ref name="TL pp. 109–110">Template:Harvnb</ref> The Algonquin had amenities that were considered modern for its time, such as trained servants,<ref name="TL p. 107">Template:Harvnb</ref> in-suite telephones, heating, and plumbing.<ref name="n111801850" /><ref name="nyt-1989-05-043" /> Guests could use the phones in their rooms to contact the hotel's concierge or to order food from the restaurant à la carte.<ref name="TL p. 110" /> They could also pay $7 a week (Template:Inflation) to hire their own servants, or $12 a week (Template:Inflation) to have food delivered to their rooms.<ref name="n111801850" /><ref name="n111805625" /> Annual rent ranged from $420 (Template:Inflation) for a single room to $2,520 (Template:Inflation) for a three-bedroom suite.<ref name="n111801850" /><ref name="n111805625" /><ref name="TL pp. 109–110" /> Guests could also use the rooms and suites for a short term, paying a nightly rate that ranged between $2 for a single room and $10 for a three-bedroom suite.<ref name="FM p. 105" /> For an extra daily fee of $1, guests were allowed to hire their own servants.<ref name="TL p. 107" />
The Puritan Realty Company agreed in February 1903 to sell the Algonquin Hotel to two doctors, Andrew H. Smith and his son Davison W. Smith, for about $800,000;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the Smiths took title that November.<ref name="FM p. 105" /><ref name="nyt-1903-02-13">Template:Cite news</ref> In partial exchange for the hotel, the Smiths sold a building at the corner of Madison Avenue and 42nd Street.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Albert Foster continued to hold a lease on the Algonquin Hotel, paying $45,000 a year in rent.<ref name="nyt-1903-02-13" /> When the Algonquin opened, it was near six clubhouses,<ref name="n111801850" /><ref name="n111805625" /> as well as the upscale Delmonico's and Sherry's restaurants.<ref name="NYCL p. 2" /><ref name="n111805625" /> By early 1903, the Algonquin and other buildings on the block suffered from water shortages because of the large number of businesses in the area.<ref name="nyt-1903-04-21" />
Meanwhile, the Fosters had become estranged. Ann Foster sued Albert in June 1904 to acquire the Algonquin's lease, claiming she was the true leaseholder and that she had spent $50,000 to furnish the hotel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A New York state judge subsequently appointed Albert as the hotel's receiver.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ultimately, Case took over the day-to-day operations, Albert was assigned the lease and all objects in the hotel, and Ann acquired the building itself (notwithstanding the fact that it had already been sold to the Smiths).<ref name="FM p. 105" /> The Algonquin did not attract many long-term tenants in its early years. According to Case, the hotel catered to "many well-known families from Newport, Bar Harbor and Narragansett", who stayed there twice a year for short periods.<ref name="NYCL p. 7" /><ref name="Case25">Template:Harvnb</ref> The hotel bought a two-story stable at 65 West 44th Street in 1904 and built another floor above the stable the next year.<ref name="FM p. 120" />
Case operation
By the late 1900s and early 1910s, the surrounding neighborhood was rapidly developing into an entertainment district.<ref name="NYCL pp. 2–3">Template:Harvnb</ref> The New York Hippodrome opened directly across 44th Street in 1905, which Case described as "an important event for us".<ref name="NYCL p. 2" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Manhattan's theater district also shifted to Times Square during the first decade of the 20th century; several Broadway theaters, including the Belasco, Broadhurst, Forty-fourth Street, and Winthrop Ames (now Hayes), were developed on 44th Street in the 1900s and 1910s.<ref name="NYCL p. 2" /> Case took over the hotel's lease in 1907<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> and decided to operate the Algonquin as a short-term hotel.<ref name="Case25" /><ref name="NYCL pp. 2–3" /> He lived there with his wife Caroline and their children Margaret and Carroll. Shortly after Carroll was born in 1908, Caroline died, and the hotel's staff helped Frank raise his children at the hotel.<ref name="FM p. 111" />
Literary heyday
The Algonquin soon became a "theatrical and literary mecca", according to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC),<ref name="NYCL p. 3" /> and it was also the first major hotel in New York City to accept unaccompanied female guests.<ref name="NYT20051002 web">Template:Cite web</ref> Under Case's management, the Algonquin gained a reputation for hospitality toward struggling authors, actors, and producers, which contributed to the hotel's popularity among theatrical and literary figures. For instance, Case paid playwright Eugene Walter's railroad fare when the latter was a guest at the hotel, and Case allowed guests to defer payment of their bills.<ref name="p11135407873">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Toronto Star wrote: "Through the years, the hotel has played an important role in keeping various (literally) starving artists and actors alive until their next job, their future book or Broadway hit."<ref name="p282607709">Template:Cite news</ref>
