St. Regis New York
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The St. Regis New York is a historic luxury hotel at 2 East 55th Street, at the southeast corner with Fifth Avenue, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The hotel was originally developed by John Jacob Astor IV and was completed in 1904 to designs by Trowbridge & Livingston. An annex to the east was designed by Sloan & Robertson and completed in 1927. The hotel is operated by Marriott International and holds Forbes five-star and AAA five-diamond ratings. In addition, it is a New York City designated landmark.
St. Regis New York | |
---|---|
General information | |
Location | 2 East 55th Street Manhattan, New York |
Coordinates | 40°45′41″N 73°58′29″W |
Opened | September 4, 1904; 119 years ago (1904-09-04) |
Owner | Qatar Investment Authority |
Management | Marriott International (St. Regis Hotels & Resorts) |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 20 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) |
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Developer | John Jacob Astor IV |
Other information | |
Number of rooms | 171 |
Number of suites | 67 |
Number of restaurants | 2 |
Website | |
www | |
Designated | November 1, 1988 |
Reference no. | 1552 |
The 18-story hotel was designed in the Beaux-Arts style. The facade of the original hotel is made of limestone and is divided into three horizontal sections similar to the components of a column, namely a base, shaft, and capital. The St. Regis required a large amount of mechanical equipment, which was placed on three basement levels. When the St. Regis opened, the interior was extensively decorated in marble and bronze. The first floor contained a restaurant, café, palm court, and hotel office, while the second floor contained a banquet hall, ballroom, and private dining room.
Astor began constructing the hotel in 1901 and named it after Upper St. Regis Lake in the Adirondack Mountains. The hotel opened on September 4, 1904, and quickly became known as an upscale hostelry. Rudolph Haan operated the hotel from its opening until 1926. Astor's son Vincent Astor sold the St. Regis in 1927 to Benjamin Newton Duke, who developed the annex. After an acrimonious dispute in 1934, Vincent Astor re-acquired the hotel the next year and continued to own it until his death in 1959. The hotel was sold several times in the early 1960s, and Cesar Balsa operated the hotel briefly before the St. Regis joined the Sheraton Hotels and Resorts chain in 1966. The St. Regis has been renovated several times over the years, and it became part of the Marriott chain in 2016. The Qatar Investment Authority bought the hotel building in 2019.
The St. Regis New York is at 2 East 55th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City.[1] It is on the southeast corner of Fifth Avenue to the west and 55th Street to the north. The land lot is L-shaped and covers 22,544 sq ft (2,094.4 m2), with a frontage of 250 ft (76 m) on 55th Street and a depth of 100 ft (30 m).[2] Nearby sites include the University Club of New York to the southwest; The Peninsula New York hotel to the west; the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church and 712 Fifth Avenue to the northwest; the 550 Madison Avenue to the northeast; 19 East 54th Street to the east; and 689 Fifth Avenue and the William H. Moore House to the south.[2]
When the St. Regis was announced in 1900, the L-shaped site measured 150 ft (46 m) wide on 55th Street to the north and 75 ft (23 m) wide on Fifth Avenue to the west. The eastern end of the site measured 100 ft (30 m) deep.[3] The L-shaped site spanned 12,500 sq ft (1,160 m2), though the developers obtained an additional 7,500 sq ft (700 m2) by acquiring another site on 55th Street.[4] Before the St. Regis Hotel was developed, there had been proposals to develop a clubhouse for the New York Republican Club on the site.[5][3] The plot was expanded to 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m2) in early 1927, with a frontage of 100 feet on Fifth Avenue and 250 feet on 55th Street.[6][7]
