What fresh hell is this?

"I've never been a millionaire but I just know that I'd be darling at it"

Dorothy Parker

At last count, New York had over 240 hotels, and more than 69,000 rooms.  One of the most storied properties is The Algonquin Hotel on East 44^th Street in Midtown.  This 111 year-old, 174-room hotel was named after the Algonquin tribes that had been the first residents of the area. The Hotel is now a New York Historical Landmark. 

Of similar historical note are the stories of those who gathered at this Hotel - literary luminaries by today's standards.  In June 1919 the Algonquin became the site of the daily meetings of "The Algonquin Round Table", a group of journalists, authors, publicists, and actors who gathered to exchange bon mots over lunch in the main dining room.  The group met almost daily for the better part of 10 years.  Some of the core members of this "Vicious Circle" include comic playwright George Kaufman, short story writer and poet Dorothy Parker, and playwright and editor Robert Sherwood.  Together the group founded The New Yorker magazine, and all hotel guests receive free copies of the publication to this day.  Their get-togethers also inspired the 1994 film "Mrs Parker and the Vicious Circle" starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Matthew Broderick.

The hotel also has a long tradition of keeping a cat that has the run of the hotel.  The cats are named either Hamlet or Matilda.  The current Algonquin feline, a Matilda, is a Ragdoll that won Cat of the Year at the Westchester (New York) Cat Show in 2006.  Visitors can spot Matilda on her personal chaise longue in the hotel lobby, or she can alternately be found behind the computer on the front desk, or lounging on a baggage cart.   Matilda also has her own email address so you can contact her directly (good grief)!