Frank Lloyd Wright’s home in New York City, The Plaza Hotel, has re-opened after a $400 million restoration.
Rates for rooms start at $1,000 a night.
“When you hear $1,000 a night for a room it might seem like a lot, but in the end it’s not about the price, it’s about the experience,” said Bill Carroll, a professor at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration. “It’s such a unique destination. It really is about the cachet.” Carroll spent his honeymoon at The Plaza 41 years ago.Nelda Johns of Dallas, who stopped by Saturday, recalled staying at the hotel as a child with her parents. Her husband Ken Johns said the place had gotten “a little dingy” before it closed. But looking around at the gleaming mosaic floors, sparkling chandeliers and gold-trimmed ceilings, he said, “They’ve done a nice job.”
A highlight of the restoration is a stained-glass ceiling, called a laylight, in the Palm Court dining room near the lobby. The laylight was replaced in the 1940s by a plaster ceiling, so “it hasn’t been seen in most people’s lifetimes,” said Sarah Carroll, director of preservation for the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, which worked with the hotel owners to ensure that landmarked features were properly restored.
Glass shards and old photos were all researchers had to go on to recreate the laylight. Carroll called the result — a backlit yellow-and-green geometric design trimmed with roses — “a perfect crown for that room.”
The Palm Court serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and afternoon tea. A new Champagne Bar in the lobby offers cocktails, champagne by the glass ($25-$60) or by the bottle, with a top price of $3,350 for a magnum.
Hotel general manager Shane Krige said the renovated guest rooms “bridge the world between the old and the new” with flat-screen TVs, electronic key cards, iPod docks and digital touchscreens that let guests change lighting and temperature or call for assistance. Touches of old-fashioned opulence include 24-karat gold-plated faucets, mosaic bathroom floors and white-gloved butlers, one per floor, on call 24 hours. Guests of all ages can request an “Eloise” bubble bath, with milk and cookies.
The Plaza Hotel also includes residential units; all but one have sold.