The hotel's restaurant caught fire in February 1909.<ref name="FM p. 105" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After Andrew Smith died in 1910,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the hotel's ownership was split equally between his daughter Juliet E. Smith and his wife Jane Wells.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The annex caught fire the same November, destroying Frederic Thompson's residence on the top story.<ref name="FM p. 120" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Rocky Mountain Club leased the Algonquin's three-story annex in May 1913,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Frederick J. Sterner remodeled the annex into a clubhouse,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which opened that December.<ref name="nyt-1913-12-28" /> Case had a negative perception of speakeasy operators,<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> and he closed the hotel's bar in 1917,<ref name="NYCL p. 3" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> saying he did not want to fund his children's college tuition with "saloon money".<ref name="FM p. 121" /><ref name="p11135407873" /> Within two years of its closure, a soft-drink bar had been added.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Following World War I, the hotel became a meeting place of the Algonquin Round Table, a group of actors, critics, wits, and writers, between 1919 and 1929.<ref name="p269739634">Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, the Beethoven Association moved into the hotel's annex in 1922, staying there for twelve years.<ref name="nyt-1934-05-20" /> By the early 1920s, the Algonquin had become popular as a short-term residence for "Hollywood stars and Broadway producers".<ref name="p561731364">Template:Cite news</ref> The Algonquin's success prompted Case to consider opening a similar hotel in Hollywood in the early 1920s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Case ownership
Case bought the property in 1927, paying Andrew Smith's family $1 million.<ref name="p11135407873" /><ref name="nyt-1927-05-09">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> By then, the hotel contained 250 rooms.<ref name="p11135407873" /><ref name="nyt-1927-05-09" /> The hotel's Blue Bar opened in 1933, sixteen years after the original bar had closed.<ref name="FM p. 121" /><ref name="Thrillist 2017" /> The Algonquin retained its popularity in the literary and theatrical industries; Case wrote in 1938 that it was not uncommon to see "five or six or seven well-known writers" at the Algonquin simultaneously.<ref name="p511969349">Template:Cite news</ref> After the New York Drama Critics' Circle was founded at the Algonquin in 1935, it started hosting annual dinners at the hotel,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> wherein the group voted on the best play of the year.<ref name="p561731364" /> The hotel's staff joined a labor union affiliated with the American Federation of Labor in 1939, and they went on strike. Case negotiated a contract with the labor union that April,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the Algonquin's staff have remained unionized since then.<ref name="FM p. 111" /> In addition, the Algonquin Supper Club, the hotel's first-ever nightclub, opened in November 1939.<ref name="p1032209319" /><ref name="p1627592346" />
Case remained the owner and manager of the hotel until his death in June 1946.<ref name="p1322411155" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Chemical Bank, the trustee of Case's estate, placed the Algonquin for sale that August. At the time, the hotel had 192 units (143 of which were suites), as well as a bar and three restaurants.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Bodne ownership
In September 1946, Chemical Bank sold the hotel for $1 million<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> to Ben Bodne of Charleston, South Carolina, who acquired the title to the property the next month.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Bodne and his wife Mary had stayed there during their honeymoon in 1924,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Ben had promised Mary that he would one day buy the hotel.<ref name="p282607709" /><ref name="p561731364" /> The hotel's plumbing had not been updated in two decades, and the basement had sustained water damage following the demolition of the Hippodrome several years prior.<ref name="p11135407872">Template:Cite news</ref> Bodne owned the hotel for the next four decades,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> occupying the suite in which Case and his family had once lived.<ref name="p546422633">Template:Cite news</ref> Ben and Mary Bodne had two daughters, both of whom were married; their respective husbands both eventually became managers of the hotel.<ref name="FM p. 112">Template:Harvnb</ref> Ben and Mary's sons-in-law Sidney Colby and Andrew Anspach initially were hired as the hotel's vice presidents.<ref name="p115948178">Template:Cite news</ref> Colby became the hotel's manager in 1951,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Anspach had taken over as managing director by the 1970s.<ref name="nyt-1979-03-23" />
Initial modifications
Bodne announced plans in 1947 to renovate the hotel for $100,000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p1627514561">Template:Cite magazine</ref> John Martin, the hotel's general manager of nine years, helped Bodne with the improvements, which included refurbishing all the rooms and adding a refrigeration plant.<ref name="p1627514561" /> The renovations also included new air-conditioners and televisions in each room.<ref name="p561731364" /> Bodne replaced 300 chairs, beds, and tables with new furnishings in the same style, and he also repainted the walls to their original colors.<ref name="FM p. 109">Template:Harvnb</ref>