Fifth Avenue between 42nd Street and Central Park South (59th Street) was relatively undeveloped through the late 19th century,[8] and many row houses were developed on the avenue.[9] By the early 1900s, that section of Fifth Avenue was becoming a commercial area.[10] John Jacob Astor IV had obtained the site at the southwest corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street from his father William Backhouse Astor Jr.[11] John Jacob Astor IV was a co-owner of the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel at Fifth Avenue and 34th Street; his great-grandfather John Jacob Astor had built one of the first modern hotels in the world, the Astor House in Lower Manhattan, in 1836.[12] Although Astor had considered building a residence at Fifth Avenue and 55th Street in 1896, he ultimately decided to develop a hotel because of the area's increasingly commercial character.[13] At his niece's suggestion, Astor named the new hotel after Upper St. Regis Lake in the Adirondacks, which in turn was named for French Jesuit priest Jean-François Régis.[14][15]
Construction
At the end of December 1900, Astor leased the proposed Hotel St. Regis to hotelier Rudolph Haan for 20 years, with options for three 20-year extensions.[3][5] New York City police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt had introduced Haan to the Astor family shortly before the hotel's development.[16] The structure was budgeted at $1.25 million, excluding the $600,000 cost of the land.[17] Excavation of the site began immediately after Haan leased the hotel.[5][18] Trowbridge & Livingston had completed their designs for the project in early 1901.[19] The original plans were similar to the final design, except that the roof had multiple chimneys.[13] Astor acquired a row house at 6 East 55th Street, just east of the new hotel, in February 1901.[20] Astor also acquired an option on the residence of Sarah Fox at 3 East 54th Street, next to William Rockefeller Jr.'s residence.[21] By early 1902, the hotel's stonework was almost completed,[22] and contractors were applying interior finishes.[23] Haan acquired a second house at 8 East 55th Street in February 1902, which he planned to use for an annex to the hotel.[24][25]
Controversies and delays
The hotel was next to numerous wealthy New Yorkers' homes and, as such, was controversial from the start.[26][27] Even as other commercial developments were being built along the midtown section of Fifth Avenue, concerned locals bought up nearby houses to prevent the construction of similar hotels in the area.[27] Rockefeller, who opposed the project, bought Fox's house to prevent Astor from expanding the hotel to 54th Street.[21] Several nearby properties were also damaged during the hotel's construction. For instance, city officials found in late 1901 that the excavations had ruptured a sewage pipe and flooded nearby houses,[28] and a construction accident in early 1902 caused a marble block to smash through the roof of a neighboring house.[29] One neighbor sued the construction contractor, the Thompson–Starrett Company, after his house was repeatedly damaged by debris, construction materials, and leaks.[30] Construction was temporarily halted in May 1902 after the Bureau of Buildings discovered that the hotel's yellow-pine wood decorations were not sufficiently fireproofed.[31] The contractors agreed to replace the yellow pine with another wood, and work resumed shortly afterward.[32]
Midway during construction, Astor decided to lease only part of the hotel to families, rather than the entire hotel as originally planned.[17] In addition, plans for the hotel were revised to include an annex at 6 and 8 East 55th Street.[33] Construction of the annex began in February 1903,[33] but work was temporarily delayed by a labor strike in June 1903.[34][35] Astor also acquired a site at 10 East 55th Street from local residents who had bought it in an attempt to block a further annex to the hotel.[36][37] A covenant required the site to be used as a private residence for 15 years, and Astor planned to erect a house for Haan on the site.[38][39] The sites at 6–10 East 55th Street were excavated simultaneously to save money, and workers built three basements on the site of Haan's house.[40] Several residents filed a lawsuit to halt the excavations, contending that the basements were being excavated for the hotel because no private residence would need such deep basements.[37] A New York Supreme Court judge ruled against them in November 1903, saying that the covenant did not prevent multiple basements at 10 East 55th Street.[38][39]
