Alexander Woollcott and Dorothy Parker swapped bon mots in the famous Round Table Room of this 1902 landmark—and you’ll still find writer types holding court on the mismatched armchairs of the sprawling lobby. The Algonquin certainly trades on its literary past (quotes from Parker and other Round Table members adorn the door to each guest room and vintage New Yorker covers hang in the hallways), but a major 2012 renovation has spruced up the grande dame. Backlit vintage photographs of NYC in the rooms are nods to old New York but the sleek quarters could be in any corporate hotel, with faux leather headboards, Frette linens, iHome clock radios and slate-floored bathrooms. Although it’s now part of the Marriott-affiliated Autograph Collection, the hotel retains some of its quirky identity in the public spaces—in the lobby bar and restaurant, original paneling and some decorative fixtures remain and the hotel cat (always called Matilda or Hamlet depending on sex) still slumbers behind the check-in desk. Sadly, the iconic cabaret venue, the Oak Room, has closed, and the Blue Bar has been glitzed up with colored lighting, but it retains the original Al Hirschfeld Broadway-themed drawings, donated by the late habitué’s gallery.
We admit it: We love gawking at the city’s celebrity homes—but staying in a storied residence is even better. And some of these classic hotels also have historic restaurants. Whether you want to re-create the Algonquin Round Table or just luxuriate in old-world opulence, these hostelries have a combined legacy to rival the New-York Historical Society.
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