Under Bodne's ownership, the Algonquin became the first hotel in New York City to replace its hotel keys with electronic key cards.<ref name="p282607709" /><ref name="p607932398">Template:Cite news</ref> The hotel was among the first in New York City to give walkie-talkies to its staff and install smoke detectors in its rooms.<ref name="p282607709" /><ref name="p11135407872" /> After Bodne's purchase, the hotel continued to host literary and theatrical meetings, including those of the Drama Critics' Circle; the Outer Circle, composed of theatrical critics who did not live in the New York metropolitan area; and the PEN Club, composed of fiction writers.<ref name="p561731364" /> Colby said in 1952 that the Algonquin "often seems like a small, non-political United Nations" because guests came from around the world.<ref name="p561731364" />
Bodne conducted additional renovations through the 1950s and 1960s, ordering new furniture and draperies in the same style as the hotel's original furnishings. The hotel's rooms were redecorated in an 18th-century English style, with bedspreads and lamps from department stores.<ref name="p11135407872" /><ref name="p115948178" /> Bodne also installed refrigerators and TV sets concealed within walnut bureaus; the TVs and refrigerators could be removed as needed.<ref name="p11135407872" /><ref name="p169673914">Template:Cite news</ref> The hotel received modern wiring, plumbing, and heating systems;<ref name="p11135407872" /><ref name="p115948178" /> the new heating system reduced the hotel's heating costs by 25 percent.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Around 1963, stage designer Oliver Smith redecorated the hotel's Rose Room with white, gilded, and rose draperies,<ref name="p115948178" /> designing the room in a manner similar to a stage set.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Most guests were unaware of the renovation work, as it was largely conducted at night.<ref name="p11135407872" /><ref name="p115948178" />
Changing clientele
By the early 1960s, major literary and theatrical figures were beginning to favor more upscale hostelries, and "the poorer actor could not afford Algonquin prices".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Even so, the bar and restaurants were often full.<ref name="p115948178" /> The Algonquin still had a relatively small capacity compared to newer hotels, and it had only two elevators, one of which was used for freight during off-peak periods.<ref name="p11135407872" /> Unlike other hotels with automatic elevators, the Algonquin still employed elevator operators; when the hotel's elevators were replaced in 1965, the new elevator cabs were deliberately designed without space for automatic buttons.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, it did not offer gaudy entertainment or host private parties; the only visible symbol of luxury was the dining room's crystal chandelier, which the hotel had bought in the 1930s for $25.<ref name="p11135407872" /> The Algonquin's staff knew many of the guests by name,<ref name="p11135407872" /><ref name="p115948178" /> and its valet was friends with many of the hotel's theatrical guests.<ref name="p11135407872" /> Following an extensive marketing campaign in Europe in the mid-1960s, the Algonquin became popular among European travelers. To cater to these new guests, Smith designed a new marquee above the entrance, which was installed in 1965.<ref name="nyt-1965-07-23" /> The New Yorker magazine, which had been established at the hotel, hosted a party for the Algonquin's 75th anniversary in 1977.<ref name="p511969349" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="FM p. 113">Template:Harvnb</ref>
By the late 1970s, the Algonquin employed close to 200 staff members, about one for each unit on average.<ref name="p169673914" /><ref name="p511969349" /> The hotel remained popular, despite not offering any weekend discounts, as newer hotels did.<ref name="p169673914" /><ref name="nyt-1979-03-23">Template:Cite news</ref> The Algonquin also ran few formal advertisements, instead obtaining most of its business through word-of-mouth marketing. Nightly room rates were relatively cheap, ranging from $43 to $80, so the hotel had many repeat guests. Staff recorded each guest's needs and preferences on index cards.<ref name="p169673914" /> Many of the hotel's staff were employed there for several years, long enough to memorize guests' preferences.<ref name="p546422633" /> The "Algonquinites list" comprised nearly 5,000 names.<ref name="p158426226">Template:Cite news</ref>
The hotel's Oak Room reopened as a cabaret venue at the end of 1980.<ref name="p2598187728" /> The units were refurbished again in the mid-1980s. The Algonquin's room rates continued to be cheaper than those at the city's other hotels.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Even so, Ward Morehouse III wrote in 1981 that the Algonquin "just never seems to worry about the so-called 'bottom line', or profit picture, despite the fact it is one of the most reasonably priced first-class hotels in the city."<ref name="p1038966491">Template:Cite news</ref>
Aoki ownership
.jpg){kind=link}
