Interesting facts about The Plaza Hotel

the plaza hotel

The Plaza Hotel is a landmark 19-story luxury hotel and condominium apartment building in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan, New York City.

Located at Fifth Avenue and Central Park South, this luxury hotel was constructed in the most fashionable residential section of New York City.

Construction on the first Plaza Hotel at this location began in 1883, on the site of the New York Skating Club.

From its original 19th century construction to its magnificent $450 million dollar restoration in 2008, the world’s most famous hotel has had a remarkable history.

The Plaza was the dream of financier Bernhard Beinecke, hotelier Fred Sterry, and Harry S. Black, President of the Fuller Construction Company. They wanted to built the most elegant hotels in the world.

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Originally opened amidst much fanfare on October 1, 1907, The Plaza was reported as being the “greatest hotel in the world.”

The Plaza Hotel has a height of 76 meters (250 feet) and a length of 120 meters (400 feet).

The hotel’s main entrance at 768 Fifth Avenue faces the southern portion of Grand Army Plaza, which commemorates the Union Army in the Civil War, whence its eponymous predecessor derived its name.

Designed in the style of an opulent French Château, the interior designer Henry Janeway Hardenbergh spared no expense.

He placed the single largest gold-encrusted china order in history with L. Straus & Sons, along with an order for 1,650 crystal chandeliers.

the plaza hotel inside

When the hotel opened, a room at the Plaza Hotel was only $2.50 per night, the equivalent of $65.66 in 2017. The same room cost over $1,000 per night in 2001.

Since opening in 1907, it has hosted some of the world’s most famous guests and appeared in more than 50 films.

The internationally known singers Josephine Baker, Eartha Kitt, Liza Minnelli, Marlene Dietrich, Lena Horne, Kay Thompson, Sandler and Young, Ethel Merman, Shirley Bassey, Andy Williams, The Mills Brothers, Patti Page and Peggy Lee played the Persian Room. Miles Davis recorded a live album in the Persian Room in 1958.

the plaza hotel singer

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is published, with scenes set in the hotel.

The Plaza Hotel is one of the most famous and luxurious hotels in the world and is recognized as a Historic Hotel of America by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

In 1988, tycoon Donald Trump acquires the hotel for $390 million. Donald Trump weds actress Marla Maples in The Grand Ballroom on December 20, 1993.

Today, The Plaza Hotel is owned by Katara Hospitality.

Plaza is a Spanish word related to “field” which describes an open public space in a city, such as a city square.