New York Plaza Vs Ritz Paris Hotel

Two of   the world’s 10 most legendary luxury hotels

These legendary hotels, spotlighted in countless films and literature, weren’t just a part of history; they helped to shape it.  From the New York’s Landmark, Plaza Hotel  to the 117-year-old Hotel Ritz in Paris — due to reopen this year after extensive renovations that began in 2012 — here are the two of  the world’s  most iconic hotels.

 

The Plaza Hotel,  New York

 

The Plaza, New York

The Plaza Hotel, located in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan, New York City, is a landmark 20-story luxury hotel and condominium apartment building with a height of 250 ft (76 m) and length of 400 ft (120 m) that occupies the west side of Grand Army Plaza, from which it derives its name, and extends along Central Park South in Manhattan. Fifth Avenue extends along the east side of Grand Army Plaza. The Plaza Hotel is recognized as a Historic Hotel of America by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The hotel is now owned by the Indian company  Sahara India Pariwar.

Opened in 1907 and designated an official landmark in 1969, The Plaza is arguably the most famous hotel in New York.

The Plaza Hotel is the second hotel of that name on the site. The French Renaissance château-style building was designed by  Henry Janeway Hardenbergh and opened to the public on October 1, 1907. At the time, it cost $12.5 million to construct. When the hotel opened, a room at the Plaza Hotel was only $2.50 per night (equivalent of $63 today). Today, the same room costs from $975 per night upwards.

Alphonse Salamone joined the hotel in 1947, although later left to accept a position in San Juan at the Caribe Hilton. He returned the hotel and helped it out of hardship during the 1960s.

 The Plaza Hotel was accorded landmark status by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1969; it was designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL) in 1986.  The Waldorf-Astoria  is the only other New York City hotel to be designated as a National Historic Landmark.

Famous uses

Long the site for famous performers and guests, it has also been the meeting place for important political meetings. The nationally known singers Eartha Kitt, Liza Minnelli, Kay Thompson, Sandler and Young, Andy Williams, and Peggy Lee played the Persian Room; Miles Davis recorded a live album in the hotel’s Persian Room in 1958; unaccompanied ladies were not permitted in the Oak Room bar; and women favored the Palm Court for luncheons and teas.

The Plaza entrance

The Beatles stayed at the Plaza Hotel during their first visit to the United States in February 1964. On November 28, 1966, in honor of the publisher Katharine Graham, the writer Truman Capote hosted his acclaimed “Black and White Ball” in the Grand Ballroom.

In September 1985, ministers of developed countries met at the Plaza Hotel to consult on finance issues and affirmed their agreement by signing the Plaza Accord. It served as an agreement among the finance ministers of the United States, Japan, West Germany, France and Britain to bring down the price of the U.S. dollar against their currencies.

The 20-story building is the setting of the 1950s “Eloise” children’s book series and the backdrop for classic films such as “Funny Girl,” “The Great Gatsby” and “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”

The hotel offers weekly tours of its interior to the public, led by an architectural historian.

Hotel Ritz Paris

The Hôtel Ritz is a grand palatial hotel in the heart of Paris, in the 1st arrondissement. It overlooks the octagonal border of the Place Vendôme at number 15.

The hotel, which today has 159 rooms, was founded by the Swiss hotelier, César Ritz, in collaboration with the chef Auguste Escoffier in 1898. The new hotel was constructed behind the façade of an 18th-century town house, overlooking one of Paris’s central squares.

It was reportedly the first hotel in Europe to provide abathroom en suite, a telephone and electricity for each room. It quickly established a reputation for luxury, with clients including royalty, politicians, writers, film stars and singers.

Several of its suites are named in honour of famous guests of the hotel, including Coco Chanel , Ernest Hemingway and Ingrid Bergman who lived at the hotel for years. One of the bars of the hotel, Bar Hemingway, is devoted to Hemingway and the L’Espadon is a world-renowned restaurant, attracting aspiring chefs from all over the world who come to learn at the adjacent Ritz-Escoffier School. The grandest suite of the hotel, called the Imperial, has been listed by the French government as a national monument in its own right.

Located by the Tuileries gardens and overlooking Place Vendome, it was declared “the most romantic hotel in the world” by Sophia Loren.

Besides its A-list clientele and silver screen cameos — it’s starred in classics like “Funny Face,” “Love in the Afternoon” and “How to Steal a Million” — the hotel is renowned for its lavish belle epoque decor, crystal chandeliers and impeccable white-glove service.

During the Second World War, the hotel was taken over by the occupying Germans as the local headquarters of the Luftwaffe. After the death of Ritz’s son Charles, in 1976, the last members of the Ritz family to own the hotel sold it in 1979 to the Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed. In August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales and Al-Fayed’s son, Dodi, dined in the hotel’s Imperial Suite before their fatal car crash.

The Imperial Suite is located on the first floor and consists of two bedrooms, a grand salon, and a dining room. The suite features 6-metre-high (20 ft) ceilings,  great chandeliers and windows overlooking the Place Vendôme, a massive long gold framed Baroque mirror between the windows, red and gold upholstery and a four-poster bed said to be identical to that in Marie Antoinette‘s bedroom in the Palace of Versailles.

 The other bedroom is in the style of Louis XVI, with a  baldachin bed and columns.

 The suite is lavishly decorated in French art, bas-reliefs and 18th-century panelling which is protected under the suite’s historic monument status. The bathroom is a former boudoir overlooking the Vendôme garden, with 18th-century panelling and a Jacuzzi bath and steam-bath shower

Coco Chanel resided  at the  Ritz for more than 30 years. She died on Sunday, January 10, 1971 at the Hotel Ritz.

You can share the experience by booking the Coco Chanel Suite.

According to the Ritz website, “…to this day, Coromandel laquerware, rock crystals and large mirrors pay tribute to Mademoiselle Chanel’s personal taste and elegance” so you can put on your best black frock and pearls, and embrace the stylish life of the legendary style icon.

The suite has a living-room, 1-2 bedrooms and bathrooms, one of which has a jacuzzi and a steam room, and a view to both the gardens and Place Vendome. It’s up to 103 sqm/1109 sqft of space depending on how many bedrooms you book.

The bedroom-less apartment was full of screens (she was not a fan of doors), chandeliers, Chinoiserie elements and cigarette boxes, much of which were gifts from various lovers and admirers, including the Duke of Westminster, Igor Stravinsky and Salvador Dali. The space was constantly sprayed with Chanel No. 5 whenever she was there.

Bathroom of the Coco Chanel Suite at the Ritz Hotel in Paris Coco Chanel Apartments

The hotel was closed in 2012 for a major multi-million dollar renovation and is set to reopen this year.