Bodne sold the hotel to Caesar Park Hotels, a subsidiary of Japanese company Aoki Corporation, for $29 million in June 1987.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n111729625">Template:Cite news</ref> The sale came four months after Bodne had publicly denied a rumor that he was considering selling the hotel;<ref name="n111729625" /> he had said that he would relinquish the Algonquin "the day it needed self-service elevators".<ref name="nyt-2000-03-02">Template:Cite news</ref> Aoki's purchase marked the first time that a company or a foreign entity had owned the hotel,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and it was part of a trend of foreign investment in New York City buildings in the late 1980s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ben Bodne continued to live at the Algonquin until he died in 1992, after which Mary Bodne remained there until her own death in 2000.<ref name="FM p. 113" /><ref name="nyt-2000-03-02" /> Aoki promised to preserve the hotel's traditions, including maintaining the Oak Room and Rose Room as dining spaces.<ref name="p607932398" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The hotel's elevators were in dire need of upgrades; decades earlier, writer James Thurber had joked that the hotel's literary guests "became writers while waiting for the elevators".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1989, Aoki began renovating the hotel to designs by architect John Ciardullo and designer Laura Gottwald.<ref name="nyt-1989-05-043" /> Tishman Realty & Construction carried out the project.<ref name="nyt-1990-07-29">Template:Cite news</ref> The hotel's 170 rooms were redecorated in a Victorian style, with wooden trim and sliding doors in each room, as well as wallpaper, tapestries, and fabrics with early-20th-century designs.<ref name="nyt-1989-05-043" /> Some of the rooms on the second floor were removed to make way for an expansion of the hotel's meeting rooms.<ref name="nyt-1990-07-29" /> One of the suites was renamed the Round Table Suite and filled with Algonquin Round Table memorabilia.<ref name="nyt-1994-06-28">Template:Cite news</ref> The old operator-controlled elevators were supplanted by self-service elevators,<ref name="nyt-2000-03-02" /> and the electrical systems were replaced as well.<ref name="FM pp. 113–114">Template:Harvnb</ref> The owners installed a plaque in the lobby, describing the hotel's history; the plaque had to be remade because it contained so many spelling and grammatical errors.<ref name="p140493110">Template:Cite news</ref>
The renovation took five years to complete, as the contractors only renovated three floors at a time;<ref name="FM pp. 113–114" /> it ultimately cost $20 million.<ref name="n111735112" /><ref name="p140493110" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Algonquin was one of several hotels around Times Square that were developed or renovated in the late 1980s and 1990s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Arthur Kaptainis of the Montreal Gazette wrote that the project had "cleared the funny smells without stripping the lobby of its cushiony Edwardian elegance".<ref name="p432445462">Template:Cite news</ref> The hotel was no longer known for its cheap room rates; the Gazette noted that the neighboring Hotel Iroquois charged much less. Even so, the Algonquin remained popular among those visiting nearby Broadway theaters.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1995, Aoki added a James Thurber-themed suite to the Algonquin.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Camberley and Olympus ownership
In March 1997, the partnership of Atlanta-based Camberley Hotel Company and Dallas-based Olympus Real Estate bought the Algonquin.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The two companies paid $30 million for the hotel, which had 165 units at the time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-1997-03-13">Template:Cite news</ref> The bedrooms were small by modern standards, and the Algonquin also had extremely slow elevators, mouse infestations, constant hot-water interruptions, and bad food.<ref name="nyt-1998-05-28" /> Camberley planned to renovate the hotel, raise nightly room rates from $180 to $200, and resell the Algonquin in five to seven years.<ref name="nyt-1997-03-13" /> The new owners were initially unaware of the hotel's historical significance, as Camberley president Ian Lloyd-Jones said: "We thought we were looking at a normal piece of real estate with a great location that had been underperforming in the hands of absentee owners for the last 10 years."<ref name="nyt-1998-05-28" /> The New York Observer wrote that, at the time of Camberley and Olympus's acquisition, "the publishing scene [had] long since dispersed".<ref name="p333516351">Template:Cite news</ref>
Camberley officials announced plans to spend $4 million on a "discreet" renovation of the entrance and lobby.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Some hotel regulars wrote letters to Lloyd-Jones, daring him "to change a thing".<ref name="nyt-1998-05-28" /> Camberley hired Alexandra Champalimaud to design the renovation,<ref name="p234919504" /><ref name="FM p. 114">Template:Harvnb</ref> which ultimately cost $5.5 million.<ref name="nyt-1998-05-28" /><ref name="p234919504" /><ref name="p433297615" /> The hotel's owners demolished the Rose Room to make way for an expansion of the lobby,<ref name="nyt-1998-05-28" /><ref name="p433297615" /> and they added eight standard rooms and one suite.<ref name="n111730564">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p333516351" /> Natalie Ascencios was also commissioned to create a painting of several Round Table members, which was then hung in the lobby.<ref name="FM p. 114" /> By the beginning of the 21st century, the Algonquin was one of several boutique hotels on that block of 44th Street, along with the Iroquois, Mansfield, and Sofitel.<ref name="nyt-2001-01-07" /><ref name="n111944249">Template:Cite news</ref> Camberley and Olympus placed the hotel for sale in January 2001, receiving bids from about 20 potential buyers.<ref name="p333516351" /> The hotel saw decreases in visitation following the September 11 attacks in 2001.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Bernard Goldberg, who had been in contract to buy the hotel at the time, canceled his plans following the attacks.<ref name="p333516351" />
