June 23, 2009

NYC: The Algonquin Hotel; hotel review

The Algonquin Hotel  

59 West 44th St./6th Ave., ? 888-304-2047, (800) 678-8946, (212) 840-6800. 12 floors; 174 rooms + 24 suites. Fitness room.

An oasis of serenity, the legendary Algonquin Hotel is just steps from Broadway, two blocks from Bryant Park, three avenues away from the gay and lesbian nightlife scene in Hell's Kitchen, and a couple of subway stops from the trendy, artsy Chelsea neighborhood. Edna Ferber and Dorothy Parker were once part of the hotel's famous Round Table, and Truman Capote once dined there regularly. The cozy, inviting lobby is a popular lounge bar, and the famous restaurant adjoins. In the evening, The Oak Room stages performances.

Halls here are papered in New Yorker cartoons (the New Yorker offices are just across the street), and a current issue is in each room. The hotel retains its vintage white marble steps in the stairway between floors. Rooms also have some vintage touches, including small bathrooms tiled in 6-sided white tiles (the plumbing might be the oldest in NYC—hot water takes a while to arrive on upper floors, but arrive it does, eventually).

And then there is the hotel kitty, Matilda, a pampered beige Ragdoll longhair who hangs out at the desk—or wherever she likes—and has her own e-mail address. For a shock back to reality, stop at the corner of 44th Street and 6th Avenue and look up, up, up to watch the national debt roll shockingly up, up, up in lighted digits.

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