Astor and Haan wanted to obtain a liquor license to offset the high construction costs,[41] to the annoyance of local residents who already opposed the hotel's construction.[26] At the time, New York state law required that any establishment with a liquor license was required to gain the approval of the owners of two-thirds of all private property within 200 ft (61 m), and was required to be at least 200 feet from any church. The Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, which objected to the liquor license, was diagonally across from the hotel.[42][lower-alpha 1] A significant number of local residents also objected to the liquor license.[42] In early 1904, the New York State Legislature passed a bill that only required any churches within a 200-foot radius to consent to the license. The sponsors of this legislation did not attempt to hide the fact that the law targeted the St. Regis, and they knew the church would never provide such consent.[44] Accordingly, Haan bought the house at 697 Fifth Avenue in June 1904,[45][46] and he relocated the hotel's main entrance from Fifth Avenue to 55th Street, which was more than 200 feet away from the church.[26] Haan obtained a liquor license the next month,[47] and the church dropped its formal opposition to the license.[48]
Opening and early years
John Jacob Astor ownership
The Hotel St. Regis opened on September 4, 1904,[49][50] almost simultaneously with the completion of the Hotel Astor, operated by John Jacob Astor's cousin and rival, William Waldorf Astor.[51] Thousands of people had sought invitations to the hotel's opening-night dinner.[50][52] Even so, Haan said the new hotel would serve guests on a "first come, first served" basis.[50] The hotel had cost $5.5 million to develop; the building itself had cost $4 million, while the furnishings had cost another $1.5 million.[lower-roman 1][49][53] In the months after the St. Regis opened, there was much coverage of its costs and expenses; for instance, one of the beds cost $10,000[lower-roman 2][16][48] and a turkey cost $4.50.[lower-roman 3][16][54] Daily room rates ranged from $4 for the smallest suites to $125 for the state apartment.[lower-roman 4] Haan disavowed claims that the hotel was expensive, saying: "We charge $14 a day for salon, bedchamber, and bath."[53] Even so, many media reports exaggerated the hotel's high prices; according to Town and Country magazine, the public was given the impression that guests had to spend "two or three figures" on food and "a small fortune" on the rooms.[55] These reports scared away all except the wealthiest guests.[56][57] Haan described media coverage of the hotel as a "positive injury" to business, saying that the reports were "frightening away millionaires".[56] Nonetheless, the St. Regis was still a luxury hotel; access to the public rooms and the guestrooms was restricted to those who could pay.[58]
William Rockefeller bought an adjacent mansion at 7 East 54th Street in October 1904.[59][60] This purchase may have been intended to prevent a southward expansion of the St. Regis[59] or to get the hotel's liquor license revoked.[60] Early the next year, several of the hotel's opponents filed a lawsuit to request revocation of the St. Regis's liquor license;[61][62] they claimed that, in his license application, Haan had provided false statements about the number of local residents who consented to the license.[61] A state judge rejected the suit in April 1905, saying that the plaintiffs had to file a lawsuit individually.[63][64] Opponents then requested that a state judge enjoin Astor from developing an annex to the hotel at 10 East 55th Street.[36] A further amendment to the liquor law, exempting all hotels with over 200 rooms from having to obtain permission from nearby churches, failed in 1905 and again in 1907.[65] An outdoor restaurant opened at the St. Regis in 1906.[66] The outdoor restaurant, placed along a terrace facing Fifth Avenue, quickly became popular during dinners.[67]
According to one critic, the hotel was specifically intended for those "who were rich, and who were or wanted to be fashionable, but [who wanted a hotel] which would also be somewhat quieter and more exclusive".[68] The hotel was relatively close to many theaters and stores, but the immediate vicinity was still largely composed of private residences.[69] Despite recurring reports about the hotel's exorbitant prices, the St. Regis's rates were no higher than those of similar upscale hotels in New York City.[70][71] Many of the hotel's first patrons were upper-class but not ultra-wealthy.[55] Town and Country reported in 1907 that many rooms were being rented at nightly rates of $5 to $10, while the more expensive suites rented for $14 to $20. By then, the hotel had become a popular venue for wealthy New Yorkers' dinner-dances, which had previously been hosted at the Delmonico's or Sherry's restaurants.[71] In keeping with the St. Regis's upscale character, the hotel's operators trained the staff extensively and branded it as "The Best in America".[72] According to the 1910 United States census, many of the hotel's permanent residents were families who had relocated from townhouses in Midtown and lived with one or two servants.[13] The St. Regis's terrace restaurant was demolished after Fifth Avenue was widened in 1911, since the terrace protruded 14 ft (4.3 m) into the street.[73]