Miller Global renovation
Miller Global Properties acquired the Algonquin from Camberley in June 2002 for an estimated $35 million.<ref name="n111730564" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Algonquin's visitor numbers largely recovered within two years of the attacks.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Anthony Melchiorri was hired as the hotel's new general manager.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Miller Global spent $3 million on renovating the hotel.<ref name="Bleyer">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p249592497">Template:Cite news</ref> When the hotel had been sold, the previous owner had relocated the first painting to the Martha Washington Inn in Virginia, so Miller Global hired Ascencios to create another painting of the Round Table's members.<ref name="FM p. 114" /> This painting was installed in the Oak Room in advance of the Algonquin's centennial.<ref name="FM p. 114" /><ref name="nyt-2002-11-19" /> As part of the renovation, Miller Global closed the Algonquin entirely in June 2004;<ref name="p249592497" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> this was the first time that the Algonquin had been fully closed in its history.<ref name="globe" /> During the closure, Miller Global installed high-speed internet connections and flat-screen TVs in all of the hotel's rooms.<ref name="FM p. 114" /><ref name="Getlin 2004" />
When the hotel reopened in August 2004, the owners offered discounts to guests who owned old hotel memorabilia,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the restaurant offered discounted lunches to authors.<ref name="Bleyer" /> Melchiorri developed a $10,000 martini to mark the completion of the renovation.<ref name="Getlin 2004" /><ref name="NBC News 2004" /> Bodne's grandson David Colby pushed for Miller Global executives to revive the hotel's literary traditions, saying: "The Algonquin has greater potential than 100 percent occupancy."<ref name="Bleyer" /> The hotel also started lending iPods with audiobooks to its guests.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Miller Global hired Cushman and Wakefield to find a buyer for the hotel in mid-2005.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Mid-2000s to present
The hotel was sold again to HEI Hospitality in October 2005.<ref name="NYT20051002 web" /> Under HEI's ownership, the hotel began lending Amazon Kindles to guests, in keeping with the hotel's literary traditions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> HEI spent $4.5 million on yet another renovation of the hotel, completed in 2008,<ref name="Johnson 2008" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and they hired Gary Budge as the general manager.<ref name="Johnson 2008" /><ref name="FM p. 115">Template:Harvnb</ref> In September 2010, the Algonquin Hotel became affiliated with the Marriott International chain's Autograph Collection brand, becoming the Algonquin Hotel Times Square, Autograph Collection.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="p755106086">Template:Cite news</ref> The hotel retained several of its traditions, including its name and its cat.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> HEI continued to own the hotel but paid a franchise fee to become part of Marriott's rewards program.<ref name="FM p. 115" /><ref name="p808469815">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The affiliation with Marriott came amid an increase in tourism in New York City.<ref name="p808469815" />
By mid-2011, HEI was negotiating to resell the hotel to MassMutual subsidiary Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Cornerstone bought the hotel that June for about $80 million, becoming the hotel's fifth owner in 15 years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In late 2011, Cornerstone announced that it would close the Algonquin for renovations for four months.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Algonquin was closed for renovations in February 2012, during which time the Oak Room was closed permanently.<ref name="Playbill 2012" /><ref name="nyt-2012-02-04" /><ref name="wsj-2012-02-03" /> The hotel reopened that May after the renovations were completed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, the Algonquin was closed from March 2020 to April 2021.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Stonehill Taylor further renovated the hotel in 2022, including the Algonquin Round Table, the Blue Bar, and the Oak Room.<ref name="Hospitality Design 2022" /><ref name="Nast 2022" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The hotel's round table was also restored in 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Traditions
Cats
