Algonquin Hotel
The Algonquin Hotel 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. The rectangular land lot covers, with a frontage of on 44th Street and a depth of. 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. 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.The adjacent block of 44th Street is known as Club Row and contains several clubhouses. 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. 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. There had been many stagecoach stables on 43rd and 44th Streets between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, but only a few of these buildings remained at the end of the 20th century. By the 2010s, the hotel's annex was the only former stable on the block. 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.
Architecture
The Algonquin Hotel was designed in 1902 by architect Goldwin Starrett of the Thompson–Starrett Company. Albert Foster, who headed the Puritan Realty Company, developed the hotel. 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. In total, the hotel measures tall from ground level to the roofline.Facade
The hotel building has a symmetrical facade. The first two stories of the facade are made of rusticated limestone blocks. 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. There are band courses on the facade above the second and tenth stories. The twelfth story was originally crowned by a cornice, which has since been removed.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. This marquee contains details such as old English lettering, wrought-iron scrolls, and a scalloped awning. 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. 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. There is a small balustrade in front of the three center bays, with a flagpole extending diagonally above the street. 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.
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. The angled windows were intended to increase each unit's exposure to natural light. There are panels, urns, and floral motifs in the angled sidelights; some of the panels have been replaced with air conditioning grilles. 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.
The western annex was originally a two-story stable but was expanded to a three-story brick structure in 1905. 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. This entrance leads to the Blue Bar. 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. 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.
Features
When the hotel opened in 1902, its public rooms were originally furnished in English oak with marble floors. The hotel originally contained a large restaurant known as the Pergola at ground level, as well as a smaller cafe. The Pergola restaurant occupied the west and north sections of the ground floor, with a kitchen on the same level. 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. The cafe's ceiling and walls contained terracotta and woodwork, and the lights were suspended from plaster holders on the ceiling.There are multi-room suites and single rooms on the third through eleventh floors. The core of the H-shaped hotel contains two elevators. 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. The roof contained a patio and a roof garden, which were constructed before air conditioning became popular. There was also a water tower above the roof. The modern-day hotel contains 181 guest rooms and suites, as well as five meeting/conference rooms.
The annex became part of the hotel in 1904. The Pergola occupied the first floor, and the Rocky Mountain Club opened its clubhouse within the annex's second and third stories in 1913. 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. The Rocky Mountain Club house was used by the Beethoven Association from 1922 to 1934. 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. The annex's first floor has contained the Blue Bar since 1997.
Ground level
Lobby
Originally, the front portion of the ground floor contained a lounge with palms and flowers. 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. The lobby also contains wood paneling and a grandfather clock, which were both part of the original design. There was a glazed partition between the waiting area and reception desk. To the east of the lounge was a men's smoking room and club. These features were removed during several subsequent renovations of the hotel.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. The space also contains black-and-white tiled floors, which were installed in 1998 in a vintage style; the floors are covered by imported British rugs. The lobby contains an oil painting of several Algonquin Round Table regulars, designed by Natalie Ascencios on the site of a former bar. Next to the painting is an imitation round table, for which guests can make reservations. There is a blue-and-red marble desk with a shelter for the hotel's cat and, near the eastern window, a shelf with a small staircase for the cat. Above the reception desk is an artwork composed of salvaged guest books, which was added in 2022. There is also a seating area across from the reception desk, where guests can pet and play with the hotel's cat.