Vincent Astor ownership
John Jacob Astor died when the RMS Titanic sank in 1912.[14] His 20-year-old son Vincent Astor inherited $150 million of real estate, including the St. Regis Hotel, which had been valued at $2.675 million.[74] That year, amid rumors that Vincent was planning to expand the St. Regis, William Rockefeller bought the house at 12 East 55th Street, immediately east of the hotel.[75] Rockefeller already owned the houses at 3–9 East 54th Street, preventing Vincent from expanding the hotel to the south, and the hotel's other two sides faced the street.[21] Haan announced in May 1921 that he would build an 18-story annex, with 150 rooms, to the east of the existing hotel, although this did not happen.[76][77] Rockefeller's houses on 54th and 55th Streets, which had long prevented the hotel's expansion, were sold in 1924.[78]
The residences on the adjacent blocks of Fifth Avenue had been replaced with stores by the mid-1920s.[79] In July 1925, Vincent filed plans with the New York City Department of Buildings to construct six storefronts at ground level at a cost of $200,000.[80][81] One of the storefronts would be placed in the ground-level dining room, and another storefront would be constructed within a structure that was used as an employee break room.[80][82] C. A. Platt designed the alterations.[82] Over the next several months, the storefronts were leased to such tenants as jeweler E. M. Gattle,[83] haberdasher Joseph Holstein,[84] and menswear firm William A. McLaughlin & Co.[85] In May 1926, Vincent bought out the operating lease of Rudolph Haan, who had managed the hotel since it opened. Vincent then leased the hotel to Julius and William Manger of Manger Hotels, who announced that they would retain the hotel's existing staff and policies.[86][87]
Duke ownership
Vincent sold the St. Regis to Benjamin Newton Duke's Durham Realty Corporation in February 1927.[88][89] It was the only hotel in New York City that the Astor family still owned, as the family had previously sold off its other hotels.[90] Architecture firm Sloan & Robertson immediately filed plans for an eastward annex to the hotel.[91] Duke bought an adjacent row house at 12 East 55th Street the next month, extending the hotel's 55th Street frontage to 250 ft (76 m).[6][7] Duke planned to add 317 rooms, nearly doubling the hotel's size to 615 rooms. A new dining room, grill room, and rooftop garden were also planned as part of the project.[92][93] The work also included minor upgrades to the existing hotel, including elevators and bathrooms. Leddy & Moore Inc. was hired as the general contractor for the alterations in June 1927.[93] To protect views from the annex, Duke leased Rockefeller's old row houses at 3–9 East 54th Street, for 63 years in October 1927.[94][95]
The roof garden atop the annex opened in early June 1928, and the annex itself was completed on July 1, 1928.[96][97] Prior to the opening of the annex, the St. Regis had never contained a roof garden.[98] In January 1933, the Durham Realty Corporation transferred ownership of the hotel to the Hotel St. Regis Inc.; at the time, the hotel owed $1.2 million to various creditors.[99] The hotel's resident manager, Eugene T. Hartigan, died the same year.[100] The St. Regis Tropical Garden opened on the hotel's roof in November 1934.[101] The bartender Fernand Petiot, who invented the Bloody Mary cocktail, started working at the hotel that year.[102]
Re-acquisition by Astor
Vincent Astor foreclosed on the hotel's $5 million mortgage in May 1934.[103][104] Astor retained the right to buy the St. Regis's furniture for $100,000 if he foreclosed on the hotel.[105][106] Accordingly, Astor sought and received a temporary injunction in early June 1934, preventing the Dukes from selling the furniture;[107] a state court granted another injunction the same month.[105][106] The dispute stemmed from the fact that the Dukes believed the furniture was severely undervalued.[99][108] Raymond Moley was appointed as the receiver for the hotel shortly afterward.[109][110] The Dukes sued Moley in July 1934, as they wanted him to pay $16,000 per month for the right to use the hotel's furniture.[111][112] A state judge ruled that a foreclosure auction for the hotel could not be hosted until the disputes over the furniture were resolved.[113] The New York Supreme Court ruled the next month that Moley had to pay rent for the furniture.[114] The Supreme Court's Appellate Division ruled in December 1934 that Astor had the right to foreclose on the mortgage.[115][116]