The Algonquin Hotel has kept a cat in its lobby since the late 1920s.<ref name="Gleason 2019">Template:Cite web</ref> The practice was formerly thought to have originated in the 1930s,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Carlson 2017">Template:Cite web</ref> but a book by Frank Case indicates that he had cared for a cat named Billy until the feline's death in the 1920s.<ref name="Carlson 2017" /> According to administrative assistant Alice de Almeida (the hotel's "chief cat officer"<ref name="Gleason 2019" />), the current practice started when the hotel took in a stray male cat that was originally named Rusty.<ref name="Gleason 2019" /><ref name="FM p. 126">Template:Harvnb</ref> When a guest was sick, Rusty frequently went to that guest's room and stayed there until they had recovered.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Rusty was renamed Hamlet at the suggestion of John Barrymore, who at the time was performing on Broadway in the play Hamlet.<ref name="Gleason 2019" /><ref name="NPR.org 2006">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="AP NEWS 2021">Template:Cite web</ref> Since then, all the male cats have been named Hamlet, while all the female cats have been named Matilda.<ref name="FM p. 126" /><ref name="NPR.org 2006" /><ref name="AP NEWS 2021" /> It is not clear why female cats are named Matilda, but all the Hamlets are named after the original cat.<ref name="FM p. 126" /> The hotel has had eight Hamlets and three Matildas in its history.<ref name="Nast 2022" /><ref name="AP NEWS 2021" /> The Algonquin acquired its current cat, Hamlet VIII, Template:As of.<ref name="Carlson 2017" />
The hotel's lobby contains two feline tree houses.<ref name="Nast 2022" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The cat's collar interacts with an electric geo-fence, which prevents the cat from leaving the lobby,<ref name="Nast 2022" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> because the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene does not permit animals in dining areas.<ref name="Gleason 2019" /> The cat has received several gifts from visitors,<ref name="Gleason 2019" /><ref name="Carlson 2017" /> including four oil paintings.<ref name="Gleason 2019" /> Many people have visited the Algonquin specifically to see the hotel's cat.<ref name="Gleason 2019" /> One of the male cats was featured in the illustrated book Algonquin Cat;Template:Efn when that cat died in 1982, his obituary appeared in Variety magazine.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Another cat, a female Ragdoll, was named 2006 cat of the year at the Westchester Cat Show.<ref name="NPR.org 2006" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Every August, the hotel holds a fundraiser with a feline fashion show featuring the hotel's cat.<ref name="Gleason 2019" /><ref name="Nast 2015">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The fashion shows started in the 1930s<ref name="Nast 2015" /> and have raised money for such initiatives as the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals.<ref name="AP NEWS 2021" /><ref name="Weaver 2019 l783">Template:Cite web</ref> In addition, the hotel hosts birthday parties for its cat; these events have also served as fundraisers, such as in 2010, when Matilda III's fifteenth birthday raised money for North Shore Animal League America.<ref name="wsj-2010-08-13">Template:Cite news</ref> The Wall Street Journal wrote that the cat's birthday party "is the kind of party where you would find [...] $20 Purrtinis for sale, made of Grey Goose vodka, lychee juice, coconut, white creme de cacao and lemon juice and advertisements for Reiki treatments for cats. It is also a party where you would see a cat dressed as a fruit basket..."<ref name="wsj-2010-08-13" />
Other traditions
.jpg){kind=link}
The hotel has an eponymous cocktail, composed of rye whiskey, Noilly Prat and pineapple juice.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The $10,000 "Martini on the Rock" was added to the hotel's menu in 2004;<ref name="globe">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="NPR.org 2005">Template:Cite web</ref> it consists of a martini of the buyer's choice with a single piece of "ice", a diamond, at the bottom of the glass.<ref name="NPR.org 2005" /> This martini was developed by Anthony Melchiorri, the hotel's general manager at the time,<ref name="NBC News 2004">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Getlin 2004">Template:Cite web</ref> though over a decade elapsed before anyone actually bought that drink.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Blue Bar's menu includes several cocktails that allude to the TV series Mad Men, in which the bar was featured.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> One bartender at the Algonquin, Hoy Wong, was believed to be the oldest bartender in New York state;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> by the time Wong retired in 2009, he was nearly 90 years old.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In the late 20th century, writers on tour could get one free night at the hotel in exchange for an autographed copy of their book.<ref name="nyt-1998-05-28" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The practice has been amended to include a discount on standard room rates.<ref name="n111949902" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Additionally, in 2009, the hotel offered discounted room rates to authors who had a draft manuscript and were experiencing writer's block.<ref name="p434802090" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Notable guests
