The New York Palace Hotel on the Upper East Side is one of the City’s icons. Not hard to see why:
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| The elegant facade of The New York Palace Hotel |
In late 2013 the Hotel underwent a $140 million
renovation, which included the construction of a luxurious and reservations-only wine bar called
“Rarities” that purports to serve “the world’s rarest wines and spirits”. For instance, nobody will blink if you order
a glass of 1855 vintage port for $485, or perhaps splurge on a $27,000 bottle
of 1985 Romanee-Conti Grand Cru from Burgundy.
But if free booze is more your bag, you can admire the collection of
rare – albeit empty – Scotch bottles in glass cases that line the staircase
leading up to the bar.
The New York
Palace Hotel has always been on the fancy side though. Part of the Hotel is known as The Villard
Mansion, a single residence constructed in 1882 for Henry Villard, one of the
most prominent financiers in the US at the time (who sported a wonderful white mustache).
Villard sold the property to the Archdiocese of New York, who subsequently sold it on to a range of international companies for their corporate office spaces. In the mid-1970s, a hotel developer purchased the Villard Mansion and constructed a 55-storey tower adjoining it. “The Helmsley Palace” (as it was then known) opened in 1980. New owners came on board in 1993, changed the name, and restored the property to the sort of 1880s splendour that would have made Henry Villard’s capitalist heart sing.
Villard sold the property to the Archdiocese of New York, who subsequently sold it on to a range of international companies for their corporate office spaces. In the mid-1970s, a hotel developer purchased the Villard Mansion and constructed a 55-storey tower adjoining it. “The Helmsley Palace” (as it was then known) opened in 1980. New owners came on board in 1993, changed the name, and restored the property to the sort of 1880s splendour that would have made Henry Villard’s capitalist heart sing.