The Dukes and Astor agreed to a settlement in May 1935. The St. Regis would be brought out of receivership, and Vincent would pay Mary Duke Biddle $300,000 for the hotel's furniture.[lower-roman 5][117][118] Astor paid $5.09 million for the hotel at a foreclosure auction on June 11, 1935.[lower-roman 6][119][120] The hotel's staff praised Moley for his work as the hotel's receiver, saying that he helped the St. Regis turn a net profit at a time when many hotels were operating at a loss.[121] Vincent began remodeling the St. Regis,[122] and he appointed James Otto Stack as the hotel's general manager in September 1935.[123] The Maisonette Russe restaurant, modeled on an eponymous restaurant in Paris, opened within the St. Regis in October 1935,[124][125] and the King Cole Room opened the same month.[126] In part because of the repeal of Prohibition, the hotel's restaurant business increased by 300 percent between 1935 and 1937.[127] Astor also installed air conditioning in more than 250 rooms, reusing the hotel's original ventilation ducts.[128] The annex's roof garden reopened in May 1936 as a Viennese roof garden,[129][130] and the King Cole Room became an event venue called the Iridium Room that October.[131][132]
The renovations were completed in June 1937 at a cost of $500,000.[127][128] Stack resigned as the hotel's general manager in 1938.[133] Jewelry company Brand-Chatillon moved to the hotel in 1940,[134] occupying the basement and parts of the first and second stories.[135] The hotel's Iridium Room closed permanently in 1948.[136][137] The Iridium Room's closure was attributed to federal excise taxes on live entertainment in hotels,[136] as well as declining demand for live hotel entertainment.[137] The annex's rooftop garden remained relatively popular through the late 1950s, but it was only open five days a week by 1959. At the time, it was the only remaining rooftop garden at a hotel in New York City.[138] Serge Obolensky designed the La Boite nightclub in the hotel's basement; in the late 1950s, the nightclub frequently hosted Russian royals during Russian New Year celebrations.[139]
Post-Astor period
Vincent Astor died in February 1959.[140] Because he was the only person with access to the hotel's bank accounts, the hotel's assets were essentially frozen when Vincent died. The executors of his estate quickly filed his will for probate, allowing the executors to continue paying the hotel's expenses.[141] William Zeckendorf of Webb and Knapp expressed interest in acquiring the St. Regis from Astor's estate.[142] By early 1960, Zeckendorf had beat out more than twenty other bidders for the rights to the hotel.[143][144] Zeckendorf and Obolensky, the latter of whom now worked at the Zeckendorf Corporation, agreed to buy the St. Regis that February for $14 million.[lower-roman 7][145][146] The buyers paid $5 million in cash and assumed a $9 million mortgage.[147] In April 1960, Webb and Knapp agreed to sell the hotel building to the Kratter Corporation.[148][149] Kratter took title to the hotel the next month and leased the St. Regis back to Webb and Knapp for 200 years.[150][151] Webb and Knapp sold its leasehold that September to Mexican hotel mogul Cesar Balsa,[152][153] who took over the hotel in December 1960.[154]
The St. Regis had two restaurants at the time of Balsa's takeover: the Oak Room, open during the summer, and the King Cole Bar, open for lunch and dinner.[155] The St. Regis still provided highly personalized service,[156] and the hotel employed 700 staff members, more than one for each of the 600 rooms.[156][157] The staff catered to a daily average of 500 guests; the kitchen alone employed 90 people.[157] Twenty percent of guests at the time were from Europe.[158] Balsa wished to make the hotel "like a private home", so he began giving flowers, scales, and hangers to female guests.[159] Balsa began renovating the hotel again in early 1961, in advance of the 1964 New York World's Fair.[160] Balsa restored the original ballroom, which had long been used as a brokerage office, and reopened it as the Versailles Ballroom. The project also involved refurbishing all of the rooms, as well as restoring old furniture that had been stored in the basement.[157]