Among the Algonquin's early guests were actors Douglas Fairbanks,<ref name="NYCL p. 3" /><ref name="FM p. 109" /> the Barrymore family,<ref name="p11135407873" /><ref name="FM p. 109" /> Beatrice Lillie,<ref name="FM p. 109" /> Raymond Hitchcock, Mary Pickford, and Elsie Janis.<ref name="p11135407873" /><ref name="nyt-1927-05-09" /> Ethel Barrymore lived at a suite at the Algonquin in 1905, and her maternal uncle John Drew lived there for 17 years.<ref name="FM p. 109" /> Luna Park developer Fred Thompson lived on the annex's top story, while impresarios Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. and Diamond Jim Brady frequented the hotel's cafe.<ref name="FM pp. 120–121" /><ref name="NYCL p. 3" /> Lady Gregory was the first female guest to smoke in the Algonquin's lobby in 1911,<ref name="FM p. 109" /> and Case later ejected Ruth Hale for smoking in the lobby.<ref name="FM p. 118" /> The Algonquin attracted vaudeville and Broadway performers and silent film actors through the 1920s. Authors such as H. L. Mencken and Gertrude Stein lived there, and Tallulah Bankhead rented a room as a teenager. Playwright Sinclair Lewis frequently ate within the Oak Room as well.<ref name="FM p. 109" /> The hotel's early guests also included poet Maya Angelou and actress Helen Hayes.<ref name="p755106086" />
During the 1950s, Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner composed the score of their musical My Fair Lady at the hotel, and Pulitzer Prize for Drama–winning playwrights Mary Chase, William Inge, and Arthur Miller also stayed at the Algonquin.<ref name="FM p. 112" /> The actors Audrey Hepburn, Elia Kazan, and Vivien Leigh received theatrical awards in the lobby in 1952.<ref name="FM p. 118" /> At least two notables have died while staying at the hotel: filmmaker Preston Sturges in 1959 and playwright James Thurber in 1961.<ref name="FM p. 112" />
The New York Herald Tribune wrote in 1962 that the hotel still had many notable guests, including Dana Andrews, Leslie Caron, Charles Chaplin Jr., Barnaby Conrad, Noël Coward, William Faulkner, John Gielgud, Tyrone Guthrie, John Hersey, Eugène Ionesco, Elsa Lanchester, Jack Paar, Christopher Plummer, Jules Romains, and Yuri Zavadsky.<ref name="p11135407872" /> By then, the hotel also catered to a "new generation of writers", such as John Cheever, Norman Mailer, William Saroyan, and Tennessee Williams; English actors, such as Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, and Tony Richardson; and European filmmakers, such as Costa-Gavras, Jean-Luc Godard, Louis Malle, Éric Rohmer, and François Truffaut.<ref name="FM p. 113" /> Other frequent guests in the late 20th century included Harold Ross, Simone Signoret, and Yves Montand.<ref name="n111735112" /> Fashion designers, such as Mary Quant and Gerald McCann, also constituted an increasing share of the Algonquin's clientele during the 1960s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By the beginning of the 21st century, the hotel's guests included theatrical personalities such as Brenda Fricker, Simon Gray, Peter Hall, Richard Harris, Anthony Hopkins, Jeremy Irons, Angela Lansbury, John Osborne, Jonathan Pryce, Stephen Rea, Diana Rigg, Tom Stoppard, and Peter Ustinov.<ref name="p240360593" />
Algonquin Round Table
The Algonquin Round Table met at the hotel's Rose Room,<ref name="FM p. 119">Template:Harvnb</ref> "a place where a lot of slang, phrases and attitudes were shaped".<ref name="NYT20051002 web" /> The group originated from a practical joke by theatrical press agent John Peter Toohey, who in June 1919 organized a luncheon to poke fun at drama critic Alexander Woollcott.<ref name="p269739634" /> Initially known as the Luigi Board, after a waiter at the hotel,<ref name="nyt-1994-06-28" /><ref name="p269739634" /> the group later evolved into a group of journalists, authors, publicists, and actors who gathered over lunch in the main dining room.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Round Table's members referred to themselves as the Vicious Circle<ref name="nyt-1977-10-16">Template:Cite news</ref> and met almost daily for nearly ten years.<ref name="p269739634" /> Its core members included Dorothy Parker, Franklin P. Adams, Robert Benchley, George S. Kaufman and Harpo Marx,<ref name="n111735112" /><ref name="nyt-1977-10-16" /> as well as Woollcott and Edna Ferber.<ref name="n111735112" /><ref name="p135333359">Template:Cite news</ref> Playwright George Bernard Shaw, actress Fanny Brice, and composer Irving Berlin were among the many people who vied for invitations to eat lunch with the club.<ref name="p282607709" />
Frank Case sent plates of "olives, popovers and celery sticks" to the Round Table's members so they would not starve.<ref name="Bleyer" /><ref name="p749787301">Template:Cite news</ref> Case's daughter Margaret wrote: "First, the people who sat at the Round Table were interesting people whose doings and sayings caught and held public attention; and secondly, they were as brave, mentally, as any dashing medieval cavalier was physically brave."<ref name="nyt-1977-10-16" /> The Round Table had a reputation for being witty, although the extent of the group's wit may have been exaggerated.<ref name="nyt-1994-06-28" /> Two members of the club, Harold Ross and Jane Grant, founded The New Yorker magazine.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In celebration of this, modern hotel guests receive free copies of The New Yorker.<ref name="n111949902" /><ref name="p434802090" />
The group sat at a 15-seat round table,<ref name="FM p. 119" /> but it is unknown where the original round table was relocated after the Round Table club was disbanded.<ref name="p433297615" /><ref name="FM p. 119" /> By the late 1990s, all the tables in the Rose Room were square.<ref name="p433297615" /> The Rose Room was demolished in 1998 to make way for an expansion of the lobby.<ref name="nyt-1998-05-28" /><ref name="p433297615" /> During that project, the hotel's then-owner Camberley Hotel Group added a circular table in the lobby, a homage to the former luncheon group. Hotel guests could reserve the round table; the other tables in the lobby could be used without reservation.<ref name="p433297615" /> The rebuilt round table was relocated to an alcove adjacent to the Blue Bar in 2022.<ref name="Hospitality Design 2022" />
