The New York Palace Hotel
The New York Palace blends the historic landmark Villard Mansion with a modern 55-story tower. Located at the center of Manhattan in Midtown at the corner of 50th Street and Madison Avenue, the luxury hotel is directly across the street from St Patrick's Cathedral, and a short walk from Rockefeller Center and Saks Fifth Avenue. The hotel is featured prominently on the CWseries Gossip Girl.
History
In 1882, Henry Villard, a well-known railroad financier, hired McKim, Mead, and White to create six private brownstone townhouses surrounding a courtyard on Madison Avenue. The prominent architectural firm created the houses in the neo-Italian Renaissance tradition, after the Palazzo della Cancellaria in Rome.
In the spring of 1974, the developer Harry Helmsley proposed a 55-story hotel for the site of the Villard Houses called The Helmsley Palace Hotel. To construct his hotel tower, Helmsley hiredEmery Roth & Sons, who created its design of dark bronze reflective glass and anodized aluminum to blend with the Villard Houses and Manhattan's surrounding skyline. The Helmsley Palace Hotel opened in 1981 and was operated by Helmsley until 1992, when the hotel came under the management of a private New York limited partnership, changing its name to The New York Palace.
During Helmsley's ownership Harry's wife Leona Helmsley maintained a strict and intolerant management style which involved her firing staff members for trivial mistakes, an act which gave her the nickname, "Queen of Mean".The hotel reverted to its bond holders from Leona Helmsley and was ultimately purchased by The Sultan of Brunei with the concurrence of the US Bankruptcy Court. The Sultan of Brunei, through its development company, Amedeo Limited, hired Lee Jablin of Harman Jablin Architects for the complete renovation of the hotel and Villard Houses.
Northwood Investors bought the hotel from the Sultan of Brunei in 2011.
Hotel description
The courtyard and lobby
What was once The Villard Mansion’s carriage entrance on Madison Avenue is now the New York Palace’s famed Courtyard. During the restoration of the hotel, the Courtyard was redesigned to incorporate motifs from the flooring of several 15th-century Italian cathedrals, a nod to its original styling after Rome’s Palazzo della Cancellaria.
The two-story marble lobby joins The Villard Mansion with the hotel. As you enter the lobby from the Courtyard, you will encounter a grand staircase that takes you down to the lower level lobby and a pair of staircases on either side of the foyer will take you up to the second floor. The red Verona fireplace, an original feature taken from the south wing of the Villard Mansion, is located on the second floor and is a famous place to stop and admire the hotel’s architecture.
Restaurants
Opened in December 2006, GILT is the 52-seat restaurant that replaced the former Le Cirque 2000 in the New York Palace. With an interior redesigned by Parick Joiun, one of France’s most promising new interior designers, and a “modern American menu”, GILT has received great critical acclaim across the globe. GILT received Four Stars from Crain's New York in 2007 and in 2008, GILT was honored with two famed Michelin Stars. In 2011, Haute Living magazine voted GILT as having one of the “Top 5 Wine Lists in New York City”.
The New York Palace’s bistro-style restaurant, Istana, is located in the hotel lobby, adjacent to the hotel's 51st Street entrance. The dining area is positioned on both sides of the hotel’s lobby walkway and serves a bistro-style cuisine.
Guest rooms
The New York Palace Hotel features 813 guest-rooms, 86 suites, a 7,000-square-foot (650 m²) Spa & Fitness Center, 34,000 square feet (3,200 m²) of banquet and meeting space, a business center, and four Triplex Penthouse suites. The New York Palace is also Green Key-certified, confirming the hotel’s active effort to provide sustainable services at the hotel. The hotel uses 100% renewable energy.
The New York Palace offers two different levels of guest room accommodations. The Towers’ Rooms occupy the top of the hotel on floors 40-54, and they feature either classical or art deco-style rooms and suites as well as butler services.