The Glickman Corporation (later the Franchard Corporation[161]) acquired the St. Regis Hotel from the Kratter Corporation in July 1961 for $22 million;[lower-roman 8] this was the third time the hotel had been sold in less than two years.[162][163] Balsa received a $1.2 million loan for the hotel the next year.[164] Balsa bought the hotel's leasehold from the Kratter Corporation in April 1963 for $2.5 million.[165][166] In November 1964, Balsa agreed to buy the building itself and the land under it from the Franchard Corporation for $6 million.[147][167] Balsa outbid two other buyers who both wanted to demolish the hotel and replace it with an office building.[167] Balsa resold the hotel in May 1965 to Wellington Associates, led by Sol Goldman and Alex DiLorenzo Jr.,[168] for between $14 million and $16 million.[169] Wellington appointed Frank C. Bromber as the St. Regis's executive director.[170]
Sheraton operation
1960s to mid-1980s
Sheraton Hotels leased the St. Regis from Wellington in February 1966.[171][172] At the time, many old hotels in New York City were being demolished, including the Sheraton East (formerly Ambassador Hotel) on Park Avenue. However, a clause in Sheraton's lease prevented the chain from converting the hotel to offices or changing the hotel's character.[172] The next month, the hotel became the St. Regis-Sheraton.[173][174] Sheraton planned to renovate the hotel with French-style furnishings.[175][176] The St. Regis-Sheraton's general manager, Charles Carey, relocated some of the Sheraton East's furnishings to the St. Regis.[177] The chain reopened the roof garden in June 1966, renaming it the St. Regis-Sheraton Roof and Penthouse.[178][179] By the end of 1967, Sheraton had spent over $1 million on renovations, including a restoration of the King Cole mural.[175] La Cave du St. Regis, a small dining room for private parties, opened at the hotel in early 1968.[180]
Sheraton completely remodeled the hotel in 1977.[181] The project included the restoration of the dining room in the annex, which was rebranded as the Old King Cole Restaurant.[182] In 1980, Equitable Holdings bought a 50 percent stake in the St. Regis-Sheraton.[139][183] By then, the hotel's stature had declined, and it was being compared to cheaper hotels that served business guests, such as the Drake Swissotel, InterContinental New York, and the Parker Meridien.[139] The St. Regis-Sheraton underwent a $25 million renovation in the early 1980s.[184] The hotel's retail tenants in the 1980s included menswear shop Bijan (which replaced a Gucci store at the same location) and jeweler Fred.[185] The St. Regis hosted many weddings during that decade; the number of weddings at the hotel increased by 35 percent from 1985 to 1988.[186]
Late 1980s renovation and 1990s changes
At the beginning of June 1988, Sheraton announced that it would close the St. Regis's 521 rooms and 84 suites for renovations.[187][188] The hotel closed on June 30, 1988;[139][189] at the time, the renovation was expected to cost $50 million.[139] Sheraton announced in October 1988 that it had bought out Equitable's ownership stake[183][190] and that it would begin renovating the St. Regis.[190][191] The hotel's closure prompted a dispute with Bijan, which refused to pay rent for several months because of the planned renovation.[192] Architecture firm Brennan Beer Gorman Monk designed the renovation.[193] The work included restoring the interior; adding a bar, cocktail lounge, and tea garden; and replacing mechanical systems.[194][183] The King Cole restaurant was converted into the Lespinasse restaurant, operated by Gray Kunz,[195][196] and the kitchen was overhauled for $1 million.[197] In addition, mid-20th-century decor was removed,[198] and the original plasterwork, marble floors, and chandeliers were restored.[194] Most of the units were enlarged, so the average number of units on each story decreased from 16 to 10, but the facade remained intact and was restored.[183]
The renovation was supposed to take 18 months,[139] but the reopening date was postponed to late 1990,[199] then to early 1991.[200][193] Fashion house Dior opened a store at the base of the hotel in late 1990.[201] The hotel reopened in September 1991 as The St. Regis.[202] After the renovation, the hotel had about 360 units,[198][202][203] including a suite themed to Tiffany & Co.[204] The project's reported cost was over $100 million,[203][204] although hospitality-industry experts estimated that the project actually cost twice that amount.[205] The hotel industry in New York City was in decline at the time, but officials of Sheraton (which by then had been renamed ITT Sheraton) expressed optimism that the St. Regis would be profitable.[203][206] The St. Regis's managers planned to cater to businesspeople, but they did not wish to host conventions.[203] Room rates at the time ranged between $350 and $3,000;[206][207] in exchange, guests received such amenities as a minibar, a health club, and butler service.[196][207]