Reception and impact
When the Algonquin opened in 1902, the New-York Tribune—which, according to John Tauranac, seldom described things in hyperbolic terms—called the hotel the "last step in excellence in this class of structure".<ref name="TL p. 107" /> By the late 20th century, the Algonquin had become known as a literary landmark, in part because of its association with the Algonquin Round Table.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2021: "A list of New York literary hotspots would not be complete without the Algonquin, which played host in the 1920s to an assortment of New York writers, playwrights, journalists and actors."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Frank Case had written three books about the hotel during his lifetime,<ref name="FM p. 111" /><ref name="p511969349" /> and his daughter, Margaret Case Harriman, wrote a memoir about the hotel in 1956.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> By the hotel's 75th anniversary in 1977, it had been the subject of seven books.<ref name="p511969349" /> The hotel also received Playbill magazine's first George Selvin Award in 1977.<ref name="p158426226" />
Critical reception
Arthur Kaptainis wrote for the Montreal Gazette in 1993: "For my money (or lack thereof) the lobby is always the best place to be."<ref name="p432445462" /> A critic for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette expressed a similar sentiment in 2000, saying that the lobby was "still regarded as the place to see and be seen", even though room rates were more expensive than at the neighboring Iroquois.<ref name="n111944249" /> Reviewers also described the relatively tranquil nature of the Algonquin compared to newer and larger hostelries. In 1990, Jerry Hulse wrote for the Los Angeles Times: "In a city dwarfed by glass and chrome, the Algonquin remains an anachronism, a landmark of social well-being."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Similarly, a reporter from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote in 1997: "In a city of wrecking balls and cranes, plate glass and cold chrome, incessant sirens and frenetic foot traffic, the Algonquin remains an island of civility."<ref name="p260545595" /> The Village Voice described the Algonquin as one of several monuments to "New York aristocracy" on 44th Street, along with the headquarters of the New York Bar Association, Harvard Club, and Penn Club.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Some critics also wrote about the quality of the hotel itself. Rosalie Earle of the Sunday Gazette-Mail wrote in 2010: "The one-bedroom has a king bed and the living room has a pull-out couch, which makes for comfortable and affordable accommodations, when the tab is divided three ways".<ref name="p749787301" /> Following the 2012 renovation, a New York Times critic wrote that the hotel's "dowdy charm" had been removed and that "the Algonquin now feels a bit chilly and corporate".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A writer for the Palm Beach Daily News said in 2013 that the units had been enlarged into "sleek, sophisticated guest rooms and suites".<ref name="n123560235"/> By contrast, a writer for Red Online magazine said the Algonquin "now enjoys a wood-columned, now almost neo-Edwardian finish—incongruous with its central Midtown location, in the heart of theatre land".<ref name="Everett 2021" /> The BBC wrote in 2023 that, while the previous year's renovation of the lobby and Blue Bar "may not be to all purists' tastes", the hotel still retained some Roaring Twenties design details like caricatures on the walls.<ref name="Perrottet 2023 h503">Template:Cite web</ref>
Landmark status
The Landmarks Preservation Commission considered designating the Algonquin Hotel as an official city landmark in 1985. Unlike other city landmarks, the hotel was known more for its historical associations than for its architecture.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The LPC designated the Algonquin Hotel as a city landmark in September 1987.<ref name="nyt-1987-09-20">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Although the hotel's longtime owner Ben Bodne had opposed the designation,<ref name="n111729625" /> its new owner Aoki Corporation supported the city-landmark status.<ref name="p135333359" /> In designating the hotel as a landmark, the LPC cited the impact of the Algonquin Round Table and the number of other literary and theatrical figures who lodged there.<ref name="nyt-1987-09-20" />
In 1996, the hotel was designated a National Literary Landmark by Friends of Libraries, and its bronze plaque is attached to the front of the hotel.<ref name="p240360593" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The hotel's facade contains another plaque, dedicated in 1963, which commemorates a horse stable that previously occupied the site, and had belonged to either Jay Gould or W. H. Aiken.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The building is counted among Historic Hotels of America, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
- List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 14th to 59th Streets
- List of hotels in New York City
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
- Template:Cite report
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Sfn whitelistTemplate:Cite Elegant New York
External links
Template:Midtown North, Manhattan Template:List of Marriott hotels Template:Hotels in New York City Template:Authority control