The Peninsula New York


The Peninsula New York is a historic luxury hotel located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street in Manhattan, New York City. The hotel is part of the Hong Kong-based Peninsula Hotels group, which is owned by The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited. The hotel was bought in 1988 by the Peninsula group for a price of $127 million. The Peninsula New York has received the AAA Five Diamond Award for thirteen consecutive years, and in 2007, it was named one of the greatest hotels in the world by Travel + Leisure magazine.

Location

The hotel is located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street in Manhattan, New York City. This being the most expensive street in the world, a number of flagship stores are nearby. These include De Beers, Fendi, Armani, Prada and Abercrombie & Fitch. Some tourist attractions near the hotel include Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Museum of Modern Art and Radio City Music Hall.

History

The hotel was built in 1905 as the Gotham Hotel and was designed in the neo-classical style. It went into bankruptcy in 1908, partly because it could not acquire a liquor license as it was too close to the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. Also, it was overshadowed by more luxurious hotels, like the St. Regis across the street and the Plaza Hotel just a few blocks north. The hotel was acquired in the 1930s by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. As they needed the maximum amount of leasable retail floor area, the company tore out many of the hotel's public rooms.
In 1979, the Swiss hotel owner Rene Hatt took over the hotel and started a long renovation process, intending to reopen it as the Nova Park Hotel. It was this renovation which added the hotel's rooftop pool and fitness centre. The Nova Park plan eventually failed, collapsing in a bankruptcy, foreclosure and a series of lawsuits. The hotel was finally reopened in 1987, after $200 million of work, as the Hotel Maxim's de Paris, an outpost of the famed Parisian restaurant Maxim's. That enterprise quickly failed, and the hotel was sold in 1988 to its current owner, the Peninsula group. It spent $45 million on a second renovation in 1999.

Death of John William Warde

was a 26-year-old from Southampton, New York, who committed suicide on July 26, 1938, by jumping from a 17th-floor window ledge of the Gotham Hotel. An estimated crowd of 10,000 had gathered below to watch, and 400 police officers were present to try to convince him to come back inside. The 1951 motion picture Fourteen Hours is based on the events of that day.

Features

The hotel offers a limousine transfer service to New York's three main airports: John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. For these transfers, there is a choice between limousines or Mini Clubmans.
The five function rooms have a combined floor area of. The hotel has three restaurants: the Yabu Pushelberg-designed Clement Restaurant and Bar, the Salon De Ning rooftop bar and terrace, and the Gotham Lounge.
The fitness centre at the hotel is located on the top floor. The pool is in a glass-enclosed room, and during the summer, a sundeck is available. The hotel's spa is one of the biggest in New York City, with a floor area of over three floors, and it is one of only two Forbes Five Star-rated spas in the city.