In January 1992, ITT Sheraton designated 28 of its premier hotels as the ITT Sheraton Luxury Collection, with the St. Regis in New York as the division's flagship.[208] The hotel's Lespinasse restaurant remained popular through the 1990s.[209] Starwood acquired Sheraton from ITT Corporation in 1997[210] and decided to create the St. Regis Hotels & Resorts luxury hotel chain, with the New York City hotel as the chain's flagship.[211][212] The New York hotel was renamed The St. Regis New York to differentiate it from the numerous other St. Regis hotels in the new chain.[211] The other St. Regis hotels provided butler service for all guests, similar to the New York hotel.[213][214][215] Starwood appointed Richard Cotter as the St. Regis New York's managing director,[214][216] in which capacity he served until 2001.[217]
Early 21st century
At the beginning of the 21st century, the average guest was in their late 50s, and four-fifths of guests were American.[218] The hotel's marketing director said in 2000 that, in part because of the hotel's butler service, 65 percent of guests were repeat visitors.[215] In addition, the hotel employed 600 staff members, almost twice the 315 guests that stayed at the hotel on an average night.[219] The Lespinasse restaurant at the St. Regis closed in 2003,[220][221] and a large De Beers store opened in the hotel the next year.[222] By 2005, there were plans to convert 59 rooms[223] into up to 33 condominium apartments,[13][224] which would be rented to guests seasonally and occupied by their owners at other times.[225] St. Regis Hotels and Resorts started offering the full-ownership condominiums for $1.5 million to $7 million at the end of 2005,[13] and it started selling memberships for the timeshare condominiums in February 2006.[226] Additionally, to celebrate the hotel's centennial, Stephen Sills and James Huniford renovated all of the guestrooms,[227] redecorating the units with new furniture.[224] The hotel's 8th to 11th floors reopened as the St. Regis Residences in 2006.[228] Alain Ducasse opened the Adour restaurant at the St. Regis in 2008,[229] but the restaurant closed after four years.[230][231]
The St. Regis New York added two designer suites in the early 2010s: the Dior Suite in 2011[232] and the Bentley Suite in 2012.[233] The entire hotel was renovated in 2013 at a cost of $90 million.[234][235] The work, designed by HDC Design[236] and Stonehill Taylor Architects,[237] involved restoring all hotel rooms and most public spaces, and it added a new restaurant and gym.[234] In addition, the little-used Astor Court was converted into the King Cole Bar and Salon.[218][238] The hotel catered to a younger and more diverse clientele; about half of the guests were foreign nationals, and the median guest was 45 years old.[218] Most of the work was completed in October 2013,[234][239] but the spa and health club were not finished until early 2014.[235] The St. Regis New York's operators ran a yearlong advertising campaign, "Introducing a New Era of Glamour", to advertise the renovated hotel.[235][240] Meanwhile, Richemont had bought the hotel's ground-level retail condominium in 2012 for $380 million.[241][242] Vornado Realty Trust and Crown Acquisitions bought the retail condominium, as well as the adjacent house at 697 Fifth Avenue, in 2014 for $700 million.[243][244]
The St. Regis New York launched a luxury car service in 2015, with two cars manufactured by Bentley,[245][246] and the hotel began lending guests Amazon Kindles with titles from the hotel's library.[247] In May 2016, it was reported that Starwood was in talks with the Qatar Investment Authority to sell the St. Regis New York, along with the St. Regis San Francisco, for up to $1 billion.[248][lower-alpha 3] Marriott International acquired Starwood the same year, including the St. Regis New York.[250][251] In November 2019, the QIA bought the St. Regis New York for $310 million.[251][252] Under the agreement, Marriott would lease the St. Regis from the QIA and would continue to operate the hotel.[251]