NEW YORK
This summer, the new owners of the opulent but aging New York Palace hotel plan to launch a $100 million renovation to restore it to its past glory.
The renovation will ultimately modernize all of the Palace's 900 rooms, though the work will take place in phases to minimize guest disruption, says David McCaslin, president of Northwood Hospitality, the hotel’s owner.
Located at 50th Street and Madison Avenue, the Palace is filled with history. It was created on land owned by the Archdiocese of New York, but its history dates back to horse-and-carriage days.
New York developer Harry Helmsley and his infamous wife Leona—who became known as the "Queen of Mean"—opened it in 1980 as the Helmsley Palace. (The couple even had "his" and "hers" offices in the hotel that exist today, complete with individual bathrooms.) Helmsley created the hotel by fusing together the city's historic Villard Mansion—a mansion built by a railroad tycoon in the 1880s—along with a modern, 55-story skyscraper. Under different ownership, the hotel became part of the exclusive Dorchester Collection, though today it operates independently.
Courtesy of USA Today
